Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Happy Valley grades B+ overall, 26th of 142 graded towns in Oregon. It is healthier than 86% of U.S. towns and the median household earns $122K. What holds it back is price: homes are expensive, about $676K for a typical one and 6.9 times the Portland metro’s $97K median household income. Happy Valley’s trail density is 1.7 miles per square mile, against 0.8 in Oregon’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. Happy Valley is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns. Happy Valley has 2 places on the National Register.
Where Happy Valley beats most towns.
13,903 counted in 2010 and 23,733 in 2020; an estimated 28,916 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 23.5% since 2020, after 70.7% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Oregon), ordered by how far Happy Valley is from typical.
Its grades run from A for walkability (better than 89% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 3%), so the B+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,392 in 1970, 23,733 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2004 and 7 maps from 1914 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Happy Valley. Close and well known come first.
Big draw40 mi MountainMount Hood
10 mi Stadium & arenaModa Center
11 mi Stadium & arenaProvidence Park
21 mi WaterfallMultnomah Falls
12 mi MuseumPittock Mansion
10 mi Stadium & arenaVeterans Memorial ColiseumMount Hood: Oregon's Mt. Hood Territory., Public domain · Moda Center: Lugnuts, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Providence Park: Pdx.rollingthunder, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Multnomah Falls: John Fowler from Placitas, NM, USA, CC BY 2.0 · Pittock Mansion: PittockBack.jpg: Cacophony derivative work: Tiptoety talk, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Veterans Memorial Coliseum: Steve Morgan, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Happy Valley, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Oct 2, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Happy Valley.
Happy Valley carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Oregon (mostly inland flooding) and has less tooth loss than most of Oregon, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Oregon.
20 miles of trail in 15 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Mount Talbert Nature Park, 240 acres with 4.3 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Mount Talbert Nature Park | 4.3 mi | 240 |
| 2. Scouters Mountain Nature Park | 1.6 mi | 99 |
| 3. Happy Valley Nature Park | 1.1 mi | 25 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by North Clackamas SD 12. Three of its 8 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Happy Valley Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,158 | B+ |
| Adrienne C. Nelson High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,536 | – |
| Scouters Mountain ElementaryTop results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 568 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within OR on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Oregon is tooth loss: 6.5% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 12.5% statewide. Against the 5,428 U.S. towns with household incomes like Happy Valley’s, it is healthier than 68%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
28% of Happy Valley adults have high blood pressure, below both Oregon’s towns (33%) and U.S. towns (35%). 12% of adults report frequent physical distress in Happy Valley. Happy Valley beats the Oregon average on 13 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 0.
| Happy Valley | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 33% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 15% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9.8% | 13% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 20% | 19% |
| What stands out | Happy Valley | OR |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6.5% | 12.5% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 5.8% | 8.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 6.9 years of the Portland metro’s $97K median household income, the typical home (about $676K) costs more against local pay than in 82% of Oregon towns; that ratio is one input to its D− for cost of living. The median property tax bill is $7,542, against $3,876 across Oregon, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The median rent in Happy Valley is $2,029 a month. The typical Happy Valley home is worth about $676,000, about the same as a year ago, 37% above the Oregon typical home. 79% of Happy Valley households own their home.
| Happy Valley | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $2,029 a month | $1,413 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 79% | 65% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Jobs based here grew from 4,432 in 2013 to 6,472.
Most working residents leave Happy Valley for work: only 4% work in town. Jobs based in Happy Valley grew to 6,472 in 2023, 2,040 more than in 2013. Happy Valley’s average trip to work is 27 minutes.
| Happy Valley | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 24% | 14% | 11% |
| Median household income | $122,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.9% | 10% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 90% of Oregon towns, with expected losses of about $243 per resident a year; that rating is what its B for hazard risk is built on.
One flood insurance claim has been paid in Happy Valley since 2015.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Happy Valley has mild winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 80°, January nights drop to 36° and about 4 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Children under 18 are 27% of residents (20% statewide). Happy Valley has grown 24% since 2020, to 28,916 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 46% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 37% across Oregon.
| Happy Valley | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 46% | 27% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 27% | 21% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 16% | 18% | 18% |
| Median age | 39 years | 39.4 years | 40.5 years |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.3 points. Across Oregon, 50.1% of residents are women. Median age: women 38.9, men 39.2.
| Happy Valley | OR | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 13.9% | 10.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 12.8% | 9.6% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.8% | 8.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.9% | 14% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.8% | 14.1% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 14.5% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 9.5% | 12.2% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.9% | 11.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.9% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5% | 8.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 14.4% | 22.4% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.4% | 23.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 12.7% | 9.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 29% | 22.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 17.4% | 14.1% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
16 within 15 miles of the center of Happy Valley
About 5 of every 100 Happy Valley residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Oregon.
Where Happy Valley’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
City in Oregon, United States
Happy Valley is a suburban city in the Portland metropolitan area. Happy Valley is near the northwest edge of Clackamas County, Oregon, United States approximately 13 miles to the southeast of downtown Portland. The population was 23,733 at the 2020 census, According to 2023 census estimates, the city is estimated to have a population of 28,409.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Happy Valley.
| Town | OR rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Happy Valley | #26 | B+ | D− | — | B+ | A |
| Damascus | #64 | C | D | — | C | B+ |
| Portland | #61 | C+ | D | D− | A | A− |
Happy Valley and Damascus report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Happy Valley with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Happy Valley grades B+ overall, better than 70% of U.S. towns and #26 of 142 in Oregon. It grades A for health and B+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D−.
