Redfin’s 2026 ‘Most Neighborly’ ranking puts Portland second, citing giving, civic talk, and home prices
Portland places near the top in a new national ranking of “neighborly” metro areas
Portland ranked second in a new 2026 list of the nation’s “most neighborly” places, a measure built from indicators of volunteering, charitable giving, and resident-to-resident interaction, combined with housing-market filters. Salt Lake City took the top spot, followed by Portland and Kansas City, with Denver and Nashville rounding out the top five. Atlanta, San Diego, Austin, Raleigh, and Tampa also made the top 10.
The ranking uses metro areas as the unit of analysis, even when results are presented as city names. Organizers limited the comparison set to places meeting population thresholds and housing-market criteria, and then averaged how each metro ranked across multiple community-engagement factors. The approach is designed to capture a broad picture of social connection rather than a single behavior.
How Portland scored: giving and neighbor-to-neighbor civic conversation
For Portland, two headline measures highlighted were charitable giving and “community dialogue.” The report’s featured metrics for the Portland metro area included a 58% share of residents who donated at least $25 to a charitable organization in the prior year and a 22% share who said they discuss civic, societal, or local issues with neighbors at least once a month.
Housing figures included in the ranking placed Portland’s median home-sale price at $545,000, with a year-over-year increase of 1.2%. In separate housing-market reporting for December 2025, Portland’s median sale price was listed at $500,000 year over year, underscoring that housing measures can vary by the time window, geography, and product definition used in market summaries versus special reports.
Why Salt Lake City and Kansas City placed above and below Portland
Salt Lake City led the list with a median home-sale price of $544,000 and a year-over-year increase of 3.7%. The report’s featured social indicators for Salt Lake City included a 43% volunteering rate and a 44% share of residents who help a neighbor at least once a month.
Kansas City ranked third and was presented as the strongest among the top cities on “lending a hand,” with 51% of residents reported to help a neighbor at least monthly. Kansas City’s median home-sale price was listed at $337,473, with a 3.4% year-over-year increase—substantially lower than the two metros above it, reflecting a different affordability profile within the top tier.
Top 10 most neighborly metros for 2026
- Salt Lake City, Utah
- Portland, Oregon
- Kansas City, Missouri
- Denver, Colorado
- Nashville, Tennessee
- Atlanta, Georgia
- San Diego, California
- Austin, Texas
- Raleigh, North Carolina
- Tampa, Florida
The ranking frames “neighborliness” as a combination of social ties—such as helping behavior, volunteering, and civic conversation—measured across a metro area rather than within a single neighborhood or city boundary.
Because the results are built from multiple datasets and aggregated to metro-level averages, the ranking is best read as a comparative snapshot rather than a definitive judgment on any one neighborhood’s day-to-day experience. Within that framework, Portland’s high placement reflects measured levels of charitable participation and recurring civic conversation alongside housing costs that remain elevated relative to many U.S. metros.