Pendleton, Oregon

Area Profile

16,950 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Pendleton, in Umatilla County.

48out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 14% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity3,776th of 4,199 cities measured34
Schools2,316th of 4,162 cities measured45
Growth2,966th of 4,224 cities measured41
Housing affordabilityTop 35% of 4,218 cities measured72
Climate2,582nd of 4,225 cities measured67
Physical resilience2,239th of 4,226 cities measured55
Access4,198th of 4,226 cities measured7
Economic stability3,864th of 4,226 cities measured29
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 5.6% and the Opportunity signal places Pendleton in the bottom 10%. The unemployment rate is published for Umatilla County, OR, which contains Pendleton, rather than for Pendleton alone.

In the public schools here, 37% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 16.2 students for every teacher. Math proficiency and 1 other measure here are published for Umatilla County, OR, which contains Pendleton, rather than for Pendleton alone.

Rent takes 30% of renter income here, at the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 3.1 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
16,950
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$66,563
Top 50% nationally
Density
1,464/sq mi
11.6 sq mi of land
Median age
36.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Oregon
Nearest major airport
MWH
109 mi · Grant County Intl
Median home value
$287,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Umatilla County, OR, which contains Pendleton, is 5.6% — higher than in all but 11% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Umatilla County, OR, which contains Pendleton, fell 1.9% over the past year, to 35,094 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsUmatilla County, OR’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$50,3728th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftUmatilla County, OR’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$55,90816th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$6,6982024 ACS 5-Year$66,563Top 50%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,1582024 ACS 5-Year$31,052Bottom 40%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year15.0%Bottom 35%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year15.5 minTop 6%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year24.7%Top 40%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year75.7%45th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentUmatilla County, OR’s figureJuly 202635,094Bottom 39%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Umatilla County, OR’s figureJuly 2026−0.5%Bottom 46%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Umatilla County, OR’s figureJuly 2026−1.9%Bottom 25%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceUmatilla County, OR’s figureJuly 202637,18239th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year65.2%Bottom 18%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.8%82nd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Umatilla County, OR’s figureJuly 2026−0.3%Top 36%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateUmatilla County, OR’s figureJuly 20265.6%Bottom 11%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year7.9%51st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202470k58k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $66,563 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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Umatilla County, OR, which contains this city.

37% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 53% in reading, across the schools here that reported results. Math proficiency and 1 other measure here are published for Umatilla County, OR, which contains Pendleton, rather than for Pendleton alone.

There are 16.2 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places. The student-teacher ratio is published for Umatilla County, OR, which contains Pendleton, rather than for Pendleton alone.

Public schools
—
Students per teacher
16.2
Math proficiency
37.0%
Top 49% in Oregon
Reading proficiency
53.4%
Bottom 38% in Oregon

The proficiency and staffing figures above are for Umatilla County, OR: too few schools in Pendleton reported a usable figure on their own to weight one honestly.

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 $2,871 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.00% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,241, some 30% above the $956 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,241 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $49,600 a year, about 75% of the median household income here of $66,563.

The typical renter household here spends 30% of its income on rent, at the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $956 a month.

A median home at $287,100 costs 3.1 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $93,979, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Rent as a share of income
30.2%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.1×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,241
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$956
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$287,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Pendleton’s median household income of $66,563, 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%48th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Oregon’s figure2026 Q2+35.6%30th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Oregon’s figure2026 Q2+105.2%69th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.52024 ACS 5-Year3.1Bottom 33%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year56.5%16th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3762024 ACS 5-Year7,01691st percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$946Top 18%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,726Top 31%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,241Top 24%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$512024 ACS 5-Year$956Top 49%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$15,9742024 ACS 5-Year$287,10070th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1862024 ACS 5-Year$2,87171st percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$13,3512024 ACS 5-Year$93,979Top 32%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.09%2024 ACS 5-Year1.00%52nd percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year30.2%Bottom 40%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±582024 ACS 5-Year3779th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.5%57th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year10.3%65th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2502024 ACS 5-Year75993rd percentileof 32,3302024 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

41/ 100
Ranks 2,966 of 4,224 published city 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 17,026 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 23 units authorized in 2025, against 11 the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 19 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 Umatilla County, which contains Pendleton, in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $50,372, below the $55,908 of households that moved out.

At 1.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
19
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
1.1
Bottom 28% nationally
Year over year
+73%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202417k17k
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
−0.2%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
62%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$50,372
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$55,908
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Morrow County, OR 277 people · 10% of arrivals
  2. Benton County, WA 257 people · 9.6% of arrivals
  3. Walla Walla County, WA 236 people · 8.8% of arrivals
  4. Franklin County, WA 94 people · 3.5% of arrivals
  5. Union County, OR 86 people · 3.2% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Walla Walla County, WA 285 people · 10% of departures
  2. Morrow County, OR 258 people · 9.3% of departures
  3. Benton County, WA 255 people · 9.2% of departures
  4. Franklin County, WA 104 people · 3.8% of departures
  5. Marion County, OR 81 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. This is the figure for Umatilla County, OR. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

202220232024202528511
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−92%).

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, 1.9 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND1.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year632024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals12.8"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals15.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals28°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals89°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year42024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year382024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals39°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. 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

55 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, cold wave and wildfire, with inland flooding alone responsible for 44% of it. Cold wave is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

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, coastal flooding, hurricane, tsunami.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
388
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
2,190
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Pendleton's police department reported 388 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 2,190.

Umatilla County has a modeled homicide rate of about 2.6 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 16.2 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 20.0 per 100,000 residents in Umatilla County.

Homicide
2.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
16.2
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
20.0
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
25.0
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.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Pendleton’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. 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 Pendleton (Umatilla County) rather than Pendleton itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and 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.

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 109 miles away.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year86.3%Bottom 36%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle109 miBottom 1%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle0Bottom 1%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year8.8%Bottom 43%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Grant County IntlMWH109 mi13,503 ft
Spokane IntlGEG147 mi8,199 ft
Portland IntlPDX183 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.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
48
Your Score
—

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Other cities in Hermiston-Pendleton, OR

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
HermistonUmatilla County19,54652Hermiston vs Pendleton

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Pendleton side by side with a similar place.

Pendleton vs Del RioPendleton vs Gallup

Moving to Pendleton from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
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
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
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.