The Dalles, Oregon

Area Profile

15,917 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for The Dalles, in Wasco County.

41out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 4% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
Opportunity2,948th of 4,199 cities measured47
Schools3,924th of 4,162 cities measured13
Growth2,841st of 4,224 cities measured43
Housing affordability2,652nd of 4,218 cities measured61
Climate2,122nd of 4,225 cities measured70
Physical resilience3,839th of 4,226 cities measured13
Access4,052nd of 4,226 cities measured52
Economic stability2,834th of 4,226 cities measured48
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 4.1% and the Opportunity signal places The Dalles in the bottom 30%. The unemployment rate is published for Wasco County, OR, which contains The Dalles, rather than for The Dalles alone.

In the public schools here, 26% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 17.6 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 30% of renter income here, at the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 4.1 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
15,917
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$62,614
Bottom 44% nationally
Density
2,381/sq mi
6.7 sq mi of land
Median age
38.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Oregon
Micro area
Nearest major airport
PDX
70 mi · Portland Intl
Median home value
$360,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Wasco County, OR, which contains The Dalles, is 4.1%, lower than in 58% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Wasco County, OR, which contains The Dalles, fell 1.0% over the past year, to 16,543 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsWasco County, OR’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$67,60342nd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftWasco County, OR’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$57,81321st percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$5,4742024 ACS 5-Year$62,614Bottom 44%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$7,6262024 ACS 5-Year$40,289Top 32%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year11.0%Bottom 49%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.4 min2024 ACS 5-Year17.5 minTop 10%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year22.7%Top 44%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year80.8%62nd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentWasco County, OR’s figureJuly 202616,543Bottom 17%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Wasco County, OR’s figureJuly 2026−2.3%Bottom 21%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Wasco County, OR’s figureJuly 2026−1.0%Bottom 45%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceWasco County, OR’s figureJuly 202617,25617th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year75.5%Bottom 41%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.1%74th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Wasco County, OR’s figureJuly 20260.0%Bottom 45%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateWasco County, OR’s figureJuly 20264.1%Top 42%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year7.4%49th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202463k57k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $62,614 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 Wasco County, OR, which contains this city.

26% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 49% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 17.6 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
17.6
across all schools here
Math proficiency
25.5%
Bottom 6% in Oregon
Reading proficiency
48.8%
Bottom 13% in Oregon
All 6 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
The Dalles High SchoolNorth Wasco County SD 2179519.917%57%
The Dalles Middle SchoolNorth Wasco County SD 2151317.128%45%
Dry Hollow Elementary SchoolNorth Wasco County SD 2142419.341%50%
Chenowith Elementary SchoolNorth Wasco County SD 2141814.922%38%
Colonel Wright Elementary SchoolNorth Wasco County SD 2129116.227%47%
Innovations AcademyNorth Wasco County SD 2123216.6——

94.8% 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 $3,030 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.84% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,600, some 61% above the $993 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,600 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $64,000 a year, about 102% of the median household income here of $62,614.

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 $993 a month.

A median home at $360,800 costs 4.1 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $87,965, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Rent as a share of income
29.8%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.1×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,600
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$993
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$360,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against The Dalles’s median household income of $62,614, 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-Year4.1Bottom 16%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year63.2%25th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±2032024 ACS 5-Year6,96491st percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,289Top 44%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,225Bottom 48%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,600Top 46%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$1182024 ACS 5-Year$993Bottom 48%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$22,4192024 ACS 5-Year$360,80079th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2192024 ACS 5-Year$3,03073rd percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$9,8862024 ACS 5-Year$87,965Top 38%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.08%2024 ACS 5-Year0.84%41st percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±8%2024 ACS 5-Year29.8%Bottom 42%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±562024 ACS 5-Year4682nd percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.7%58th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.6%43rd percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1482024 ACS 5-Year43988th 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

43/ 100
Ranks 2,841 of 4,224 published city 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.

Population has fallen 1% since 2020, to 15,884 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 52 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes. The multifamily share is published for Wasco County, OR, which contains The Dalles, rather than for The Dalles alone.

Federal tax returns show Wasco County, which contains The Dalles, lost about 0.5% 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 $67,603, above the $57,813 of households that moved out.

At 2.0 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities. The permit rate is published for Wasco County, OR, which contains The Dalles, rather than for The Dalles alone.

Units permitted
52
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.0
Bottom 42% nationally
Year over year
+30%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202416k16k
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, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.5%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
44%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$67,603
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$57,813
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Hood River County, OR 228 people · 20% of arrivals
  2. Klickitat County, WA 126 people · 11% of arrivals
  3. Multnomah County, OR 122 people · 11% of arrivals
  4. Clackamas County, OR 57 people · 4.9% of arrivals
  5. Clark County, WA 43 people · 3.7% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Klickitat County, WA 167 people · 13% of departures
  2. Hood River County, OR 152 people · 12% of departures
  3. Multnomah County, OR 100 people · 8.0% of departures
  4. Deschutes County, OR 40 people · 3.2% of departures
  5. Washington County, OR 37 people · 3.0% 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 Wasco County, OR. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

The Census Bureau's Building Permits Survey lists only jurisdictions that issue their own permits, and The Dalles, OR is not one. This is the figure for Wasco County, OR, which contains this city.

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 88°F and January a low of 31°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 13.7 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 23, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station THE DALLES MUNI AP, 1.6 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND2.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year522024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals13.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals31°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals88°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year232024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals39°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
23
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

13 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are wildfire, inland flooding and earthquake, with wildfire alone responsible for 51% of it.

WildfireHigh
Volcanic activityModerate
EarthquakeHigh
AvalancheModerate
Inland floodingElevated
Heat waveModerate

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

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
259
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
2,755
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.

The Dalles's police department reported 259 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 2,755.

Wasco County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.3 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 15.5 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 53.2 per 100,000 residents in Wasco County.

Homicide
3.3
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
15.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
53.2
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
19.3
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.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by The Dalles’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 The Dalles (Wasco County) rather than The Dalles 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

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest Portland Intl at 70 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year90.6%Top 46%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle70 miBottom 5%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle1Bottom 1%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year5.4%Top 39%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Portland IntlPDX70 mi11,000 ft
Seattle-Tacoma IntlSEA139 mi11,901 ft
Grant County IntlMWH141 mi13,503 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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The Dalles vs CentraliaThe Dalles vs Ellensburg

Moving to The Dalles 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.

ZIP codes in The Dalles

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in The Dalles with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track The Dalles closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
9705820,360$62,181$370,100—