Baker City, OR

Metro Area Profile

16,840 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Baker City, OR metropolitan area.

Area Score unavailable

Missing required signal: opportunity. AreaProfile withholds a score rather than inferring the missing dimensions.

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Growth517th of 821 metros measured42
Housing affordability647th of 822 metros measured81
Climate642nd of 822 metros measured59
Physical resilience528th of 822 metros measured45
Access797th of 822 metros measured8
Economic stability703rd of 822 metros measured24
The quick read

41 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 5% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

Rent takes 17% of median household income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 4.7 times that income.

The nearest major airport is 107 miles away, which is farther than most measured US metros.

At a glance

Population
16,840
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$60,936
Bottom 30% nationally
Density
5/sq mi
3068.0 sq mi of land
Median age
47.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Metro area
Baker City, OR
Nearest major airport
BOI
107 mi · Boise Air Trml/Gowen Fld
Median home value
$285,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$5,432$60,936Bottom 30%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,229$34,492Bottom 43%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate14.9%Top 40%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute16.6 minBottom 2%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher26.1%Top 46%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Labor force participation48.6%Bottom 4%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $865 takes 17% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.7 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
17.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.7×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$865
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$285,600
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income4.69Top 16%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate71.5%Top 39%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±438,725Bottom 2%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$43$865Bottom 27%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$16,248$285,600Top 28%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income17.0%Bottom 35%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate15.7%Top 25%of 9352024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
42/ 100
Ranks 517 of 821 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing, measured from 2024 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has been broadly flat since 2020, at 16,750 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 2.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US metros.

Units permitted
41
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.4
Bottom 46% nationally
Year over year
−5%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202417k17k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.

Weather & climate

4 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 88°F and January a low of 20°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 9.1 inches.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station BAKER CITY MUNI AP, 11.2 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND1.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation9.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low20°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high88°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months41991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing40°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

45 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are wildfire, avalanche and earthquake.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 86% of measured US metros.

WildfireHigh
AvalancheModerate
LandslideModerate
EarthquakeElevated
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, inland flooding, hail, lightning, ice storm, volcanic activity, cold wave, drought, strong wind, tornado.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. This value is the population-weighted mean of all component counties; expected annual loss is their sum. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offences reported to police are published by department rather than by town, and only where a department reported every month of the year. No municipal department reports for this place — many smaller communities are policed by the county — so there is no figure to show. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Cost of living now is — the index above is the Bureau of Economic Analysis price parity for this area — but it is a price level for all consumption rather than a budget for a household, its spread is driven mostly by housing, and it excludes taxes. Housing affordability is computed separately from rent, price and income, because that answers a narrower and more actionable question. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

No airport meeting the AreaProfile major-airport definition lies within 100 miles; the nearest is 107 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Boise Air Trml/Gowen FldBOI107 mi10,000 ft
Grant County IntlMWH190 mi13,503 ft
Spokane IntlGEG202 mi8,199 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

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