Sweet Home, Oregon

Area Profile

10,078 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Sweet Home, in Linn County.

47out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 13% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
Opportunity3,918th of 4,199 cities measured31
Schools3,263rd of 4,162 cities measured27
GrowthTop 9% of 4,224 cities measured75
Housing affordability3,322nd of 4,218 cities measured50
ClimateTop 37% of 4,225 cities measured73
Physical resilience3,179th of 4,226 cities measured32
Access3,297th of 4,226 cities measured81
Economic stability3,253rd of 4,226 cities measured41
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 5.5% and the Opportunity signal places Sweet Home in the bottom 7%. The unemployment rate is published for Linn County, OR, which contains Sweet Home, rather than for Sweet Home alone.

In the public schools here, 33% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 18.1 students for every teacher.

Development activity is both elevated and accelerating — 52 housing units permitted over the past twelve months, up 37% on the prior year.

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
10,078
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$56,927
Bottom 34% nationally
Density
1,899/sq mi
5.3 sq mi of land
Median age
42.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Oregon
Metro area
Nearest major airport
EUG
32 mi · Mahlon Sweet Fld
Median home value
$273,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Linn County, OR, which contains Sweet Home, is 5.5% — higher than in all but 12% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Linn County, OR, which contains Sweet Home, fell 1.2% over the past year, to 58,665 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsLinn County, OR’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$54,47014th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftLinn County, OR’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$56,37517th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$6,1412024 ACS 5-Year$56,927Bottom 34%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$4,1352024 ACS 5-Year$30,957Bottom 40%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year19.9%Bottom 23%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±3.8 min2024 ACS 5-Year36.0 minBottom 14%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year11.3%Bottom 24%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year76.3%47th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentLinn County, OR’s figureJuly 202658,665Top 50%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Linn County, OR’s figureJuly 2026+0.2%Top 42%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Linn County, OR’s figureJuly 2026−1.2%Bottom 39%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceLinn County, OR’s figureJuly 202662,09150th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year66.8%Bottom 21%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageAlbany, OR Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$61,740Bottom 21%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageAlbany, OR Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$49,700Bottom 39%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Linn County, OR’s figureJuly 2026−0.3%Top 38%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateLinn County, OR’s figureJuly 20265.5%Bottom 12%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year12.8%70th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202459k47k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $56,927 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 — Albany, OR

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand1,590$47,150
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,470$34,330
Stockers and Order Fillers1,470$38,970
Home Health and Personal Care Aides1,460$42,120
Cashiers1,080$34,160
Retail Salespersons1,040$35,990

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

33% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 51% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 18.1 students for every full-time teacher across 6 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
6
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
18.1
across all schools here
Math proficiency
33.5%
Bottom 29% in Oregon
Reading proficiency
50.7%
Bottom 25% in Oregon
All 6 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Sweet Home High SchoolSweet Home SD 5575218.832%67%
Sweet Home Junior High SchoolSweet Home SD 5535817.027%40%
Oak Heights Elementary SchoolSweet Home SD 5530318.932%37%
Hawthorne Elementary SchoolSweet Home SD 5526015.342%47%
Holley Elementary SchoolSweet Home SD 5515717.427%37%
Sweet Home Charter School · charterSweet Home SD 5514223.752%42%

73.7% 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 5% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 104.7, 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 Albany, OR Metro Area is up 29% over five years, but down 0.8% 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 $2,553 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.93% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,695, some 40% above the $1,213 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,695 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $67,800 a year, about 119% of the median household income here of $56,927.

The typical renter household here spends 34% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,213 a month.

A median home at $273,300 costs 4.3 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $63,026, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
104.7

Prices here run about 5% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Albany, 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
33.8%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.3×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,695
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,213
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$273,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Sweet Home’s median household income of $56,927, 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 Albany, OR Metro Area’s figure2023104.7Bottom 33%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Albany, OR Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2−0.8%3rd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Albany, OR Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+29.1%14th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Albany, OR Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+115.5%82nd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.82024 ACS 5-Year4.3Bottom 14%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±7%2024 ACS 5-Year66.9%32nd percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±2842024 ACS 5-Year4,31087th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,396Top 49%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,294Bottom 44%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,695Bottom 49%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$2082024 ACS 5-Year$1,213Bottom 31%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$21,1262024 ACS 5-Year$273,30068th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2212024 ACS 5-Year$2,55366th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$10,5602024 ACS 5-Year$63,026Bottom 28%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.11%2024 ACS 5-Year0.93%48th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±6%2024 ACS 5-Year33.8%Bottom 24%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±522024 ACS 5-Year4882nd percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.1%63rd percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±522024 ACS 5-Year4849th 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 and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

75/ 100
Top 9% of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was broadly flat, 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 4% since 2020, reaching 10,265 in 2024.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 10,265 residents in 2024, up 0.5% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 52 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Linn County, which contains Sweet Home, gained about 0.9% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $54,470, close to the $56,375 of households that moved out.

At 5.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
52
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
5.2
Top 28% nationally
Year over year
+37%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202410k10k
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 rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.9%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
30%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$54,470
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$56,375
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Benton County, OR 1,193 people · 18% of arrivals
  2. Marion County, OR 1,183 people · 17% of arrivals
  3. Lane County, OR 747 people · 11% of arrivals
  4. Polk County, OR 257 people · 3.8% of arrivals
  5. Washington County, OR 214 people · 3.2% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Marion County, OR 955 people · 16% of departures
  2. Benton County, OR 873 people · 15% of departures
  3. Lane County, OR 584 people · 10% of departures
  4. Polk County, OR 187 people · 3.2% of departures
  5. Multnomah County, OR 167 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 Linn County, OR. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2020202120222023202420258219
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+21%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 82°F and January a low of 34°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 54.5 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 25, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station FOSTER DAM, 1.6 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND8.4"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year522024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals54.5"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals0.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals34°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals82°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year252024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals26°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
25
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
52
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
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

32 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, inland flooding and heat wave, with earthquake alone responsible for 54% of it.

EarthquakeElevated
Volcanic activityModerate
Strong windModerate
Inland floodingModerate
Heat waveModerate
AvalancheModerate

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

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
270
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,938
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.

Sweet Home's police department reported 270 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,938.

Linn County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.2 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 19.0 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 16.0 per 100,000 residents in Linn County.

Homicide
3.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
19.0
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
16.0
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
25.1
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 Sweet Home’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 Sweet Home (Linn County) rather than Sweet Home 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.

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

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Mahlon Sweet Fld at 32 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year90.7%Top 46%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle32 miBottom 26%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 8%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year4.9%Top 36%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Mahlon Sweet FldEUG32 mi8,009 ft
Portland IntlPDX82 mi11,000 ft
Rogue Valley Intl/MedfordMFR140 mi8,800 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
47
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Other cities in Albany, OR

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
AlbanyLinn County56,83949Albany vs Sweet Home
LebanonLinn County19,34450Lebanon vs Sweet Home

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 Sweet Home side by side with a similar place.

Sweet Home vs LebanonSweet Home vs Newport

Moving to Sweet Home 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
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
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.

ZIP codes in Sweet Home

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Sweet Home with census figures of its own, largest first.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
9738615,225$64,669$331,60046