Newport vs Sweet Home

Which is the better fit for you?

Newport, OR
45
Area Score
Bottom 8% nationally
Sweet Home, OR
47
Area Score
Bottom 13% nationally

Want a third or fourth place beside these? Open them in the shortlist and add more.

Sweet Home receives the higher standardized Area Score. That reflects AreaProfile's weighting, not a judgment about which place is better to live in.

If you are moving

What the difference in prices, rent, homes and weather comes to, using the published figures for the two places. Add your income to see what it would take to keep pace.

Moving from Newport to Sweet Home

It stays in this browser and is never sent anywhere.

Everyday prices
The Bureau of Economic Analysis publishes no regional price index for Newport, so nothing here is estimated in its place.
Income to keep the same purchasing power
Needs a price index for both places.
A new two-bedroom lease
+$215 a month
HUD benchmarks it at $1,695 in Sweet Home against $1,480 in Newport.
The median home
38% less
$273,300 in Sweet Home against $441,400 in Newport.
The weather you would swap
Winters 5°F colder
Normal January lows are 34°F in Sweet Home against 39°F in Newport; July highs are 82°F against 64°F (summers 18°F hotter).

These are differences between published figures, not a forecast of your budget. Income and sales taxes, commuting, schools, insurance and the job you would actually get are not in them, and a price index describes a metropolitan area, so two places in one metro read the same. HUD’s rent is a benchmark for a new lease, not a listing.

Signals

Newport
Sweet Home
Opportunity: Newport is the more favorable of the two.
Opportunity
33 · Bottom 9%
vs
31 · Bottom 7%
Growth: Sweet Home is the more favorable of the two.
Growth
73 · Top 11%
vs
75 · Top 9%
Climate: Sweet Home is the more favorable of the two.
Climate
70 · Bottom 48%
vs
73 · Top 37%
Physical resilience: Sweet Home is the more favorable of the two.
Physical resilience
23 · Bottom 18%
vs
32 · Bottom 25%
Housing affordability: Newport is the more favorable of the two.
Housing affordability
52 · Bottom 23%
vs
50 · Bottom 21%
Schools: Newport is the more favorable of the two.
Schools
29 · Bottom 23%
vs
27 · Bottom 22%
Access: Sweet Home is the more favorable of the two.
Access
67 · Bottom 9%
vs
81 · Bottom 22%
Economic stability: Sweet Home is the more favorable of the two.
Economic stability
33 · Bottom 13%
vs
41 · Bottom 23%

Measured values

MetricNewportSweet HomeSource period
Population10,58310,0782024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income — the two are too close to separate$60,568 ±$7,678$56,927 ±$6,1412024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income$40,088 — more favorable$30,9572024 ACS 5-Year
Population density1,061/sq mi1,899/sq mi2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value$441,400$273,3002024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent — the two are too close to separate$1,241 ±$88$1,213 ±$2082024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, two bedroom$1,480 — more favorable$1,695FY2026
Homeownership rate58.2%66.9%2024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment rate6.0%5.5% — more favorableJuly 2026
Employment change (year over year)−1.2%−1.2%July 2026
Bachelor's degree or higher31.3% — more favorable11.3%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate — the two are too close to separate14.9% ±3%19.9% ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units permitted (12 months)1075212 months ending July 2026
Permits per 1,000 residents10.1 — more favorable5.212 months ending July 2026
Permit change (year over year)+345.8%+36.8%12 months ending July 2026
Average July high64°F82°F1991-2020 Normals
Average January low39°F34°F1991-2020 Normals
Annual precipitation67.3"54.5"1991-2020 Normals
Distance to major airport54 mi32 mi — more favorableNASR current cycle
Average commute16.7 min — more favorable36.0 min2024 ACS 5-Year
Median age51.342.42024 ACS 5-Year
Public schools462024-25 school year
Students per teacher18.618.1 — more favorable2024-25 school year
Math proficiency34.7% — more favorable33.5%2018-19 school year
Reading proficiency50.6%50.7% — more favorable2018-19 school year
Free or reduced-price lunch eligibility90.5%73.7%2024-25 school year

A bolded value is the more favorable of the two where the metric has a clear direction. Metrics like population and density have no inherent better or worse and are shown unweighted.

3 rows above show both figures with a ± margin and neither in bold. Those come from the American Community Survey, which samples rather than counts, and the gap between the two is smaller than the uncertainty on the figures themselves — so the survey did not find a difference to report, and calling either one the winner would be reading a result out of noise.

The number of units permitted is not marked because the larger place always permits more; the per-resident rate is the fair comparison. The year-over-year change is not marked either: a percentage on fewer than 300 units swings on a handful of permits.

Physical risk tradeoff

Newport

Elevated or high exposure: earthquake, inland flooding.

Sweet Home

Elevated or high exposure: earthquake.

Your best match

Weight what matters to you. Your preferences stay in this browser and never change either Area Score.

Newport
—
Newport: Your Score
45
Area Score
Sweet Home
—
Sweet Home: Your Score
47
Area Score

Select your priorities to see which of the two fits them better.

Full profiles: Newport, OR · Sweet Home, OR · How this is calculated: methodology