These Are The 10 Poorest Cities In Oregon

Oregon brings to mind images of the beautiful landscapes and some of the best people in the country.

However, like all states, Oregon has certain places that are going on hard times. These places have an above average percent of people that are living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.

With all the talk about income inequality going on around the country, we thought it prudent to take a look at the places in each state that are struggling to make it even as the economy continues to improve. So we set our sights on bringing attention to the places in Oregon that could use a helping hand.

After analyzing Census data from the 2010-2014 American Community Survey for the 147 places in Oregon with more than 2,000 people, we were left with this set of the ten poorest places in the Beaver State:

Ontario
Milton-Freewater
Prineville
Winston
Reedsport
Cave Junction
Phoenix
Klamath Falls
Roseburg North
Independence

To be clear, this isn’t a commentary on the people that live there or the vibrant culture and traditions of these places. Instead, it’s just a look at the facts and status of the economy.

For more on how we calculated the top ten, read on or skip to the end for the full list. Oh, and the richest place in Oregon? That would be Bethany.

How We Determined The Poorest Places In Oregon

The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the poorest places is simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of certain size.

However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “poorest places”. So we looked at this set of criteria from the 2010-2014 American Community Survey:

Poverty Level
Median Household Income (Lower is poorer)
Unemployment Rate (Higher is poorer)

Median household income is more a digestible way to understand how poor a place really is. While the unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for improvement in the city or town. If more people are employed, the brighter the future looks and vice versa.

After we collected the data for all 147 places with more than 2,000 people in Oregon, we ranked each place from 1 to 147 for each of the criteria with 1 being the most poor.

We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “poor score” with the place having the lowest overall poor score, Ontario, being named the “Poorest Place In Oregon”.

You can learn more about the top ten below or skip to the end to see the rankings for all 147 places.

1. Ontario

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 11,148Poverty Level: 31.3%
Unemployment Rate: 15.1%

2. Milton-Freewater

Population: 7,094Poverty Level: 29.7%
Unemployment Rate: 17.0%

3. Prineville

Population: 9,184Poverty Level: 27.8%
Unemployment Rate: 15.0%

4. Winston

Source: Google Maps

Population: 5,356Poverty Level: 27.8%
Unemployment Rate: 15.1%

5. Reedsport

Source: flickr

Population: 4,107Poverty Level: 25.9%
Unemployment Rate: 16.5%

6. Cave Junction

Source: wikipedia

Population: 2,059Poverty Level: 26.2%
Unemployment Rate: 13.9%

7. Phoenix

Population: 4,465Poverty Level: 23.5%
Unemployment Rate: 19.9%

8. Klamath Falls

Population: 21,165Poverty Level: 26.0%
Unemployment Rate: 16.2%

9. Roseburg North

Source: Google Maps

Population: 6,140Poverty Level: 26.3%
Unemployment Rate: 13.6%

10. Independence

Source: flickr

Population: 8,654Poverty Level: 32.6%
Unemployment Rate: 18.8%

There You Have It – The Poorest Places In Oregon

Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest places in Oregon we weren’t trying to comment on the quality of the people in the area, only the statistics. But when you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being on he bottom of the income ladder.

If you’re curious enough, here are the richest cities in OR, according to data:

Richest: Bethany
2nd Richest: West Haven-Sylvan
3rd Richest: Happy Valley
For more Oregon reading , check out:

If You’re From Portland This Will Be The Most Jaw-Dropping Thing You See Today. No Contest.
These Are The 10 Luckiest Cities in Oregon According to Science
These Are The 10 Most Dangerous Cities In Oregon

Detailed List Of Poorest Places In Oregon

City	Rank	Population	Poverty Level	Unemployment Rate
Ontario	1	11,148	31.3%	15.1%
Milton-Freewater	2	7,094	29.7%	17.0%
Prineville	3	9,184	27.8%	15.0%
Winston	4	5,356	27.8%	15.1%
Reedsport	5	4,107	25.9%	16.5%
Cave Junction	6	2,059	26.2%	13.9%
Phoenix	7	4,465	23.5%	19.9%
Klamath Falls	8	21,165	26.0%	16.2%
Roseburg North	9	6,140	26.3%	13.6%
Independence	10	8,654	32.6%	18.8%
Myrtle Creek	11	3,413	31.4%	17.6%
Tillamook	12	4,957	34.5%	10.2%
Shady Cove	13	2,936	25.4%	16.0%
Rogue River	14	2,173	20.1%	14.9%
Redmond	15	27,002	23.0%	19.5%
Monmouth	16	9,769	36.3%	10.9%
Nyssa	17	3,221	26.7%	18.7%
Grants Pass	18	34,916	22.4%	13.3%
Wood Village	19	3,946	25.3%	14.1%
Oakridge	20	3,205	19.7%	19.3%
Warm Springs	21	3,148	27.0%	28.9%
Sweet Home	22	9,042	21.0%	14.7%
Green	23	7,954	22.3%	16.0%
Cottage Grove	24	9,772	22.0%	12.8%
Madras	25	6,419	25.9%	14.0%
Roseburg	26	21,858	22.4%	14.2%
Lincoln City	27	7,977	24.4%	10.4%
Sheridan	28	6,081	17.4%	21.5%
Coos Bay	29	16,022	23.0%	11.1%
Springfield	30	59,882	22.1%	12.9%
Burns	31	2,753	14.6%	16.4%
Sutherlin	32	7,776	21.9%	11.8%
Four Corners	33	17,202	21.7%	16.3%
La Grande	34	13,090	26.7%	9.4%
Woodburn	35	24,282	24.1%	13.6%
Corvallis	36	54,735	36.0%	8.7%
Stayton	37	7,719	19.9%	15.1%
Tri-City	38	3,737	20.0%	14.6%
Hayesville	39	18,611	20.7%	13.6%
Florence	40	8,498	18.5%	9.8%
Medford	41	76,648	22.5%	12.2%
Toledo	42	3,449	19.4%	15.4%
Lakeview	43	2,796	18.0%	12.4%
Veneta	44	4,633	21.0%	15.0%
Eugene	45	158,131	28.5%	10.0%
Junction City	46	5,566	17.4%	14.6%
Myrtle Point	47	2,416	17.2%	12.1%
McMinnville	48	32,839	23.7%	12.1%
Canyonville	49	2,276	19.2%	10.2%
Baker City	50	9,774	17.5%	10.8%
Dayton	51	2,545	20.2%	17.4%
Irrigon	52	2,065	19.3%	18.0%
White City	53	8,355	21.0%	14.1%
Umatilla	54	6,998	20.4%	12.5%
Talent	55	6,164	20.9%	7.0%
Seaside	56	6,481	18.3%	12.2%
Estacada	57	2,860	22.1%	10.4%
Lebanon	58	15,761	20.6%	10.0%
Coquille	59	3,831	16.1%	13.2%
Albany	60	51,210	19.8%	12.5%
St. Helens	61	13,017	16.6%	15.1%
Salem	62	157,967	18.0%	12.9%
Gresham	63	108,250	20.0%	12.1%
Ashland	64	20,412	21.2%	9.5%
North Bend	65	9,591	15.5%	12.5%
Three Rivers	66	3,981	18.4%	11.9%
Gervais	67	2,527	18.6%	13.3%
Altamont	68	19,278	16.9%	10.3%
Dallas	69	14,788	17.1%	14.4%
Astoria	70	9,503	21.7%	7.8%
King City	71	3,351	12.9%	7.5%
Boardman	72	3,305	21.8%	7.7%
Gold Beach	73	2,263	20.2%	8.7%
Newport	74	10,045	17.9%	7.1%
Jennings Lodge	75	7,416	14.5%	13.9%
Sisters	76	2,227	15.7%	8.5%
Jefferson	77	3,152	19.8%	7.9%
Cornelius	78	12,068	12.5%	16.3%
Turner	79	2,272	11.7%	15.4%
Forest Grove	80	22,070	15.1%	10.9%
Brookings	81	6,350	11.4%	10.2%
The Dalles	82	15,068	14.7%	8.3%
Redwood	83	2,661	9.9%	8.7%
Pendleton	84	16,830	14.4%	9.7%
Troutdale	85	16,339	15.8%	12.8%
Warrenton	86	5,089	15.1%	5.5%
Hermiston	87	17,031	17.4%	8.1%
Portland	88	602,568	18.0%	9.4%
Philomath	89	4,577	17.2%	10.1%
Silverton	90	9,342	14.9%	11.3%
Harrisburg	91	3,618	13.8%	10.3%
Central Point	92	17,443	12.0%	10.1%
Bandon	93	3,055	12.0%	4.3%
Eagle Point	94	8,599	13.5%	12.1%
Lafayette	95	3,770	15.4%	10.1%
Mount Angel	96	3,389	11.8%	8.0%
Keizer	97	36,875	14.2%	9.5%
Hubbard	98	3,206	18.6%	6.2%
Newberg	99	22,451	19.0%	7.9%
Scappoose	100	6,778	12.4%	12.1%
Oak Grove	101	17,202	9.9%	11.4%
Milwaukie	102	20,449	13.6%	10.2%
Gladstone	103	11,668	13.5%	9.9%
Aumsville	104	3,740	11.2%	10.1%
Stanfield	105	2,148	10.5%	9.6%
Deschutes River Woods	106	5,358	10.5%	7.9%
Bend	107	79,698	13.5%	8.3%
Creswell	108	5,065	7.2%	10.3%
Beaverton	109	92,593	13.3%	9.2%
Metzger	110	3,541	13.9%	5.3%
Oregon City	111	33,834	12.5%	9.8%
Jacksonville	112	2,816	9.5%	7.8%
Fairview	113	9,094	17.2%	5.4%
Canby	114	16,821	10.8%	10.3%
Aloha	115	52,902	12.1%	9.7%
Molalla	116	8,247	8.1%	9.8%
Hood River	117	7,311	15.5%	4.2%
Mount Hood Village	118	5,417	8.2%	10.1%
West Slope	119	7,240	10.3%	9.2%
Tualatin	120	26,604	10.5%	9.6%
Garden Home-Whitford	121	6,019	9.4%	9.1%
Hillsboro	122	95,765	12.4%	8.4%
Sublimity	123	2,764	8.1%	8.4%
Wilsonville	124	20,335	9.8%	8.9%
Tigard	125	49,633	10.5%	8.3%
Vernonia	126	2,052	10.8%	8.0%
Sandy	127	9,945	8.4%	8.5%
Columbia City	128	2,351	6.1%	9.8%
Cedar Hills	129	8,757	11.0%	7.6%
Oatfield	130	13,618	9.8%	8.1%
Damascus	131	10,711	8.4%	8.9%
Lake Oswego	132	37,310	7.3%	9.1%
Raleigh Hills	133	6,197	9.7%	7.4%
Mulino	134	2,314	5.7%	8.6%
Beavercreek	135	4,129	5.7%	8.6%
Odell	136	2,301	4.1%	7.1%
Oak Hills	137	11,946	7.0%	7.8%
Cedar Mill	138	15,482	7.4%	7.8%
West Linn	139	25,710	5.7%	8.1%
Rockcreek	140	9,261	8.4%	6.2%
Sherwood	141	18,687	6.2%	7.5%
Stafford	142	2,073	10.5%	5.0%
Bull Mountain	143	8,977	9.8%	4.8%
Dundee	144	3,181	5.4%	5.2%
Happy Valley	145	15,693	4.0%	7.5%
West Haven-Sylvan	146	7,861	3.8%	5.2%
Bethany	147	21,658	3.9%	5.6%

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Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.

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