Boise Is the Best Portland Neighborhood for Coffee Lovers

Portland is famous for its laid-back lifestyle and a wide range of local coffee shops and roasters. Coffee. For locals and tourists alike, one can easily find a coffee house in Portland and spend the entire day working, reading, and people-watching. Access to good coffee can easily be one of the things people consider when looking for an apartment in Portland. We at RentHop love our morning coffee, too (lunch coffee, afternoon coffee time, anyone?), and to celebrate National Gourmet Coffee Day, we’ve made it our mission to help you find out which Portland neighborhood is best for coffee lovers. Let’s take a look!

The Best Portland Neighborhoods for Renters Who Love Coffee

To find out the best neighborhood for coffee lovers, we collected public data on coffee shops in Portland, including their name, business type, location (in latitude and longitude), and ratings. We then geocoded the coffee shop data using the Neighborhood Boundaries released by Portland OpenData. For renters, just their love for coffee is not enough. At the end of the day, being able to afford the rent is perhaps the most important consideration. Therefore, we calculated the median two-bedroom rent by each neighborhood and incorporated that into our coffee score.

The neighborhoods with the highest density of coffee shops are largely in and surrounding Central Eastside. Topping our list is Boise, scoring an impressive 84.76. The small but vibrant neighborhood is home to a whopping number of coffee shops – 13 by raw count, or 15.99 per square mile, averaging 4.56 out of 5 in ratings.

Hollywood is the second-best coffee neighborhood in Portland, with 13.68 coffee shops per square mile. Coffee lovers benefit from the neighborhood’s relatively affordable rents, with the median rent currently at $1,795, 7.1% lower than Boise. Buckman is another prime area for coffee connoisseurs who are conscious of housing costs, securing the third spot on our list with a total score of 71.01. The area features 7.23 coffee shops per square mile with an average rating of 4.67, and the median rent is just under $1,375.

These Portland Neighborhoods Have the Highest Coffee Scores

1. Boise
   • Total Score: 86.54
   • Coffee Shops per Square Mile: 15.99
   • Average Rating: 4.56
   • Median Rent: $1,923
2. Hollywood
   • Total Score: 80.99
   • Coffee Shops per Square Mile: 13.68
   • Average Rating: 4.48
   • Median Rent: $1,795
3. Sunnyside
   • Total Score: 71.95
   • Coffee Shops per Square Mile: 8.22
   • Average Rating: 4.72
   • Median Rent: $1,595
4. Buckman
   • Total Score: 71.01
   • Coffee Shops per Square Mile: 7.23
   • Average Rating: 4.67
   • Median Rent: $1,375
5. Northwest District
   • Total Score: 66.76
   • Coffee Shops per Square Mile: 6.79
   • Average Rating: 4.62
   • Median Rent: $1,630
6. Portland Downtown
   • Total Score: 64.37
   • Coffee Shops per Square Mile: 6.25
   • Average Rating: 4.63
   • Median Rent: $1,750
7. Kerns
   • Total Score: 64.31
   • Coffee Shops per Square Mile: 5.94
   • Average Rating: 4.56
   • Median Rent: $1,595
8. Pearl District
   • Total Score: 63.28
   • Coffee Shops per Square Mile: 7.71
   • Average Rating: 4.67
   • Median Rent: $2,300
9. Hosford-Abernethy
   • Total Score: 60.92
   • Coffee Shops per Square Mile: 3.79
   • Average Rating: 4.69
   • Median Rent: $1,545
10. Humboldt
    • Total Score: 60.67
    • Coffee Shops per Square Mile: 6.24
    • Average Rating: 4.51
    • Median Rent: $1,995

These Neighborhoods Have the Most Coffee Shops

1. Boise
   • Coffee Shops per Square Mile: 15.99
   • Average Rating: 4.56
   • Median Rent: $1,923
2. Hollywood
   • Coffee Shops per Square Mile: 13.68
   • Average Rating: 4.48
   • Median Rent: $1,795
3. Sunnyside
   • Coffee Shops per Square Mile: 8.22
   • Average Rating: 4.72
   • Median Rent: $1,595
4. Pearl District
   • Coffee Shops per Square Mile: 7.71
   • Average Rating: 4.67
   • Median Rent: $2,300
5. Buckman
   • Coffee Shops per Square Mile: 7.23
   • Average Rating: 4.67
   • Median Rent: $1,375

These Neighborhoods Have the Best Coffee Shops, According to the Web

1. Creston-Kenilworth
   • Average Rating: 4.87 
   • Coffee Shops per Square Mile: 1.84
   • Median Rent: $1,635
2. St. Johns
   • Average Rating: 4.77
   • Coffee Shops per Square Mile: 0.31
   • Median Rent: $1,595
3. Concordia 
   • Average Rating: 4.75
   • Coffee Shops per Square Mile: 2.96
   • Median Rent: $1,995
4. Ardenwald-Johnson Creek
   • Average Rating: 4.75
   • Coffee Shops per Square Mile: 1.1
   • Median Rent: $1,595
5. Rose City Park
   • Average Rating: 4.73
   • Coffee Shops per Square Mile: 2.46
   • Median Rent: $1,595

Full Data

Methodology

This report ranks Portland neighborhoods by the coffee score, which factors in median rent, the number of coffee shops per square mile, and average coffee shop ratings (highest = 5). The median two-bedroom rent was calculated using two-bedroom rental listings created in the past 90 days, and the coffee shop data was gathered using the Google Places API. We included only the following business types in our analysis: art cafes, coffee shops, cafes, and espresso bars. For the purpose of this report, chain coffee stores with over 500 stores across the nation are removed from the analysis. We first cleaned up the rental and coffee data and then geocoded them using the shapefile released by Portland’s Open Data portal. Only neighborhoods with at least two coffee shops are included in the rankings. For more information, please email press@renthop.com.