Grants Pass, OR

Metro Area Profile

88,179 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the Grants Pass, OR metropolitan area.

41out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 2% of 379 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity351st of 379 published metros31
Growth510th of 821 published metros42
Housing affordability797th of 822 published metros54
ClimateTop 42% of 822 published metros69
Physical resilience778th of 822 published metros14
Access442nd of 822 published metros74
Economic stability566th of 822 published metros37
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published metro profiles: unemployment is 7.4% and the Opportunity signal places Grants Pass in the bottom 7%.

Buying strains local incomes far more than renting does — the median home is 6.7 times median household income, against a historic benchmark near three — while rent takes 24% of it.

Physical-risk exposure is above the national median, driven mainly by inland flooding, wildfire and earthquake.

At a glance

Population
88,179
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$60,098
Bottom 27% nationally
Density
54/sq mi
1638.6 sq mi of land
Median age
47.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Metro area
Grants Pass, OR
Nearest major airport
MFR
36 mi · Rogue Valley Intl/Medford
Median home value
$404,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 7.4% is lower than 2% of the 379 measured US metros.

Employment held steady over the past year, at 33,265 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$3,546$60,098Bottom 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,801$35,179Bottom 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate15.6%Top 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute22.7 minBottom 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher19.7%Bottom 23%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment33,265Bottom 2%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)0.1%Bottom 49%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.0%Top 31%June 2026
Labor force35,936Bottom 2%June 2026
Labor force participation49.7%Bottom 6%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$59,710Bottom 43%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$50,730Top 24%2025 OEWS
Metro employment30,540Bottom 2%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.1%Top 40%June 2026
Unemployment rate7.4%Top 2%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/067.44.9
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 7.4% in June 2026. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.
Largest occupations — Grants Pass, OR
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Home Health and Personal Care Aides4,640$53,120
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,240$34,900
Cashiers760$34,080
Retail Salespersons740$36,940
Stockers and Order Fillers670$36,500
Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary560$38,140

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,194 takes 24% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 6.7 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
23.8%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
6.7×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,194
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$404,300
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income6.73Top 4%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate71.7%Top 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4939,503Top 47%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$51$1,194Top 23%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$14,314$404,300Top 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income23.8%Top 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate7.1%Bottom 16%2024 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 510 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 88,276 in 2024.

At 2.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US metros.

Units permitted
229
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.6
Bottom 48% nationally
Year over year
−9%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
35.4%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202489k88k
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 77°F and January a low of 33°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 40.7 inches.

20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station SEXTON SUMMIT, 18.1 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND8.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation40.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low33°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high77°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months41991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing29°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

14 / 100
Physical resilience

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

WildfireHigh
EarthquakeElevated
Inland floodingHigh
Heat waveModerate
AvalancheModerate

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

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
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest 36 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Rogue Valley Intl/MedfordMFR36 mi8,800 ft
Mahlon Sweet FldEUG121 mi8,009 ft
Portland IntlPDX226 mi11,000 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)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
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)

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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