Oregon offers a mix of lush forests, mountains, ocean coastline, farmland, high desert, and small towns, so everyday life can feel completely different depending on where you settle.
Since I was a teenager I have always wanted to live near the Ocean. I always had a passion for marine life. It always fascinated me a lot, especially whales, dolphins, octopuses, and the deep open ocean. Florence was a really nice, quiet, peaceful, friendly retirement community. We lived there for a while and just loved the place. We went to the beach a lot, we visited the sand dunes. My husband loves lighthouses.
We saw our first fireworks in Florence. Our favorite place to eat was Moe’s of course ! You cannot skip this place if you go to Florence, they have amazing clam chowder ! We loved taking Highway 101 and would go to Newport and Depoe bay a lot. I love Newport for the lighthouse, the beach and going for a walk in downtown Newport.
It’s very busy during the summer and it’s fun to see people from all over the country come to visit. There are so many little local shops that you have to see. I love going to a local one that sells chocolates and candies. There is a Moe’s restaurant also in Newport, which is a very big seafood place for people who love eating seafood. It’s very fresh seafood since Newport is also a very known place for fishermen.
There is so much tourism on the coast in the summer it is really cool to walk among all the nice people that come from everywhere. I love walking, in the late evening, smelling the nice breeze, the smell of the ocean, in Florence. It is such a nice, quiet, peaceful place to be.
We always felt safe there, even walking late at night. Oregon has really nice, dry summers but it does rain a lot during the winter. Sometimes western Oregon even gets some snow, but it’s really rare and it doesn’t stay very long. If you like snow you would have to move on the eastern side of the state. The valley which contains Portland, Salem, Eugene is where most of the Oregon population is. It’s very crowded in that part of the state, with a lot of traffic.
Oregon has so many beautiful spots to visit ! We went to Crater lake very often. It is such a deep, beautiful lake. The lake partly fills a 2,148-foot-deep (655 m) caldera that was formed around 7,700 years ago by the collapse of the volcano Mount Mazama. No rivers flow into or out of the lake. The evaporation is compensated for by rain and snowfall at a rate such that the total amount of water is replaced every 250 years. With a depth of 1,949 feet (594 m), the lake is the deepest in the United States. In the world, it ranks ninth for maximum depth, and third for mean (average) depth. This place has a lot of tourism during the peak of the season.
Oregon has some of the most beautiful coastal views on the pacific coast
We drove 101 a lot and I always love taking pictures at the different pull out spots on the road. To me, the Oregon coast also has the perfect temperature, not too hot, not too cold. I also loved the fog in the evening coming in from the ocean.
Sometimes the winter can be depressing because it rains a lot and it is also overcast a lot, but nothing like taking Vitamin D3 daily and your depressed mood will go away. It helps a lot during the winter, especially in the pacific northwest where it’s overcast a lot of the time.
Depoe Bay is very popular especially during the whale migration. We could see gray whales coming really close to the edge of the cliff because the water is so deep in Depoe bay. Depoe Bay is also home to the world’s smallest port. They offer whale watching during the summer which we went to, on one occasion and it was so much fun !
We could see the whales up close while feeding on their migration. If you are not a fan of deep sea, large waves then I should tell you that it might not be a good idea to go whale watching. You can always see them right off the edge of the viewing area in Depoe bay.
Life in Salem was also very nice. Salem is a very big city in the Oregon valley. It has tons of shopping, restaurants, parks and things to do anddoes get really hot now in the summer. It didn’t get too hot when I lived there years ago, but now the temperature is really rising everywhere, even in the valley, but it is not uncommon to be in the 90’s in the summer there.
When I used to live in Salem, our favorite places to eat were, Best little roadhouse, Olive garden, Garlic Jim Pizza. We were thrilled when we found out that they opened a Texas roadhouse in Eugene, but our eating experience there was not very pleasant at all. Of course Oregon has to be different from everyone else and they decided it was a good idea to open the restaurant like a cafeteria type of dining.
I don’t know if it is still like that but needless to say we never went back. I asked the waitress why they did that, and she told me it was faster that way. My husband and I don’t go to restaurants to sit down, be rushed and served like at a cafeteria. We enjoyed our experience much more in other Texas roadhouses, like Wyoming and Alaska.
Salem has a huge dog park, Minto park which is 1,200 acres. There is a huge off leash area for dogs, miles of bike and walking, jogging, lanes. It’s beautiful, very peaceful. You wouldn’t think you are in the city when you are in the park.
I went to the dog park every day with my dogs. It was very friendly, I met a lot of nice people there. Dog parks are super cool to socialize your dog, but also to meet new people. It’s a good way to get out of the house, get exercise and break the boring routine while meeting new people.
After a while, I learned from a Petco worker that there was a fenced dog park in Keizer rapids, in Keizer, Oregon so I went there to see it. I was happy because I wasn’t sure if I could trust my wolf hybrid not to go too far from me so I started going there instead. I met a few people that became really good friends there and would go to the park everyday around the same time, when people would get off of work and would meet the same group of people there everyday. It was a fun time for me and my dogs. They would get their daily exercise, and I would get to be social with people, which I liked a lot.
I really miss living there. We are planning to buy a house on the coast there sometime soon and leave Alaska. Alaska just isn’t for us. It’s gorgeous but the winters are too harsh and too cold. Most people are very friendly in Oregon. There are a lot of people that come from other states and places so I think that really adds to the friendliness of people. The only thing I missed while living in Oregon was the lack of thunderstorms ! I love thunderstorms and used to get them a lot in my childhood, in Quebec, Canada.
Oregon just doesn’t have that hot and humid weather to get many thunderstorms. We still get them once in a while but not very often. Oregon has many spectacular places to visit and see. It’s an ideal place for outdoorsy people as it has a lot of parks, trails etc. If you are an active person, you can even winter ski on Mount Hood. Silver falls is also an awesome place to visit and go for miles of trails. People also ride on these trails. There are campgrounds, RV parks, everywhere on the Oregon coast, but you have to reserve months in advance, usually. We just cannot wait to go back. We have many very good memories from our time there.
The Willamette Valley and its associated cities and towns (Portland, Salem, Eugene, Corvallis, etc.) are where the vast majority of the population and jobs are. Nearly 3/4 of the entire state lives in this small region. Housing has become very competitive and expensive. Politically the valley is blue overall. This leads to lots of resentment, from other areas of the state, as the valley dominates essentially everything when it comes to policy. The weather is typical PNW. Rain and fog will be your friend for months on end during the winter. Seasonal depression can hit you hard, if you are not prepared for it. The summers are typically dry and sunny.
The Oregon coast is fairly rural due to the weather and mountainous terrain. There are a few smaller cities and towns, but nothing out there in terms of a major city. The economy is pretty heavily dependent on tourism.
Southern Oregon has the big cities of Medford and Ashland, but the area is fairly sparsely populated as there’s not much space in the mountains down there to build anything.
Central/Eastern Oregon- If you want to live in the desert, this is where you should go. Bend is really the only major city on that side of the mountains and is a very expensive place given its isolation from the rest of the state and the size of the city. It’s beautiful though. Outside of that is mainly small towns and empty spaces. Great hiking and outdoor activities are abundant everywhere.
I’ve traveled all over, and Oregon is my favorite in the country in regards to its climate and overall geography. You won’t have 7 months of possible snow, or 4 months of negative degree wind chill. It’s a very moderate climate, I love every one of them. Summer is usually 70-90 degree high, winters in the 40-50s. Rarely does it snow, and when it does it’s generally gone by the next day. Basically you can dress appropriately and be outside throughout the entire year and not trapped inside for months at a time.
The geography is amazing. If I want snow I can travel an hour up to Mount Hood and play at the snow parks or go skiing.
If I want to travel an hour I can also reach the ocean. You have the coast, forests, river gorge, desert. I love exploring all over the Pacific northwest.
Oregon’s best foods are seafood, excellent wine, great craft beer culture, amazing coffee, and fresh fruits/veggies nearly year round. There is no sales tax. Though many complain about the housing. You also get a lot more for your money, here as property taxes are roughly half, than what they are in big cities.
Cons – Portland is hard to get used to. Portland’s probably my least favorite part of Oregon. If you’re coming here for big city type living, Portland will disappoint. People experiencing homelessness is a real issue. There’s also really no good or easy fix for it and makes a lot of urban areas look bad which is disappointing.
Traffic is an issue as well if you are in the Portland Metro area, but it’s no different or worse than anywhere else. Also you have to account for mountains/rivers/large hills which limit how roads can be made. If an accident happens in certain areas, the only way to get around can be a 2 hour detour.
Tornadoes/blizzards aren’t an issue here, but they do have other inclement weather scenarios like forest fires and ice storms. I’ve found most people to be incredibly nice both in rural areas and cities.
Pros
- Great outdoors (Mt Hood, St. Helens, Mt Adam, all are within 2 hours of drive). Most of the year you can go hiking, skiing (Mt Hood is where the US ski team often trains) & whale watching to the coast. The Columbia river gorge is really beautiful (the Oregon side alone has more than 150 waterfalls).
- Good jobs
- Climate: it is known for rain but overall temperatures in the metro region rarely go above 100 degrees or below 32 degrees. Oregon summers are truly beautiful.
- Airport is fairly well connected and has reasonably good international connections
- Oregon grows most Christmas trees in the US, so you can take long drives and see the agriculture first hand in the Willamette valley; the Oregon wines have recently become pretty famous with several wine tours
- Food: Great choices & the food cart scene is really popular. There is a huge microbrewery industry coming up in and around Portland, Hood River & nearby towns.
- People: despite an image of a white city, Portland does have a lot of Asian & Latinos and people from across the country, making it a very diverse, young, and open city.
- Go from beach to mountains easily in a day
- So much wonderful wildlife. I’ve seen all kinds of critters from moose, bear, snakes, turtles and so many wonderful birds.
- It’s so easy to start your own business. You can make lots of money very quickly if you are willing to work hard and get creative.
- The state doesn’t tax you to death
Cons
- Schools: Oregon is among the lowest ranked state in education
- Not your sunny state, it remains cloudy or drizzles for 7–8 months of the year
- Homelessness: downtown Portland has a huge homelessness problem
- Grey skies for more than half the year.
- No one here knows how to drive in snow.
- Gluten free is a religion.
- Property values are over inflated.
- No self-service gas pumping
- Ignore your yard for a week and it will resemble the Amazon jungle.
- Vitamin D: You’re going to need to take supplements.
- Rain: Depending where you are, you’ll experience a lot of it. A constant drizzle.
Oregon is very diverse economically and geographically. Portland may be the biggest city, but if you travel just a bit out of the I-5 corridor, it becomes a very rural state very quickly. The Portland Metro Area is your typical west coast city. It can be rather pretentious at times as a city that wants to be hip. As you travel farther south on the I-5 corridor people are more friendly.
As you leave the I-5 corridor or travel East from Portland you enter into an entirely different type of Oregon. Eastern Oregon is more like Idaho than Oregon.
It is rugged, isolated. You should keep in mind that your own personal experience will determine if you think Oregon is a friendly place. Overall, I would say Oregonians are friendly.
The weather is generally mild year round. Summers are beautiful and usually last until the beginning part of October. We generally stay in the 70s and 80s from late June till October! Sunny with a light breeze off the Puget sound! The colors are magnificent all summer and fall! It is usually very green in the fall and winter due to our beloved rain lol! When it’s a nice day, it’s really nice! Luscious green foliage, every color flower you can think of!
The people are very nice, you’ll usually get a hello and a wave and smile when passing someone on the street and people are generally very helpful. People seem genuinely caring! The winters are dark and soaking wet at least 80% of the winter months. It starts getting bad toward Halloween and lasts until the end of May usually! Traffic is some of the worst In the country, the cost of living is really high and has no cap on rent, meaning landlords can charge as much as they want and some make you pay for water, sewer, garbage, insurance, monthly pet rent, pet fee, unless you have an emotional support dog or service dog.
A one bedroom under 720 sq. Feet with washer and dryer in the unit runs around $1,400 and that’s without utilities or insurance! Buying a place used to be way cheaper than renting, I’m sure mortgages will be going up especially where I’m at in the NW. Minimum wage is headed or is at $15.00 per hour in the King County area so lots of people work and commute to Seattle from Snohomish County where it’s cheaper to live.
For someone who enjoys nature, animals, gardening, outdoor space, and a quieter lifestyle, Oregon can be very appealing. The main tradeoffs are relatively expensive housing in many desirable areas, gray/wet winters in western Oregon, and wildfire/smoke risk in parts of the state during summer and early fall.
🌲 What Oregon feels like
Western Oregon is the classic Pacific Northwest: enormous evergreen trees, moss, rivers, ferns, green pastures, and long stretches of cloudy weather. Summers are generally much sunnier and drier than the winters.
The Oregon Coast is beautiful but considerably cooler, wetter, windier, and often foggy. Central and eastern Oregon are very different: more sunshine, open country, high desert, colder winter nights, and much less rain.
That means Oregon gives you several very different lifestyles within one state.
| Area | General feel |
|---|---|
| Portland area | Urban/suburban, green, mild winters, lots of services |
| Willamette Valley | Farms, vineyards, smaller cities, very green |
| Oregon Coast | Rugged ocean scenery, cool, wet, quiet |
| Central Oregon | Sunny, dry, pine forests, mountains, high desert |
| Southern Oregon | Warmer summers, valleys, forests, rural properties |
| Eastern Oregon | Wide-open ranch country, dry climate, fewer people |
- Portland
- Eugene
- Bend
- Astoria
- Medford
- Baker City
🏡 Cost of living
Housing is one of Oregon’s bigger drawbacks. The statewide median sale price was about $506,900 in August 2026. Portland was around $524,700, while Deschutes County, which includes Bend, was considerably higher at roughly $647,800. Prices vary enormously once you get into smaller towns and rural counties.
One unusual advantage is taxes: Oregon has no general sales tax. However, it relies heavily on personal income taxes; state rates range from 4.75% to 9.9%, depending on taxable income. So buying something with a $100 sticker price usually means paying $100 at the register, but your state income-tax burden may be noticeably higher than in states without an income tax.
🌧️ The weather
The stereotype that Oregon constantly rains is only partly true.
Western Oregon has long stretches of clouds, drizzle and rain from roughly fall through spring, but summers can be gorgeous—warm, sunny and quite dry.
Central Oregon around Bend is much sunnier and drier. Winters bring freezing temperatures and snow.
Eastern Oregon is even more continental, with hot summers, cold winters and relatively little rainfall.
The coast remains fairly mild year-round but can be damp, stormy and windy.
One issue that has become increasingly important is wildfire smoke. Oregon health officials issued multiple smoke warnings during the 2026 wildfire season, and the state notes a longer-term increase in wildfire-related poor-air-quality days.
🦆 Country living and animals
If your idea of Oregon is a few acres with ducks, geese, chickens, gardens and trees, there are plenty of places where that lifestyle exists.
The Willamette Valley is particularly attractive for small farms and homesteads because of its productive land, long growing season and abundant water compared with much of the interior West. Southern Oregon and parts of the coast can also provide attractive rural properties.
Central and eastern Oregon offer considerably more open space, but water availability, irrigation rights and wildfire exposure become much more important considerations.
For livestock or poultry, county zoning matters tremendously. A property that looks rural isn’t automatically unrestricted for agricultural use, so zoning is something I’d check before buying rather than afterward.
🌲 Outdoor life is a huge part of Oregon
This is probably one of Oregon’s biggest attractions.
Within the state you have the Pacific Ocean, Cascade Mountains, volcanoes, waterfalls, enormous forests, alpine lakes, high desert and rivers. Hiking, camping, fishing, kayaking, skiing, gardening, birdwatching and wildlife photography are all easy to build into everyday life.
And Oregon’s public coastline is particularly special—you don’t have to own beachfront property to enjoy enormous stretches of the coast.
💼 Jobs
The employment picture is somewhat mixed right now. Oregon’s unemployment rate was 5.2% in June 2026, compared with 4.2% nationally. Health care and social assistance has been the strongest area of recent job growth, while manufacturing has lost jobs. Oregon employers reported about 45,400 private-sector openings in the second quarter of 2026.
For someone moving without remote employment, I would secure work first unless you have substantial savings.
If sunshine matters more than lush greenery, Central Oregon becomes much more attractive—but land and housing around Bend can be expensive.
And if the dream is ocean + forest + ducks and geese + acreage, the coastal foothills can be spectacular, provided you’re comfortable with heavy rainfall.
All in all the pros make up for the cons because the people here really do care and you can see it happen daily. The NW is a giant loving community that continues to change for the better and that includes environmentally.
