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Big city living isn't for everyone--but at the same time, urban areas certainly have their perks.
There's the culture, the food, the arts, the food, the energy, and you know, the food. But there are drawbacks. There's traffic, expensive parking, expensive housing--pretty much, expensive everything, depending on which big city you're looking at.
But that's where the suburbs come in--they have all of the benefits of being near big cities, without actually having to be big cities.
Of course, not all suburbs of Portland are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones. So without further ado...
Here are the 10 best suburbs to live around Portland for 2022:
What's the best suburb of Portland? Sherwood ranks as the best suburb of Portland for 2022 based on the most recent Census and FBI data. If you happen to be a resident of Sherwood, you're probably not too surprised to find it on the top our list.
We'll tell you what makes each of these 10 Portland 'burbs better than the rest--but first, a bit about our methodology.
Note: This result may differ from our state wide data as we did not include commute times and crime for this analysis to allow for a larger selection of suburbs.
Feel free to check out some more reading about Oregon:
The 10 Best Portland Suburbs To Live For 2022
Sherwood is always mentioned as one of the best suburbs in the Portland area. We'll tell you the good about "Awesome Sherwood."
Everyone here is rich; families average $107,537 a year, which is the 5th highest in the Portland region. And only 2.78% are out of work. Homes average more than $426,400 each.
/10
Population: 19,745
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $107,537
Unemployment Rate: 2.8%
Poverty Rate: 3.5%
More on Sherwood: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Lake Oswego is the second best 'burb we looked at near Portland for 2022.
It ranks 4th for incomes in the area and only 2.9% of residents lack insurance, good for 4th best.
/10
Population: 39,476
Rank Last Year: 2 (No Change)
Median Income: $114,444
Unemployment Rate: 4.3%
Poverty Rate: 3.2%
More on Lake Oswego: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Here in Happy Valley, it's really safe, and residents are just about as rich as you'll see in the Portland metro area.
The bad side? Schools are more crowded, and the cost of living puts a large part of the city out of reach for most families.
But price is based on demand and a lot of people want to live in Happy Valley.
/10
Population: 22,049
Rank Last Year: 3 (No Change)
Median Income: $124,381
Unemployment Rate: 2.1%
Poverty Rate: 3.4%
More on Happy Valley: Real Estate | Data | Photos
West Linn ranks as the 4th best suburb of Portland for 2022.
You won't find many better places to raise your kids in the region than in West Linn and the schools are some of the best around.
/10
Population: 26,764
Rank Last Year: 5 (Up 1)
Median Income: $119,415
Unemployment Rate: 5.1%
Poverty Rate: 5.6%
More on West Linn: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Coming in as the fifth best is Camas.
Camas gets kudos for having the 4th most expensive homes in the Portland area, where houses sell for an average of $458,000. However, the cost of living here is among the highest in the area.
/10
Population: 24,043
Rank Last Year: 6 (Up 1)
Median Income: $115,993
Unemployment Rate: 3.3%
Poverty Rate: 3.5%
More on Camas: Real Estate | Data | Photos
North Plains is proud of its 6th place finish on this list. And here's why.
Most residents have great jobs and the unemployment rate sits at 3.06% which is 10th best in the area.
According to online reports, North Plains is quickly becoming one of the more affluent suburbs in the Portland area, meaning you need to get in soon.
/10
Population: 2,706
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 1)
Median Income: $95,875
Unemployment Rate: 3.1%
Poverty Rate: 4.2%
More on North Plains: Real Estate | Data | Photos
The 7th best suburb on our list goes to La Center.
La Center schools are some of the best in the region, and crime is really low. The cost of living makes it a lot more desirable for many families, especially first-time home buyers.
And, it's only 22.7 miles to downtown, which is a good thing.
/10
Population: 3,338
Rank Last Year: 9 (Up 2)
Median Income: $98,633
Unemployment Rate: 3.4%
Poverty Rate: 6.5%
More on La Center: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Tigard is growing quickly, and for a good reason. Crime is far below average, and most residents are gainfully employed. Even the cost of living is reasonable.
A solid 5.43% of people lack insurance, good for 18th in the area.
/10
Population: 54,149
Rank Last Year: 13 (Up 5)
Median Income: $86,757
Unemployment Rate: 3.8%
Poverty Rate: 7.8%
More on Tigard: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Is 'Everything Better In Oregon?'
Almost.
It placed 9th on our list thanks to the fact that it's really expensive to live here, but the schools are great, so you get what you pay for in that regard.
/10
Population: 10,513
Rank Last Year: 8 (Down 1)
Median Income: $86,039
Unemployment Rate: 1.9%
Poverty Rate: 6.7%
More on Oregon: Real Estate
And rounding out the top ten for 2022 is Ridgefield.
This city is far above average in every category, and the best part? It's far more affordable than the other cities listed above. So, you get a big bang for your buck here.
/10
Population: 8,751
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 6)
Median Income: $95,344
Unemployment Rate: 4.6%
Poverty Rate: 3.7%
More on Ridgefield: Real Estate | Data | Photos
Methodology: How We Determined The Best Suburbs Around Portland for 2022
Figuring out the best suburbs around Portland was pretty simple; we just needed to list several things that people like, and then find out which cities have the most of those things.
We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible:
- Low unemployment rate
- High Median household incomes
- Population density (lots of things to do)
- High home values
- A lot of college educated people
- Low poverty
- High rate of insured families
Then we used the newest American Community Survey data for 2016-2020 to research each suburb.
FYI: We defined a suburb as being within 30 miles of Portland.
Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 36 suburbs to evaluate around Portland.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 36 in each category, where 1 was the "best.
Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality of life index.
And finally, we crowned the city with the best quality of life index the "Best Suburb near Portland." We're lookin' at you, Sherwood. You can download the data here.
Read on below to learn more about what it's like to live in the best of the best. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from best to worst.
Summary: Welcome to the Best Portland 'Burbs of 2022
We said it once and we'll say it again--life in the big city isn't for everyone. At least not all the time.
So if you're hankering for some of the amenities of a larger city like Portland, but don't want to deal with the drawbacks, one of these suburbs might just be for you.
For more Oregon reading, check out:
Detailed List Of The Best Portland Suburbs
Rank | City | Population |
---|---|---|
1 | Sherwood, OR | 19,745 |
2 | Lake Oswego, OR | 39,476 |
3 | Happy Valley, OR | 22,049 |
4 | West Linn, OR | 26,764 |
5 | Camas, OR | 24,043 |
6 | North Plains, OR | 2,706 |
7 | La Center, OR | 3,338 |
8 | Tigard, OR | 54,149 |
9 | Oregon, OR | 10,513 |
10 | Ridgefield, OR | 8,751 |
11 | Scappoose, OR | 7,436 |
12 | Beaverton, OR | 98,567 |
13 | Dundee, OR | 3,296 |
14 | Tualatin, OR | 27,601 |
15 | Wilsonville, OR | 24,413 |
16 | Battle Ground, OR | 20,931 |
17 | Sandy, OR | 11,319 |
18 | Milwaukie, OR | 21,086 |
19 | Canby, OR | 17,860 |
20 | Newberg, OR | 23,676 |
21 | Hillsboro, OR | 108,026 |
22 | Troutdale, OR | 16,433 |
23 | Washougal, OR | 15,927 |
24 | Forest Grove, OR | 24,847 |
25 | Gladstone, OR | 12,316 |
26 | Cornelius, OR | 12,767 |
27 | Hubbard, OR | 3,527 |
28 | Molalla, OR | 9,224 |
29 | Estacada, OR | 3,642 |
30 | Fairview, OR | 9,382 |
31 | Vancouver, OR | 182,792 |
32 | Woodburn, OR | 26,008 |
33 | Gresham, OR | 110,456 |
34 | Columbia, OR | 10,369 |
35 | Woodland, OR | 6,223 |
36 | St. Helens, OR | 13,779 |