When it comes to the cheapest places to live in Oregon, most people envision places with high-end vegan eateries, elitist Portlanders, and affluent nature enthusiasts.
Affordable living in the Beaver State is far from this stereotype.
To find the cheapest places to live in Oklahoma, we use Saturday Night Science and Census data on home prices, incomes, and cost of living. Real estate is a critical factor in the cost of living, and Oregon has plenty of cities where cheap, quality homes are available.
So, let’s start a real estate version of Oregon Trail, where we’ll substitute dollars saved for dysentery.
About 17.1 percent of Oregon workers now work from home, the 3rd-highest share in the country — our state-by-state commute breakdown shows what that flip did to carpooling.
$46,308 median income · $804 median rent · #6 home prices in Oregon
Located in
Malheur County, Oregon
Oregon might be one of the states with the highest rent in America, but apparently Ontario hasn’t gotten the memo. The median rent in Ontario is a measly $804, which is far below the national and statewide average. But that’s not really why Ontario is on this list. It’s because the city has the sixth cheapest homes in Oregon, with a median price tag of $305,608. Taken with Ontario’s median income of $46,308, and the city is safely in the top ten in Oregon for home price to income ratio.
Ontario is located in eastern Oregon, about an hour northwest of Boise, Idaho.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$52,183 median income · $877 median rent · #1 home prices in Oregon
Located in
Umatilla County, Oregon
We’re kicking off our tour of Oregon’s most affordable cities with Milton-Freewater, a city of 7,036 in Umatilla County, a place renowned for its wine.
Before you think Milton-Freewater has nothing going on besides drinking, keep in mind it’s also a naturally beautiful place to live. There are hiking trails and campgrounds at Harris Park, so you’ll always be able to get into the great outdoors with ease.
The overall cost of living in Milton-Freewater is 25% below the statewide average, but in terms of housing, it’s nearly half as expensive. Milton-Freewater enjoys the third cheapest median rent and cheapest median home prices in Oregon.
Your typical Milton-Freewater home sells for $250,756, while rent goes for around $877. And it’s not like things are cheap in Milton-Freewater just because the local economy is bad. On the contrary, Milton-Freewater has a low unemployment rate, and the median household income is $52,183.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$61,580 median income · $896 median rent · #2 home prices in Oregon
Baker City ranks as the third least expensive city in Oregon, with the second cheapest homes on the market statewide. Homes in Baker City go for a median price of $264,325. Combine that with a median income of $61,580, and Baker City has the second best home price to income ratio in Oregon.
And if you always died playing the Oregon Trail computer game as a kid, you can pick up some tips on surviving at the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$56,927 median income · $1,213 median rent · #12 home prices in Oregon
Located in
Linn County, Oregon
Sweet Home is a city in Linn County, Oregon, United States. The population was 8,925 at the 2010 census. According to the city, “Sweet Home is sometimes referred to as the ‘Gateway to the Santiam Playground’ due to its proximity to nearby lakes, rivers and the Cascade Mountains.”
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$64,659 median income · $979 median rent · #14 home prices in Oregon
Located in
Jefferson County, Oregon
Madras is the fifth cheapest in Oregon. The cost of living index comes in at 102, below the state and national average.
Found in Jefferson County, Madras features a housing market that is the 14th cheapest, with median rents sitting at $979.
If you’re looking for something cheap to do nearby, check out Cove Palisades State Park, Erickson Aircraft Collection, and Lavender Farms.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$63,176 median income · $1,312 median rent · #17 home prices in Oregon
Located in
Linn County, Oregon
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$66,563 median income · $956 median rent · #4 home prices in Oregon
Located in
Umatilla County, Oregon
Pendleton is yet another Umatilla County city to make the cut as one of the cheapest places to live in Oregon. Buying a home in Pendleton will set you back about $295,556, which on an income of $66,563 is no sweat at all. Pendleton also has the fourth best rent to income ratio in the state, so if you’re not ready to commit to a mortgage, Pendleton still has you covered.
Not to mention that if you’re a rodeo competitor, you’ll alway have a side gig ready for you at the Pendleton Round Up rodeo.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$58,427 median income · $968 median rent · #5 home prices in Oregon
Located in
Union County, Oregon
La Grande, located in eastern Oregon, ranked eighth for affordability, with a 103 overall cost of living that’s 5.5% lower than the state standard. The city’s real estate market is enticing, with a $298,760 median home value.
Some of the best things to do in and around La Grande include visiting Hilgard Junction State Park, checking out the Eastern Oregon Fire Museum, and exploring Wallowa Lake.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$68,826 median income · $1,159 median rent · #3 home prices in Oregon
Located in
Umatilla County, Oregon
Oregon might not be the cheapest state in America, but try telling that to the folks in Umatilla. Homes in Umatilla go for the third lowest prices in the state, and nowhere in Oregon will you pay a smaller percentage of your income on housing.
And you’ll get that quintessential Oregon outdoors-goodness at Hat Rock State Park, complete with trails, a pond for fishing, and resident eagles. Sounds like a good deal to me. The median home price in Umatilla is $291,018 and the median income is $68,826. Umatilla is also incredibly affordable for renters; with a median rent of $1,159/month, the city has the cheapest rent you’ll find anywhere on this list.
That doesn’t mean that Umatilla has skimped on safety though. In fact, it’s the second safest place in Oregon.
Umatilla is located in the northeastern part of Oregon, across the Columbia River from Washington.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$46,693 median income · $986 median rent · #7 home prices in Oregon
Located in
Klamath County, Oregon
Klamath Falls is a city in and the county seat of Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The city was originally called Linkville when George Nurse founded the town in 1867. It was named after the Link River, on whose falls the city was sited. The name was changed to Klamath Falls in 1893. The population was 20,840 at the 2010 census. The city is on the southeastern shore of the Upper Klamath Lake and about 25 miles north of the California-Oregon border.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Oregon’s statewide median.
Oregon statewide median: $499,004
Oregon statewide median: $83,011
On the map
Where your money goes furthest in Oregon
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the most affordable places to live in the Beaver State for 2026
Determining affordability for places in Oregon boils down to how much it costs to live here.
You need to understand your costs relative to what people in the rest of the state are paying.
With that logic in mind, we derived several cost of living statistics from the latest Census American Community Survey 2020-2024 for Oregon using Saturday Night Science. We indexed the cost of living statistics across the following categories:
- Housing
- Transportation
- Services
- Groceries
- Healthcare
- Utilities
These are then weighted together to produce an overall cost of living index where 100 is the United States average. Anything below 100 is relatively affordable. Anything over 100 is relatively expensive.
We applied the biggest weight to housing as it typically accounts for 25% or more of your budget. Additionally, housing costs are the highest variant cost across a state. We then compare these cost of living metrics for each place in Oregon to figure out which is the least expensive.
The “Cost of Living Index” allows you to rank all of the 80 places in Oregon that have more than 5,000 people from least expensive to most expensive. Any ties went to the larger city.
The place in Oregon with the lowest cost of living according to the data is Ontario.
We updated this article for 2026. This report reflects our eleventh time ranking the cheapest places to live in Oregon. The median Oregon home is 44 years old — old enough that it pays to compare home warranty plans before something expensive breaks.
The full plate
Cheapest Places To Live In Oregon
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | Cost Of Living Index | Median Income | Home Prices | Rent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ontario | 11,842 | 91 | $46,308 | $305,608 | $804 |
| 2 | Milton-Freewater | 7,036 | 97 | $52,183 | $250,756 | $877 |
| 3 | Baker City | 10,210 | 100 | $61,580 | $264,325 | $896 |
| 4 | Sweet Home | 10,078 | 102 | $56,927 | $350,175 | $1,213 |
| 5 | Madras | 7,676 | 102 | $64,659 | $358,034 | $979 |
| 6 | Lebanon | 19,344 | 103 | $63,176 | $391,198 | $1,312 |
| 7 | Pendleton | 16,950 | 103 | $66,563 | $295,556 | $956 |
| 8 | La Grande | 13,058 | 103 | $58,427 | $298,760 | $968 |
| 9 | Umatilla | 7,508 | 103 | $68,826 | $291,018 | $1,159 |
| 10 | Klamath Falls | 22,115 | 104 | $46,693 | $308,371 | $986 |
| 11 | Winston | 5,690 | 104 | $56,667 | $313,139 | $980 |
| 12 | Roseburg | 23,778 | 105 | $53,918 | $361,701 | $1,063 |
| 13 | Sutherlin | 8,599 | 105 | $51,250 | $345,332 | $1,221 |
| 14 | Tillamook | 5,218 | 105 | $58,176 | $459,171 | $1,241 |
| 15 | Hermiston | 19,546 | 106 | $66,998 | $339,211 | $1,088 |
| 16 | Prineville | 11,470 | 106 | $72,980 | $425,759 | $1,355 |
| 17 | Cottage Grove | 10,698 | 106 | $80,875 | $395,746 | $1,254 |
| 18 | Sheridan | 6,339 | 107 | $70,785 | $402,546 | $1,220 |
| 19 | Coos Bay | 15,925 | 108 | $56,524 | $323,165 | $1,034 |
| 20 | North Bend | 10,171 | 108 | $81,320 | $355,605 | $1,066 |
| 21 | The Dalles | 15,917 | 109 | $62,614 | $389,438 | $993 |
| 22 | Veneta | 5,200 | 110 | $66,890 | $435,477 | $1,590 |
| 23 | Springfield | 61,499 | 111 | $68,761 | $414,618 | $1,258 |
| 24 | Woodburn | 27,875 | 111 | $67,347 | $425,248 | $1,489 |
| 25 | Dallas | 17,531 | 111 | $71,549 | $474,062 | $1,209 |
| 26 | Independence | 10,199 | 111 | $85,375 | $425,946 | $1,665 |
| 27 | Lincoln City | 9,968 | 111 | $56,635 | $491,268 | $1,314 |
| 28 | Albany | 56,839 | 112 | $78,114 | $435,935 | $1,372 |
| 29 | Junction City | 6,947 | 112 | $85,595 | $478,165 | $1,316 |
| 30 | Grants Pass | 39,311 | 113 | $59,646 | $398,231 | $1,217 |
| 31 | Creswell | 5,621 | 113 | $100,385 | $468,604 | $1,218 |
| 32 | St. Helens | 14,258 | 114 | $82,865 | $425,040 | $1,413 |
| 33 | Talent | 6,254 | 114 | $62,543 | $430,818 | $1,579 |
| 34 | McMinnville | 34,596 | 115 | $73,736 | $484,842 | $1,380 |
| 35 | Stayton | 8,292 | 115 | $78,268 | $463,064 | $1,172 |
| 36 | Salem | 178,865 | 116 | $75,487 | $436,318 | $1,400 |
| 37 | Monmouth | 11,428 | 116 | $69,170 | $473,961 | $1,114 |
| 38 | Newport | 10,583 | 116 | $60,568 | $445,961 | $1,241 |
| 39 | Florence | 9,482 | 116 | $53,333 | $435,248 | $1,259 |
| 40 | Redmond | 36,092 | 117 | $84,164 | $514,637 | $1,628 |
| 41 | Warrenton | 6,327 | 117 | $70,670 | $498,702 | $1,305 |
| 42 | Philomath | 5,642 | 117 | $83,672 | $518,378 | $1,477 |
| 43 | Keizer | 39,082 | 118 | $84,813 | $450,015 | $1,424 |
| 44 | Central Point | 19,216 | 118 | $86,058 | $418,192 | $1,364 |
| 45 | Astoria | 10,109 | 118 | $68,007 | $474,605 | $1,239 |
| 46 | Medford | 86,315 | 119 | $73,230 | $406,689 | $1,376 |
| 47 | Eagle Point | 9,839 | 119 | $84,126 | $470,636 | $1,307 |
| 48 | Silverton | 10,456 | 120 | $79,960 | $546,989 | $1,580 |
| 49 | King City | 5,073 | 120 | $63,684 | $464,246 | $1,781 |
| 50 | Eugene | 179,591 | 121 | $66,562 | $473,231 | $1,402 |
| 51 | Cornelius | 14,255 | 122 | $96,273 | $485,775 | $1,573 |
| 52 | Fairview | 10,735 | 122 | $70,107 | $479,771 | $1,637 |
| 53 | Molalla | 10,186 | 122 | $89,318 | $497,975 | $1,654 |
| 54 | Seaside | 7,192 | 122 | $47,361 | $465,276 | $1,083 |
| 55 | Forest Grove | 26,529 | 124 | $87,933 | $525,623 | $1,460 |
| 56 | Milwaukie | 21,392 | 124 | $86,892 | $519,433 | $1,598 |
| 57 | Scappoose | 8,179 | 124 | $97,708 | $489,282 | $1,750 |
| 58 | Brookings | 6,703 | 124 | $74,933 | $477,228 | $1,415 |
| 59 | Sandy | 12,854 | 125 | $108,984 | $523,760 | $1,861 |
| 60 | Gresham | 112,378 | 126 | $77,795 | $471,181 | $1,586 |
| 61 | Newberg | 26,066 | 126 | $93,232 | $530,485 | $1,713 |
| 62 | Canby | 18,134 | 127 | $100,989 | $590,607 | $1,542 |
| 63 | Gladstone | 11,977 | 127 | $91,250 | $517,793 | $1,740 |
| 64 | Estacada | 5,152 | 127 | $94,435 | $540,538 | $682 |
| 65 | Hillsboro | 108,231 | 128 | $106,409 | $522,557 | $1,978 |
| 66 | Corvallis | 59,960 | 128 | $65,012 | $555,988 | $1,391 |
| 67 | Oregon City | 37,755 | 128 | $97,829 | $603,704 | $1,708 |
| 68 | Troutdale | 15,923 | 128 | $89,337 | $492,004 | $1,653 |
| 69 | Bend | 103,390 | 132 | $96,394 | $732,650 | $1,883 |
| 70 | Wilsonville | 26,974 | 134 | $96,236 | $635,208 | $1,878 |
| 71 | Hood River | 8,361 | 134 | $85,647 | $712,510 | $1,480 |
| 72 | Beaverton | 97,812 | 136 | $98,622 | $530,795 | $1,826 |
| 73 | Tigard | 56,011 | 136 | $108,823 | $608,407 | $1,782 |
| 74 | Sherwood | 20,307 | 138 | $109,966 | $633,005 | $2,131 |
| 75 | Portland | 641,165 | 139 | $90,919 | $534,638 | $1,655 |
| 76 | Tualatin | 27,763 | 139 | $104,043 | $638,736 | $1,806 |
| 77 | Ashland | 21,259 | 141 | $68,028 | $551,385 | $1,387 |
| 78 | West Linn | 26,935 | 153 | $146,507 | $777,229 | $2,116 |
| 79 | Happy Valley | 26,738 | 153 | $122,151 | $681,241 | $2,029 |
| 80 | Lake Oswego | 40,381 | 166 | $141,549 | $882,925 | $2,139 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024, cost-of-living data. 80 places with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
Oregon Affordability Summary
This is an accurate list of the most affordable places to live in Oregon for 2026, if you’re looking at the cost of living numbers in Oregon.
The cheapest cities in Oregon are Ontario, Milton-Freewater, Baker City, Sweet Home, Madras, Lebanon, Pendleton, La Grande, Umatilla, and Klamath Falls. Not sold on Oregon? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Most Affordable Places To Live In Oregon FAQs
What is the cheapest place to live in Oregon?
Ontario is the cheapest place to live in Oregon for 2026. It posts the lowest Cost of Living Index of the 80 places we analyzed; Milton-Freewater and Baker City are next.
How cheap is housing in Ontario?
The median home value in Ontario is $305,608, versus $499,004 statewide, and the median rent is $804. Housing carries the biggest weight in our cost of living index, and it is the main reason Ontario takes the top spot.
What are the most affordable places to live in Oregon?
The most affordable places to live in Oregon are Ontario, Milton-Freewater, and Baker City. We ranked all 80 places with more than 5,000 residents on housing, transportation, services, groceries, healthcare, and utilities costs; the full top ten is in the table above.
What is the most expensive place to live in Oregon?
Lake Oswego is the most expensive place to live in Oregon. It ranks last of the 80 places we scored on the Cost of Living Index, and the other priciest spots are listed next to the summary above.
How do you measure the cost of living in Oregon?
We index cost of living data from the Census American Community Survey across housing, transportation, services, groceries, healthcare, and utilities, with housing weighted heaviest since it eats the biggest share of a budget. A score of 100 is the national average; anything under 100 counts as affordable.
