97501 — Medford, Oregon

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 97501. Its median home value runs 15% below Medford as a whole, which is why this ZIP carries a profile of its own.

49out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 19% of 3,113 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 15 sources
Opportunity2,301st of 3,116 ZIP areas measured43
Schools2,116th of 3,047 ZIP areas measured35
GrowthTop 19% of 3,124 ZIP areas measured66
Housing affordability2,404th of 3,112 ZIP areas measured53
ClimateTop 46% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured71
Physical resilience2,516th of 3,127 ZIP areas measured25
Access1,714th of 3,127 ZIP areas measured90
Economic stability2,093rd of 3,127 ZIP areas measured44
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable ZIP areas measured: unemployment is 6.7% and the Opportunity signal places 97501 in the bottom 26%. The unemployment rate is published for Medford, OR, which contains 97501, rather than for 97501 alone.

In the public schools here, 34% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 20.2 students for every teacher.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 595 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 43% on the prior year. The permit count and 1 other measure here are published for Medford, OR, which contains 97501, rather than for 97501 alone.

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
44,670
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$63,977
Bottom 37% nationally
Density
985/sq mi
45.3 sq mi of land
Median age
37.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Medford
Oregon
Metro area
Nearest major airport
MFR
6 mi · Rogue Valley Intl/Medford
Median home value
$353,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Medford, OR, which contains 97501, is 6.7% — higher than in all but 5% of the 3,127 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment across Medford, OR, which contains 97501, grew 0.5% over the past year, to 40,810 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsJackson County, OR’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$64,69643rd percentileof 2,996filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftJackson County, OR’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$61,40433rd percentileof 2,996filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,0732024 ACS 5-Year$63,977Bottom 37%of 31,0492024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,9342024 ACS 5-Year$32,026Bottom 34%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year15.5%Bottom 29%of 32,8462024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.0 min2024 ACS 5-Year19.2 minTop 11%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year20.7%Bottom 43%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year73.4%41st percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentMedford, OR’s figureJuly 202640,810Bottom 44%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Medford, OR’s figureJuly 2026+3.0%Top 15%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Medford, OR’s figureJuly 2026+0.5%Top 26%of 3,127July 2026
Labor forceMedford, OR’s figureJuly 202643,75445th percentileof 3,127July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year77.6%Bottom 47%of 32,8832024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageMedford, OR Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$63,850Bottom 37%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Median annual wageMedford, OR Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$49,900Top 50%of 2,7602025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year0.8%78th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Medford, OR’s figureJuly 2026+0.2%Bottom 34%of 3,127July 2026
Unemployment rateMedford, OR’s figureJuly 20266.7%Bottom 5%of 3,127July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year10.4%54th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202464k53k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $63,977 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 — Medford, OR

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers3,210$34,140
Home Health and Personal Care Aides3,000$44,950
Retail Salespersons2,840$35,840
Registered Nurses2,370$127,030
Cashiers2,060$34,390
Stockers and Order Fillers1,890$39,120

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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Medford, OR, the city containing this ZIP code.

34% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 61% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 20.2 students for every full-time teacher across 12 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
12
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
20.2
across all schools here
Math proficiency
34.4%
Bottom 24% in Oregon
Reading proficiency
61.1%
Top 37% in Oregon
The 12 largest public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
South Medford High SchoolMedford SD 549C1,85623.837%75%
North Medford High SchoolMedford SD 549C1,72124.234%79%
Logos Charter School · charterMedford SD 549C1,28520.133%50%
McLoughlin Middle SchoolMedford SD 549C82620.140%62%
Oakdale Middle SchoolMedford SD 549C74519.1——
Kids Unlimited Academy · charterMedford SD 549C50516.330%42%
Griffin Creek Elementary SchoolMedford SD 549C49218.947%59%
Oak Grove Elementary SchoolMedford SD 549C39818.131%48%
Jefferson Elementary SchoolMedford SD 549C38117.344%57%
Innovation AcademyMedford SD 549C32714.93%12%
Howard Elementary SchoolMedford SD 549C27516.232%46%
Washington Elementary SchoolMedford SD 549C22115.826%37%

83.6% 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 3% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 103.4, 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 Medford, OR Metro Area is up 22% over five years, and up 3.9% 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 $2,514 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.71% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,530, some 15% above the $1,326 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,530 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $61,200 a year, about 96% of the median household income here of $63,977.

The typical renter household here spends 31% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,326 a month.

A median home at $353,800 costs 4.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $77,218, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
103.4

Prices here run about 3% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Medford, 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
31.1%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.6×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,530
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,326
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$353,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against 97501’s median household income of $63,977, 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 Medford, OR Metro Area’s figure2023103.4Bottom 28%of 2,7372023
Home price change (1 year)the Medford, OR Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+3.9%67th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Medford, OR Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+22.0%6th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Medford, OR Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+81.1%26th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.42024 ACS 5-Year4.6Bottom 12%of 29,2752024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year54.4%11th percentileof 32,7502024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±8122024 ACS 5-Year19,09396th percentileof 33,4602024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,229Top 47%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,128Bottom 44%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,530Top 49%of 3,031FY2026
Median gross rent ±$532024 ACS 5-Year$1,326Bottom 29%of 26,3962024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$16,6382024 ACS 5-Year$353,80075th percentileof 30,8122024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1182024 ACS 5-Year$2,51462nd percentileof 28,9352024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,8922024 ACS 5-Year$77,218Bottom 42%of 29,8022024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.05%2024 ACS 5-Year0.71%34th percentileof 24,0992024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year31.1%Bottom 34%of 26,2472024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±632024 ACS 5-Year7570th percentileof 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.4%39th percentileof 32,9612024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year4.9%36th percentileof 32,7882024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2642024 ACS 5-Year1,00388th percentileof 33,7722024 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

66/ 100
Top 19% of 3,124 published ZIP profiles

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.

At 6.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas. The permit rate is published for Medford, OR, which contains 97501, rather than for 97501 alone.

Units permitted
595
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
6.9
Top 22% nationally
Year over year
+43%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
54.1%
units in 5+ unit buildings

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.3%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
65%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$64,696
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$61,404
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Josephine County, OR 885 people · 11% of arrivals
  2. Lane County, OR 260 people · 3.2% of arrivals
  3. Klamath County, OR 255 people · 3.1% of arrivals
  4. Los Angeles County, CA 226 people · 2.7% of arrivals
  5. Multnomah County, OR 206 people · 2.5% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Josephine County, OR 938 people · 12% of departures
  2. Lane County, OR 310 people · 4.0% of departures
  3. Multnomah County, OR 271 people · 3.5% of departures
  4. Maricopa County, AZ 200 people · 2.6% of departures
  5. Deschutes County, OR 191 people · 2.4% 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. This is the figure for Jackson County, OR. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Medford, OR, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 92°F and January a low of 33°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 18.4 inches, including 3.4 inches of snow.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MEDFORD ROGUE VLY AP, 6.7 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND3.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year712024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals18.4"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals3.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals33°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals92°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year52024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year412024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals36°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
41
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
71
90th percentile index
Days above 100
5
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

25 / 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 44% of it.

WildfireHigh
EarthquakeElevated
Heat waveModerate
Inland floodingModerate
Volcanic activityModerate
AvalancheModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. 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.

Homicide
4.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
14.9
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
22.6
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
22.6
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 the county around 97501 (Jackson County) rather than 97501 itself. 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. A ZIP area is not a jurisdiction, so no department reports for one. Medford carries the figure where its 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 6 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year92.5%Top 34%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle6 miTop 12%of 3,127NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle1Bottom 1%of 3,127NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year4.5%Top 30%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Rogue Valley Intl/MedfordMFR6 mi8,800 ft
Mahlon Sweet FldEUG128 mi8,009 ft
Portland IntlPDX229 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
49
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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
HousingU.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
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
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.

97501 vs Medford

How this ZIP area compares with Medford as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like — a gap here is a real difference between the two places, not two surveys disagreeing.

97501
Medford
Median household income: Medford is the more favorable of the two.
Median household income
$63,977
vs
$73,230
Per capita income: Medford is the more favorable of the two.
Per capita income
$32,026
vs
$37,002
Population density
985/sq mi
vs
3,020/sq mi
Median home value
$353,800
vs
$417,100
Median gross rent: 97501 is the more favorable of the two.
Median gross rent
$1,326
vs
$1,376
Homeownership rate
54.4%
vs
56.3%
Bachelor's degree or higher: Medford is the more favorable of the two.
Bachelor's degree or higher
20.7%
vs
30.1%
Poverty rate: Medford is the more favorable of the two.
Poverty rate
15.5%
vs
12.9%
Median age
37.7
vs
38.9

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.