VacationSelector
Hawthorne Bridge and downtown, Portland
PortlandHawthorne Bridge and downtown
Camelback Mountain above the city, Scottsdale
ScottsdaleCamelback Mountain above the city

Photos: Portland by Cacophony, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Scottsdale by Visitor7, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Portland or Scottsdale?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Portland for

  • getting around
  • food and drink
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Portland’s own page.

Choose Scottsdale for

  • wellness
  • shopping
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Scottsdale’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Portland 20, Scottsdale 8: Portland leads by 12 points.
Food & drink. Portland 68, Scottsdale 46: Portland leads by 22 points.
Culture & sights. Portland and Scottsdale are level on 38.
Nightlife. Portland and Scottsdale are level on 52.
Nature & outdoors. Portland 84, Scottsdale 68: Portland leads by 16 points.
Day trips. Portland 58, Scottsdale 50: Portland leads by 8 points.
Good for families. Portland 55, Scottsdale 60: Scottsdale leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Portland 62, Scottsdale 20: Portland leads by 42 points.
Shopping & style. Portland 52, Scottsdale 60: Scottsdale leads by 8 points.
Affordability. Portland 38, Scottsdale 32: Portland leads by 6 points.
Live music & performing arts. Portland 55, Scottsdale 40: Portland leads by 15 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Portland 42, Scottsdale 72: Scottsdale leads by 30 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Portland and Scottsdale.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Portland
Best match
52match

Wins on getting around and food and drink with your weighting.

Scottsdale
46match

Wins on wellness and shopping with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Portland in July

27 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
13 mmrain in the month
15 hdaylight a day

Scottsdale in July

41 °Cdaytime high
29 °Cnight-time low
23 mmrain in the month
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150JFMAMJJASOND
PortlandScottsdale

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Portland: 1991-2020 normals, Portland International Airport (9.8 km from centre). Scottsdale: 1991-2020 normals, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePortlandScottsdale
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-8, UTC-7 in summerUTC-7
Emergency number911911
Elevation152 m380 m
Main airportPortland International Airport (PDX)10 km from centre88 non-stop destinationsPhoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)10 km from centre148 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasurePortlandScottsdale
City population652,503241,361
People per km²1,736-
Museums within 10 km1710
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Portland or Scottsdale somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.