Klamath County, OR

County Profile

70,247 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Klamath 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.

42out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 4% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity1,315th of 1,463 counties measured31
Schools838th of 1,377 counties measured42
Growth1,089th of 1,453 counties measured37
Housing affordability1,311th of 1,462 counties measured55
Climate1,221st of 1,463 counties measured58
Physical resilience1,159th of 1,463 counties measured34
Access1,275th of 1,463 counties measured55
Economic stability1,201st of 1,463 counties measured34
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable counties measured: unemployment is 7.1% and the Opportunity signal places Klamath County in the bottom 10%.

In the public schools here, 36% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 17.7 students for every teacher.

127 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 12% 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
70,247
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$58,830
Bottom 32% nationally
Density
12/sq mi
5,949.9 sq mi of land
Median age
41.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Klamath County
Oregon
Nearest major airport
MFR
66 mi · Rogue Valley Intl/Medford
Median home value
$280,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 7.1% — higher than in all but 3% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 1.0% over the past year, to 27,401 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$55,43141st percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$53,42335th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,1542024 ACS 5-Year$58,830Bottom 32%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,7152024 ACS 5-Year$32,883Bottom 39%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$51,149Bottom 29%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year17.5%Bottom 24%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year19.3 minTop 12%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year22.7%Top 48%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year77.5%50th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202627,401Bottom 43%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 20260.0%Bottom 49%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−1.0%Bottom 41%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202629,48144th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year67.0%Bottom 17%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.2%56th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.3%Top 39%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20267.1%Bottom 3%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year8.8%52nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/079.14.5
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 7.1% 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

202120222023202459k51k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $58,830 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.

36% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 53% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 17.7 students for every full-time teacher across 28 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
28
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
17.7
across all schools here
Math proficiency
36.3%
Top 42% in Oregon
Reading proficiency
53.3%
Bottom 38% in Oregon
The 12 largest of 28 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Henley High SchoolKlamath County SD72019.552%87%
Mazama High SchoolKlamath County SD69015.732%82%
Klamath Union High SchoolKlamath Falls City Schools67119.732%67%
Peterson Elementary SchoolKlamath County SD57321.244%44%
Ponderosa Middle SchoolKlamath Falls City Schools56120.033%46%
Ferguson Elementary SchoolKlamath County SD52419.454%56%
Shasta Elementary SchoolKlamath County SD50520.240%52%
Henley Elementary SchoolKlamath County SD49317.043%51%
Henley Middle SchoolKlamath County SD41320.642%58%
Brixner Junior High SchoolKlamath County SD39616.528%51%
Stearns Elementary SchoolKlamath County SD35414.227%42%
Roosevelt Elementary SchoolKlamath Falls City Schools34426.557%47%

93.8% 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.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Oregon is up 36% over five years, and up 3.0% 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 $1,752 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.62% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,247, some 26% above the $991 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,247 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $49,900 a year, about 85% of the median household income here of $58,830.

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 $991 a month.

A median home at $280,400 costs 4.0 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $70,062, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Rent as a share of income
33.4%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.0×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,247
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$991
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$280,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Klamath County’s median household income of $58,830, 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
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Oregon’s figure2026 Q2+3.0%37th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Oregon’s figure2026 Q2+35.6%18th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Oregon’s figure2026 Q2+105.2%69th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year4.0Bottom 11%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year69.4%27th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±452024 ACS 5-Year33,16276th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$958Top 50%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,734Bottom 34%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,247Bottom 42%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$402024 ACS 5-Year$991Bottom 32%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$9,3952024 ACS 5-Year$280,40077th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$672024 ACS 5-Year$1,75256th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,0392024 ACS 5-Year$70,062Bottom 35%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.03%2024 ACS 5-Year0.62%32nd percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year33.4%Bottom 8%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±3762024 ACS 5-Year2,15585th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year6.5%71st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year6.1%25th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±4622024 ACS 5-Year4,16375th 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.

Development Momentum

37/ 100
Ranks 1,089 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2020 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 grown 1% since 2020, reaching 70,438 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 103 units authorized in 2025, 56% below the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 127 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Klamath County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $55,431, close to the $53,423 of households that moved out.

At 1.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
127
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.8
Bottom 33% nationally
Year over year
−12%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202470k70k
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 holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
60%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$55,431
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$53,423
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Deschutes County, OR 190 people · 6.6% of arrivals
  2. Jackson County, OR 167 people · 5.8% of arrivals
  3. Lane County, OR 144 people · 5.0% of arrivals
  4. Siskiyou County, CA 108 people · 3.7% of arrivals
  5. Washington County, OR 79 people · 2.7% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Jackson County, OR 255 people · 9.0% of departures
  2. Deschutes County, OR 146 people · 5.2% of departures
  3. Lane County, OR 121 people · 4.3% of departures
  4. Siskiyou County, CA 81 people · 2.9% of departures
  5. Multnomah County, OR 76 people · 2.7% 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

202020212022202320242025232103
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−32%).

Weather & climate

4 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 85°F and January a low of 19°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 21.1 inches, including 61.0 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 33, in the Good band, and about 16 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station CHILOQUIN 12 NW (FORT KLAMATH), 17.8 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year762024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals21.1"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals61.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals19°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals85°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals41991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year162024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year332024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals35°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
33
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
76
90th percentile index
Days above 100
16
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

34 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, earthquake and wildfire, with inland flooding alone responsible for 48% of it.

EarthquakeElevated
WildfireElevated
Volcanic activityModerate
Inland floodingModerate
Heat waveModerate
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, avalanche, cold wave, lightning, hail, drought, ice storm, strong wind, tornado, tsunami, hurricane, coastal flooding.

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.

Klamath County has a modeled homicide rate of about 5.8 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 34.3 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 15.7 per 100,000 residents in Klamath County.

Homicide
5.8
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
34.3
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
15.7
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
38.6
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 Klamath 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.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
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. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. 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 66 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year86.1%Bottom 44%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle66 miBottom 17%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle1Bottom 3%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year10.2%Top 50%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Rogue Valley Intl/MedfordMFR66 mi8,800 ft
Mahlon Sweet FldEUG127 mi8,009 ft
Portland IntlPDX206 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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Area Score
42
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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
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.

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.