Union County, OR

County Profile

26,144 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Union 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.

56out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 38% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity920th of 1,463 counties measured48
SchoolsTop 22% of 1,377 counties measured72
GrowthTop 49% of 1,453 counties measured51
Housing affordability761st of 1,462 counties measured73
Climate1,382nd of 1,463 counties measured53
Physical resilienceTop 43% of 1,463 counties measured65
Access1,444th of 1,463 counties measured0
Economic stability891st of 1,463 counties measured52
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.7% and median household income $65,661, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 41% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.2 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 27% of renter income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 3.5 times what its owners earn.

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
26,144
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$65,661
Top 49% nationally
Density
13/sq mi
2,036.9 sq mi of land
Median age
40.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Union County
Oregon
Micro area
Nearest major airport
MWH
146 mi · Grant County Intl
Median home value
$294,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.7% — higher than in all but 29% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 0.4% over the past year, to 11,531 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$54,58438th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$53,34935th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,3262024 ACS 5-Year$65,661Top 49%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,3112024 ACS 5-Year$37,171Top 38%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$53,785Bottom 40%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year14.9%Bottom 37%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.2 min2024 ACS 5-Year17.5 minTop 7%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year26.1%Top 34%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year71.9%20th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202611,531Bottom 13%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−0.8%Bottom 40%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.4%Top 31%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202612,09514th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year75.2%Bottom 47%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.3%57th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.8%Top 16%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.7%Bottom 29%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year8.5%49th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/076.73.3
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.7% in July 2026. It has been falling, 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

202120222023202466k55k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $65,661 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.

41% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 58% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.2 students for every full-time teacher across 12 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
13
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.2
across 12 of them
Math proficiency
41.2%
Top 21% in Oregon
Reading proficiency
58.0%
Top 21% in Oregon
The 12 largest of 13 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
La Grande High SchoolLa Grande SD 160417.837%82%
La Grande Middle SchoolLa Grande SD 148019.235%49%
Central Elementary SchoolLa Grande SD 140315.547%53%
Imbler Charter School · charterImbler SD 1132514.157%62%
Island City Elementary SchoolLa Grande SD 129315.457%62%
Cove Charter School · charterCove SD 1529015.352%67%
North Powder Charter School · charterNorth Powder SD 8J25211.027%42%
Greenwood Elementary SchoolLa Grande SD 123413.032%37%
Union Elementary SchoolUnion SD 521215.147%47%
Stella Mayfield Elementary SchoolElgin SD 2320411.332%42%
Elgin High SchoolElgin SD 2318015.027%62%
Union High SchoolUnion SD 516618.437%62%

63.9% 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 $2,446 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.83% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,222, some 24% above the $982 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,222 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $48,900 a year, about 74% of the median household income here of $65,661.

The typical renter household here spends 27% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $982 a month.

A median home at $294,600 costs 3.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $83,512, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Rent as a share of income
27.3%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.5×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,222
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$982
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$294,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Union County’s median household income of $65,661, 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-Year3.5Bottom 18%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year65.5%16th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±342024 ACS 5-Year11,82948th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$980Bottom 47%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,700Bottom 37%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,222Bottom 45%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$472024 ACS 5-Year$982Bottom 33%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$14,6242024 ACS 5-Year$294,60080th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1112024 ACS 5-Year$2,44675th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,6612024 ACS 5-Year$83,512Top 36%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.06%2024 ACS 5-Year0.83%53rd percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year27.3%Top 45%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1112024 ACS 5-Year33848th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year2.9%51st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.0%16th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1522024 ACS 5-Year92928th 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

51/ 100
Top 49% of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in 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 26,058 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 50 units authorized in 2025, up 32% on the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 59 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 Union County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $54,584, close to the $53,349 of households that moved out.

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

Units permitted
59
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.3
Bottom 41% nationally
Year over year
+31%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202426k26k
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
47%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$54,584
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$53,349
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Baker County, OR 86 people · 8.6% of arrivals
  2. Umatilla County, OR 74 people · 7.4% of arrivals
  3. Multnomah County, OR 58 people · 5.8% of arrivals
  4. Washington County, OR 46 people · 4.6% of arrivals
  5. Wallowa County, OR 41 people · 4.1% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Umatilla County, OR 86 people · 8.3% of departures
  2. Baker County, OR 61 people · 5.9% of departures
  3. Ada County, ID 55 people · 5.3% of departures
  4. Wallowa County, OR 37 people · 3.6% of departures
  5. Multnomah County, OR 30 people · 2.9% 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

20222023202420255038
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+16%).

Weather & climate

2 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 79°F and January a low of 21°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 37.3 inches, including 113.2 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 23, in the Good band, and about 2 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 MEACHAM, 25.1 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year592024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals37.3"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals113.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals21°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals79°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals21991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year22024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year232024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals32°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
23
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
59
90th percentile index
Days above 100
2
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

65 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are cold wave, inland flooding and wildfire, with cold wave alone responsible for 33% of it. Cold wave and inland flooding are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

WildfireHigh
EarthquakeElevated
LandslideModerate
Heat waveModerate

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

Union County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.4 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 about 21.5 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 15.3 per 100,000 residents in Union County.

Homicide
3.4
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
21.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
15.3
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
25.4
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

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 Union 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

No airport meeting the AreaProfile major-airport definition lies within 100 miles; the nearest is 146 miles away.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year83.7%Bottom 28%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle146 miBottom 1%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle0Bottom 1%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year11.7%Bottom 38%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Grant County IntlMWH146 mi13,503 ft
Boise Air Trml/Gowen FldBOI149 mi10,000 ft
Spokane IntlGEG161 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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Area Score
56
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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.

Cities in Union County, OR