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Moving to
Oak Grove.
Oak Grove is an unincorporated community in Clackamas County, OR. It has no city government: the county runs it, and the Census counts it as its own place.
What it's like to live in Oak Grove
Oak Grove is an unincorporated community in Oregon with air quality that stays clean most of the year and a highly educated workforce. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.
The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Oak Grove deals with rent well above the national average, home prices well above the national average, larger class sizes than the national average, and a rent burden that leaves many renters stretched thin.
The good
- Clean air
- Highly educated workforce
The not so good
- Rent well above the national average
- High home prices
- High student-teacher ratio
- High rent burden for renters
How Oak Grove compares
Median household income
Median rent (per month)
Median home value
What it takes to move to Oak Grove
Based on Oak Grove's median rent, home value and household income
To rent
$3,488
up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit
- Income to keep rent under 30%: $69,760 a year
- 53% of Oak Grove renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent
To buy
$103,140
a 20% down payment on the median home
- With 10% down: $51,570
- Homes cost 6.0× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)
Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.
The details
Cost of living▲ 23% above US
$1,744/mo median rent
Rent runs on the higher side, at $1,744 a month median. Whether that premium makes sense usually comes down to the local job market and what it pays. Home prices are steep, with a median around $515,700. Renting first to get a feel for the city before buying is often the more practical route.
Median home value $515,700 · 53% of renters cost-burdened
Job market
4.9% county unemployment
Unemployment in Clackamas County is 4.9%, somewhat above the national average of 4.3%. Lining up work before the move is the safer route. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.
Clackamas County (county-wide)
Safety
211 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction
Oak Grove doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction as a whole, which runs below the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.
Property crime 1625/100k · Policed by Clackamas County Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data
Getting aroundNear US average
25 min average commute
Commutes run about average, at 25.1 minutes. Fine day to day, but it adds up over a year, and where someone lives relative to where they work starts to matter. 7 in 10 workers drive to work; 28% work from home.
How workers get to work
Climate
Summers are warm, with highs around 81°F, and winters are chilly but manageable, with lows around 37°F. Rainfall is regular throughout the year.
Average month
30-year averages, 1991–2020
Education & workforce▲ 21% above US
44% bachelor's degree or higher
The population is well-educated, with 44% holding college degrees. That points to a strong professional base and generally a healthy local economy.
Schools
4 public schools inside the boundary
There are 4 public schools inside the boundary. The student-to-teacher ratio is 19:1, slightly above the national average of 16:1.
Parks & recreation
The nearest national park or historic site is Fort Vancouver National Historic Site (14 miles away). There are 2 national parks and sites within a day's drive.
Bottom line
Oak Grove's strongest points are air quality that stays clean most of the year and a highly educated workforce; the main tradeoffs are rent well above the national average and home prices well above the national average. A year of median rent ($1,744/mo) equals 24% of the median household income here, more than the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit remote workers (28% of workers here already work from home) and college-educated professionals.
Other places near Oak Grove
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