Like all states, Oregon has certain places that are going on hard times. These Oregon places have an above-average percentage of people living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.
Even as the economy continues to improve, it’s worthwhile to look at the places in each state struggling to make ends meet. So we set our sites on locating the poorest places in Oregon.
To do so, we used Saturday Night Science to analyze the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 80 cities in Oregon with more than 5,000 people.
$46,693 median income · 23.4% poverty · #2 lowest income in Oregon
Located in
Klamath County, Oregon
Klamath Falls, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in Oregon thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.
The city of 22,115 people averages the 2nd lowest median household income in Oregon and the 4th highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$46,308 median income · 21.0% poverty · #1 lowest income in Oregon
Located in
Malheur County, Oregon
The second poorest city in Oregon is Ontario.
The city ranks as having the 6th highest incidence of poverty and lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 34th highest in the Beaver State.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$53,918 median income · 22.4% poverty · #7 lowest income in Oregon
Located in
Douglas County, Oregon
Placing as the third poorest city, Roseburg’s median income ranks as the 7th lowest.
And that’s a sign that there’s a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 22.4% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.
But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Beaver State.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$56,667 median income · 23.6% poverty · #10 lowest income in Oregon
Winston ranks as the fourth poorest place in Oregon.
The town ranks as having the 10th lowest median household income and the 3rd highest incidence of poverty in the state.
That being said, there’s still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$47,361 median income · 17.6% poverty · #3 lowest income in Oregon
Located in
Clatsop County, Oregon
The fifth poorest city in Oregon is Seaside.
The city ranks as having the 3rd lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 12th highest in Oregon.
Still not the best news for Seaside.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$56,927 median income · 19.4% poverty · #11 lowest income in Oregon
Located in
Linn County, Oregon
Sweet Home ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Beaver State.
It ranks as having the 8th highest incidence of poverty and the 2nd highest unemployment rate.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$58,427 median income · 20.9% poverty · #13 lowest income in Oregon
Located in
Union County, Oregon
La Grande places as the seventh poorest city in Oregon.
The city of over 13,058 ranks as having the 7th highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$65,012 median income · 24.3% poverty · #22 lowest income in Oregon
Located in
Benton County, Oregon
Corvallis ranks as the eighth poorest city in Oregon.
The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as one of the highest in the state.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$63,176 median income · 17.8% poverty · #19 lowest income in Oregon
Located in
Linn County, Oregon
Lebanon couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in Oregon; it ranks number 9.
While the median income is the 19th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Lebanon ranks as having the 10th most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Oregon.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$56,524 median income · 15.3% poverty · #8 lowest income in Oregon
Located in
Coos County, Oregon
And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Oregon is Coos Bay.
The city of 15,925 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Beaver State.
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: $83,011
Oregon statewide median: 11.9%
Oregon statewide median: 5.4%
On the map
Where poverty hits hardest in Oregon
Saturday Night Science
How we determined the poorest places in Oregon for 2026
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.
However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “poorest places”. So we used Saturday Night Science to look at this set of criteria from the newly released 2020-2024 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income
After we collected the data for all 80 places with more than 5,000 people in Oregon, we ranked each place from 1 to 80 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the poorest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Poor Score” with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Klamath Falls, crowned the “Poorest Place In Oregon For 2026”. 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
Detailed list of the poorest places to live in Oregon
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Poor Score | Population | Median income | Poverty | Unemployment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Klamath Falls | 3.00 | 22,115 | $46,693 | 23.4% | 8.5% |
| 2 | Ontario | 3.50 | 11,842 | $46,308 | 21.0% | 5.5% |
| 3 | Roseburg | 6.00 | 23,778 | $53,918 | 22.4% | 4.7% |
| 4 | Winston | 6.50 | 5,690 | $56,667 | 23.6% | 4.0% |
| 5 | Seaside | 7.50 | 7,192 | $47,361 | 17.6% | 8.1% |
| 6 | Sweet Home | 9.50 | 10,078 | $56,927 | 19.4% | 10.6% |
| 7 | La Grande | 10.00 | 13,058 | $58,427 | 20.9% | 6.1% |
| 8 | Corvallis | 11.50 | 59,960 | $65,012 | 24.3% | 8.4% |
| 9 | Lebanon | 14.50 | 19,344 | $63,176 | 17.8% | 5.8% |
| 10 | Coos Bay | 16.00 | 15,925 | $56,524 | 15.3% | 6.0% |
| 11 | Eugene | 16.00 | 179,591 | $66,562 | 19.0% | 7.6% |
| 12 | Madras | 16.00 | 7,676 | $64,659 | 17.7% | 10.4% |
| 13 | Newport | 17.00 | 10,583 | $60,568 | 16.2% | 7.3% |
| 14 | Lincoln City | 19.50 | 9,968 | $56,635 | 14.1% | 6.7% |
| 15 | Grants Pass | 21.00 | 39,311 | $59,646 | 14.4% | 5.3% |
| 16 | Sutherlin | 21.00 | 8,599 | $51,250 | 12.6% | 7.6% |
| 17 | Astoria | 22.00 | 10,109 | $68,007 | 16.8% | 5.3% |
| 18 | Woodburn | 22.00 | 27,875 | $67,347 | 16.3% | 5.2% |
| 19 | Milton-Freewater | 22.00 | 7,036 | $52,183 | 12.6% | 7.3% |
| 20 | Umatilla | 22.50 | 7,508 | $68,826 | 17.4% | 6.5% |
| 21 | Fairview | 23.00 | 10,735 | $70,107 | 17.5% | 4.1% |
| 22 | Baker City | 23.50 | 10,210 | $61,580 | 14.0% | 7.2% |
| 23 | Pendleton | 25.00 | 16,950 | $66,563 | 15.0% | 4.9% |
| 24 | Monmouth | 26.00 | 11,428 | $69,170 | 16.1% | 7.1% |
| 25 | Tillamook | 27.00 | 5,218 | $58,176 | 11.8% | 4.8% |
| 26 | Ashland | 27.00 | 21,259 | $68,028 | 15.2% | 6.2% |
| 27 | Prineville | 27.50 | 11,470 | $72,980 | 16.2% | 9.4% |
| 28 | Brookings | 27.50 | 6,703 | $74,933 | 16.9% | 3.3% |
| 29 | Florence | 27.50 | 9,482 | $53,333 | 10.3% | 6.6% |
| 30 | Springfield | 28.50 | 61,499 | $68,761 | 14.9% | 5.1% |
| 31 | Dallas | 29.00 | 17,531 | $71,549 | 15.5% | 7.4% |
| 32 | Talent | 30.00 | 6,254 | $62,543 | 11.7% | 4.0% |
| 33 | McMinnville | 30.00 | 34,596 | $73,736 | 16.0% | 5.5% |
| 34 | The Dalles | 31.00 | 15,917 | $62,614 | 11.0% | 7.7% |
| 35 | Estacada | 33.00 | 5,152 | $94,435 | 23.8% | 1.5% |
| 36 | Salem | 35.00 | 178,865 | $75,487 | 14.4% | 5.8% |
| 37 | Medford | 36.50 | 86,315 | $73,230 | 13.2% | 5.3% |
| 38 | Sheridan | 38.00 | 6,339 | $70,785 | 12.0% | 7.0% |
| 39 | Hermiston | 38.50 | 19,546 | $66,998 | 10.1% | 4.9% |
| 40 | Albany | 38.50 | 56,839 | $78,114 | 13.5% | 5.8% |
| 41 | Gresham | 39.00 | 112,378 | $77,795 | 13.0% | 5.6% |
| 42 | North Bend | 39.50 | 10,171 | $81,320 | 14.0% | 6.5% |
| 43 | King City | 40.00 | 5,073 | $63,684 | 8.7% | 2.0% |
| 44 | Forest Grove | 40.50 | 26,529 | $87,933 | 15.4% | 4.3% |
| 45 | Veneta | 43.00 | 5,200 | $66,890 | 8.6% | 2.2% |
| 46 | Stayton | 46.00 | 8,292 | $78,268 | 10.5% | 2.8% |
| 47 | Silverton | 46.00 | 10,456 | $79,960 | 10.6% | 1.9% |
| 48 | Cottage Grove | 46.00 | 10,698 | $80,875 | 10.7% | 6.0% |
| 49 | Independence | 46.50 | 10,199 | $85,375 | 12.5% | 3.9% |
| 50 | Gladstone | 47.50 | 11,977 | $91,250 | 13.6% | 5.9% |
| 51 | Portland | 49.00 | 641,165 | $90,919 | 12.7% | 5.8% |
| 52 | Hood River | 50.00 | 8,361 | $85,647 | 10.8% | 3.3% |
| 53 | St. Helens | 50.00 | 14,258 | $82,865 | 10.0% | 3.6% |
| 54 | Eagle Point | 52.00 | 9,839 | $84,126 | 10.0% | 13.9% |
| 55 | Redmond | 53.00 | 36,092 | $84,164 | 9.6% | 4.5% |
| 56 | Warrenton | 53.00 | 6,327 | $70,670 | 7.0% | 4.0% |
| 57 | Junction City | 55.00 | 6,947 | $85,595 | 9.5% | 5.3% |
| 58 | Keizer | 57.50 | 39,082 | $84,813 | 8.1% | 4.2% |
| 59 | Philomath | 59.00 | 5,642 | $83,672 | 7.2% | 3.2% |
| 60 | Beaverton | 60.00 | 97,812 | $98,622 | 10.1% | 4.4% |
| 61 | Milwaukie | 61.00 | 21,392 | $86,892 | 7.9% | 5.8% |
| 62 | Cornelius | 61.50 | 14,255 | $96,273 | 9.1% | 5.0% |
| 63 | Wilsonville | 62.00 | 26,974 | $96,236 | 8.8% | 6.6% |
| 64 | Bend | 62.50 | 103,390 | $96,394 | 8.8% | 3.7% |
| 65 | Tualatin | 63.00 | 27,763 | $104,043 | 10.0% | 4.4% |
| 66 | Troutdale | 64.00 | 15,923 | $89,337 | 7.4% | 4.9% |
| 67 | Central Point | 65.50 | 19,216 | $86,058 | 6.7% | 3.1% |
| 68 | Newberg | 67.00 | 26,066 | $93,232 | 7.1% | 3.9% |
| 69 | Hillsboro | 68.00 | 108,231 | $106,409 | 8.5% | 4.8% |
| 70 | Canby | 68.00 | 18,134 | $100,989 | 7.9% | 4.0% |
| 71 | Scappoose | 69.00 | 8,179 | $97,708 | 7.2% | 2.1% |
| 72 | Molalla | 69.00 | 10,186 | $89,318 | 4.3% | 4.7% |
| 73 | Sandy | 71.00 | 12,854 | $108,984 | 7.8% | 6.0% |
| 74 | Oregon City | 71.00 | 37,755 | $97,829 | 6.8% | 4.4% |
| 75 | Happy Valley | 72.50 | 26,738 | $122,151 | 7.7% | 4.8% |
| 76 | Tigard | 74.50 | 56,011 | $108,823 | 6.7% | 4.7% |
| 77 | Creswell | 74.50 | 5,621 | $100,385 | 4.3% | 0.8% |
| 78 | Sherwood | 77.00 | 20,307 | $109,966 | 4.3% | 3.5% |
| 79 | West Linn | 78.00 | 26,935 | $146,507 | 5.5% | 4.3% |
| 80 | Lake Oswego | 79.50 | 40,381 | $141,549 | 3.4% | 3.4% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 80 cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
The poorest cities in Oregon for 2026
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest places in Oregon, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Oregon.
When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there. Not sold on Oregon? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
