Josephine County, OR

County Profile

88,179 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Josephine County, OR.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

40out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 3% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity1,286th of 1,463 counties measured33
Schools929th of 1,377 counties measured36
Growth1,031st of 1,453 counties measured39
Housing affordability1,423rd of 1,462 counties measured41
ClimateTop 49% of 1,463 counties measured69
Physical resilience1,362nd of 1,463 counties measured18
Access923rd of 1,463 counties measured74
Economic stability1,041st of 1,463 counties measured43
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 7.7% and the Opportunity signal places Josephine County in the bottom 12%.

In the public schools here, 35% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 19.5 students for every teacher.

229 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 9% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
88,179
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$60,098
Bottom 36% nationally
Density
54/sq mi
1,638.6 sq mi of land
Median age
47.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Josephine County
Oregon
Metro area
Nearest major airport
MFR
36 mi · Rogue Valley Intl/Medford
Median home value
$404,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 7.7% — higher than in all but 2% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 0.1% over the past year, to 32,995 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$55,87742nd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$58,76754th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,5462024 ACS 5-Year$60,098Bottom 36%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,8012024 ACS 5-Year$35,179Top 49%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$53,658Bottom 40%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year15.4%Bottom 34%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.0 min2024 ACS 5-Year22.7 minTop 29%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year19.7%Bottom 36%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year73.8%28th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202632,995Bottom 49%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+0.2%Top 48%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.1%Top 40%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202635,75350th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year70.0%Bottom 26%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.4%68th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.1%Bottom 43%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20267.7%Bottom 2%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year12.1%76th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/078.04.3
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 7.7% in July 2026. It has been rising for the last 2 months, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. 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.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202460k52k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $60,098 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

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

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

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.

35% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 55% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 19.5 students for every full-time teacher across 26 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
26
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
19.5
across all schools here
Math proficiency
34.5%
Bottom 33% in Oregon
Reading proficiency
55.3%
Top 42% in Oregon
The 12 largest of 26 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Grants Pass High SchoolGrants Pass SD 71,65822.128%66%
North Middle SchoolGrants Pass SD 767318.737%62%
South Middle SchoolGrants Pass SD 761020.332%48%
Hidden Valley High SchoolThree Rivers/Josephine County SD52222.712%57%
Redwood Elementary SchoolGrants Pass SD 744319.355%59%
North Valley High SchoolThree Rivers/Josephine County SD42422.332%67%
Allen Dale Elementary SchoolGrants Pass SD 739718.052%57%
Lincoln Elementary SchoolGrants Pass SD 738619.347%56%
Fleming Middle SchoolThree Rivers/Josephine County SD38122.434%53%
Evergreen Elementary SchoolThree Rivers/Josephine County SD37818.932%42%
Parkside ElementaryGrants Pass SD 736115.739%43%
Riverside Elementary SchoolGrants Pass SD 735116.742%52%

81.4% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Oregon’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 1% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 100.7, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Grants Pass, OR Metro Area is up 15% over five years, but down 5.2% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $2,086 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.52% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,363, some 14% above the $1,194 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,363 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $54,500 a year, about 91% of the median household income here of $60,098.

The typical renter household here spends 33% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,194 a month.

A median home at $404,300 costs 5.7 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $70,868, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Cost of living
100.7

Prices here run about 1% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Grants Pass, OR Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
32.8%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
5.7×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,363
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,194
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$404,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Josephine County’s median household income of $60,098, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Grants Pass, OR Metro Area’s figure2023100.7Bottom 24%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Grants Pass, OR Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2−5.2%1st percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Grants Pass, OR Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+15.3%1st percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Grants Pass, OR Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+71.2%16th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.42024 ACS 5-Year5.7Bottom 2%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year71.7%36th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±492024 ACS 5-Year39,50379th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,039Bottom 41%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,896Bottom 27%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,363Bottom 31%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$512024 ACS 5-Year$1,194Bottom 17%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$14,3142024 ACS 5-Year$404,30091st percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$912024 ACS 5-Year$2,08667th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,0112024 ACS 5-Year$70,868Bottom 37%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.03%2024 ACS 5-Year0.52%18th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year32.8%Bottom 10%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±2182024 ACS 5-Year68266th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.7%38th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.3%19th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4252024 ACS 5-Year2,78864th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

39/ 100
Ranks 1,031 of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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.

Federal tax returns show Josephine County gained about 0.7% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $55,877, close to the $58,767 of households that moved out.

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

Units permitted
229
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.6
Bottom 46% 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. It has been rising for the last 2 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.7%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
54%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$55,877
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$58,767
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Jackson County, OR 938 people · 24% of arrivals
  2. Douglas County, OR 133 people · 3.5% of arrivals
  3. Los Angeles County, CA 90 people · 2.3% of arrivals
  4. Lane County, OR 78 people · 2.0% of arrivals
  5. Deschutes County, OR 75 people · 2.0% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Jackson County, OR 885 people · 26% of departures
  2. Douglas County, OR 132 people · 3.9% of departures
  3. Lane County, OR 106 people · 3.1% of departures
  4. Multnomah County, OR 76 people · 2.2% of departures
  5. Klamath County, OR 66 people · 1.9% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2022202320242025338209
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−13%).

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.

Air quality measures a median index of 29, in the Good band, and about 8 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

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
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year602024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals40.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals33°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals77°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals41991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year82024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year292024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals29°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
29
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
60
90th percentile index
Days above 100
8
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

18 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, wildfire and earthquake, with inland flooding alone responsible for 46% of it.

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, tsunami, coastal flooding, hurricane.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Josephine County has a modeled homicide rate of about 7.7 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 29.6 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 18.2 per 100,000 residents in Josephine County.

Homicide
7.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
29.6
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
18.2
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
28.5
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe Josephine County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest Rogue Valley Intl/Medford at 36 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year91.3%Top 17%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle36 miTop 50%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle1Bottom 3%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year6.3%Top 19%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
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 period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.

Cities in Josephine County, OR

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.