Ask any Oregonian; Oregon is a wonderful place to live. However, making the choice of where to live can be difficult. To put together this list, we sifted through many articles and statistics about the best places to live in Oregon based on specific attractions and overall livability. Of course, rating livability is always going to be subjective to an extent, and what makes a place "the best" is reliant on individual experiences. When it comes down to it, pretty much anywhere you end up in Oregon is going to be amazing. However, if you’re looking to make a move and you’re not sure where to start, here are 11 amazing places you could hang your hat, broken down into categories.

Safest city: Brookings

Brookings, a coastal town near the California border, is home to 6,313 residents and has the lowest crime rate in the state. Plus, it's beautiful! See why this town deserves a visit during the holidays when it comes alive with holiday lights.

Best place to retire: Ashland

Ashland is home to the wonderful Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and it's also a fantastic place to retire. This lovely city has mild weather, access to great outdoor activities, a charming downtown, and it's very pedestrian friendly, making it a popular place to retire.

Best city for outdoorsy folks: Bend

Bend is surrounded by all kinds of incredible nature and outdoor activities abound! Especially this hidden waterfall trail along the Deschutes River.

Best place to raise a family: West Linn

This suburb of Portland has a population of slightly over 25,000 residents. Although the cost of living is higher than in some cities in Oregon, the crime rate is very low and the education, amenities, and housing make this a wonderful city to raise a family.

Best place to find a job: Corvallis

Corvallis is home to Oregon State University and businesses like Hewlett-Packard, and at 3.5% unemployment, it has the lowest unemployment rate in the state.

Most affordable: Springfield

Movoto ranked Springfield as the city with the lowest cost of living in Oregon. It also has its own reindeer farm, so that's pretty special too.

Most livable coastal town: Florence

It's hard to choose between Oregon's many wonderful seaside towns, but when it comes to livability, Florence came in first place. The lovely town has a high graduation rate, a stable housing market, a low crime rate, relatively sunny weather, and more.

Best place for food lovers: McMinnville

Although you could argue that Portland has the most variety of food and the most nationally recognized restaurants, Mcminnville takes the cake on this one. McMinnville is located in the Willamette Valley and is surrounded by farms and vineyards that make their farm-to-fork food culture possible (and delicious!). Bon Appétit even named McMinnville one of the six "foodiest towns" in the country.

Best schools: Lake Oswego

The lovely Lake Oswego has the best schools in the state. It's also one of the safest places to live in Oregon.

Best city for the arts: Portland

Portland is a wonderful city full of art and creativity. For art and music lovers, Portland is the place to be. It's not too shabby in the beautiful scenic views area either.

Best small town: Silverton

Oregon is full of incredible small towns, so this one was a particularly hard choice. With less than 10,000 residents, Silverton is a beautiful little town with a median housing value of 6% lower than the state's average, a higher median household income, a high graduation rate, and low crime rates, making it one of the best towns in Oregon.

Overall, Oregon is an amazing place to live with friendly people, beautiful scenic views, and lots of interesting activities to keep you entertained. Living in Oregon definitely has its benefits.

Do you live in any of these places? Have you ever? Everyone has their own idea of what makes somewhere the best place to live, and honestly, it’s hard to go wrong in a state as lovely as Oregon. What do you think the best places to live in Oregon are? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.