Umatilla County, OR

County Profile

79,940 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Umatilla 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.

53out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 20% of 1,225 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity989th of 1,255 counties measured40
SchoolsTop 42% of 973 counties measured57
Growth869th of 1,226 counties measured39
Housing affordability822nd of 1,255 counties measured87
Climate672nd of 1,254 counties measured67
Physical resilience701st of 1,255 counties measured56
Access1236th of 1,255 counties measured3
Economic stability673rd of 1,255 counties measured60
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published profiles: unemployment is 5.4% and the Opportunity signal places Umatilla County in the bottom 21%.

In the public schools here, 29% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 16.3 students for every teacher.

The nearest major airport is 115 miles away, which is farther than most measured US locations.

At a glance

Population
79,940
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$67,728
Top 42% nationally
Density
25/sq mi
3215.4 sq mi of land
Median age
36.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Umatilla County
Oregon
Metro area
Hermiston-Pendleton, OR
Nearest major airport
MWH
115 mi · Grant County Intl
Median home value
$282,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.4% is lower than 13% of the 1,255 measured US locations.

Employment fell 0.3% over the past year, to 35,807 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$3,279$67,728Top 42%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,340$32,100Bottom 35%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate11.8%Bottom 38%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute20.8 minBottom 18%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher18.3%Bottom 29%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Employment35,807Bottom 45%of 1,255June 2026
Employment change (3 years)0.3%Top 49%of 1,255June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.3%Top 38%of 1,255June 2026
Labor force37,851Bottom 45%of 1,255June 2026
Labor force participation59.1%Top 48%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)0.1%Top 44%of 1,255June 2026
Unemployment rate5.4%Top 13%of 1,255June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/065.63.7
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.4% 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.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202470k63k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $67,728 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.

29% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 41% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 16.3 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
33
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
16.3
across all schools here
Math proficiency
28.7%
Top 40% in Oregon
Reading proficiency
41.4%
Top 30% in Oregon
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Hermiston High SchoolHermiston SD 81,70520.1
Pendleton High SchoolPendleton SD 1676320.1
Armand Larive Middle SchoolHermiston SD 872216.8
Sunridge Middle SchoolPendleton SD 1667220.422%
McNary Heights Elementary SchoolUmatilla SD 6R64216.5
Sandstone Middle SchoolHermiston SD 860919.6
Gib Olinger Elementary SchoolMilton-Freewater Unified SD 749814.2
McLoughlin High SchoolMilton-Freewater Unified SD 744918.7
Rocky Heights Elementary SchoolHermiston SD 844214.3
Sherwood Heights Elementary SchoolPendleton SD 1643916.332%32%
Washington Elementary SchoolPendleton SD 1642016.822%32%
West Park Elementary SchoolHermiston SD 840814.6

87.9% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Oregon’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $997 takes 18% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.2 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
17.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.2×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$997
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$282,600
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income4.17Top 17%of 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate67.9%Bottom 22%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±7332,199Top 25%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$40$997Top 31%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$11,329$282,600Top 22%of 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income17.7%Top 42%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate10.8%Bottom 33%of 3,2222024 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
39/ 100
Ranks 869 of 1,226 published city profiles
Permitting is broadly steady, measured from 2022 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 grown 1% since 2020, reaching 80,491 in 2024.

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

At 2.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US locations.

Units permitted
182
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.3
Bottom 40% nationally
Year over year
−13%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202480k80k
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.
Housing units permitted per year
2022202320242025474191
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−58%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 89°F and January a low of 28°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 12.8 inches, including 15.7 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 38, in the Good band, and about 4 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station PENDLETON, 9.0 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND1.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index63.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation12.8"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall15.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low28°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high89°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10042024 calendar year
Median air quality index38.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing39°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
38
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
63
90th percentile index
Days above 100
4
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. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

56 / 100
Physical resilience

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

WildfireHigh
LandslideModerate
EarthquakeElevated
Heat waveElevated
DroughtModerate
Inland floodingModerate
AvalancheModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA National Risk Index county record. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Umatilla County records 2.4 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 15.0 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 23.7 per 100,000 residents in Umatilla County.

Homicide
2.4
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
15.0
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
23.7
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
23.7
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Umatilla County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Umatilla County rather than Umatilla County itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

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 and full cost of living
No public source publishes either with national coverage and a method open enough to check. 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. 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 115 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Grant County IntlMWH115 mi13,503 ft
Spokane IntlGEG151 mi8,199 ft
Boise Air Trml/Gowen FldBOI187 mi10,000 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
53
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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
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)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

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.