Wasco County, OR

County

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2024 Population

26,552

US Senator

Ron Wyden

Democratic Party

US Senator

Jeff Merkley

Democratic Party

2024 Median Age

1.23% 1-year increase

2024 Poverty Rate

11.6%

4.35% 1-year decrease

2024 Median Household Income

$64,175

0.901% 1-year growth

2024 Median Property Value

$367,400

10.5% 1-year growth

2024 Employed Population

11,904

About

None of the households in Wasco County, OR reported speaking a non-English language at home as their primary shared language. This does not consider the potential multi-lingual nature of households, but only the primary self-reported language spoken by all members of the household.

93.5% of the residents in Wasco County, OR are U.S. citizens.

The largest universities in Wasco County, OR are Columbia Gorge Community College (148 degrees awarded in 2023).

In 2024, the median property value in Wasco County, OR was $367,400, and the homeownership rate was 67.5%.

Most people in Wasco County, OR drove alone to work, and the average commute time was 18.9 minutes. The average car ownership in Wasco County, OR was 2 cars per household.

Wasco County, OR borders Clackamas County, OR, Gilliam County, OR, Hood River County, OR, Jefferson County, OR, Marion County, OR, Sherman County, OR, Wheeler County, OR, and Klickitat County, WA.

About the photo: 3rd Wasco County Courthouse (1914), The Dalles OR

Photo by Keith Ewing

United States Oregon The Dalles, OR

Population & Diversity

Wasco County, OR is home to a population of 26.6k people, from which 93.5% are citizens. As of 2024, 9.87% of Wasco County, OR residents were born outside of the country (2.62k people).

In 2024, there were 5.95 times more White (Non-Hispanic) residents (18.8k people) in Wasco County, OR than any other race or ethnicity. There were 3.16k Two Races Including Other (Hispanic) and 1.21k White (Hispanic) residents, the second and third most common ethnic groups.

Population & Diversity

Citizenship

93.5%

2024 Citizenship

93.8%

2023 Citizenship

As of 2024, 93.5% of Wasco County, OR residents were US citizens, which is higher than the national average of 93.2%. In 2023, the percentage of US citizens in Wasco County, OR was 93.8%, meaning that the rate of citizenship has been decreasing.

The following chart shows US citizenship percentages in Wasco County, OR compared to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

Diversity

Race and Ethnicity

The 3 largest ethnic groups in Wasco County, OR

White (Non-Hispanic)
18.8k ± 226
Two Races Including Other (Hispanic)
3.16k ± 421
White (Hispanic)
1.21k ± 338

20.6%

Hispanic Population

5.47k people

20.6% of the people in Wasco County, OR are hispanic (5.47k people).

The following chart shows the 8 races represented in Wasco County, OR as a share of the total population.

Global Diversity

The PUMS dataset is not available at the County level, so we are showing data for Oregon.

Most Common Origin

Mexico
141,836 ± 9,090 people
Vietnam
22,252 ± 3,653 people
China
21,575 ± 3,597 people

In 2023, the most common birthplace for the foreign-born residents of Oregon was Mexico, the natal country of 141,836 Oregon residents, followed by Vietnam with 22,252 and China with 21,575.

Foreign-Born Population

9.87%

2024 Foreign-Born Population

2.62k people

8.61%

2023 Foreign-Born Population

2.29k people

As of 2024, 9.87% of Wasco County, OR residents (2.62k people) were born outside of the United States, which is approximately the same as the national average of 14%. In 2023, the percentage of foreign-born citizens in Wasco County, OR was 8.61%, meaning that the rate has been increasing.

The following chart shows the percentage of foreign-born residents in Wasco County, OR compared to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

Military

Veterans

Most Common Service Period

Vietnam
574 ± 124
Gulf War (2001-)
482 ± 151
Gulf War (1990s)
204 ± 80

Wasco County, OR has a large population of military personnel who served in Vietnam, 1.19 times greater than any other conflict.

The chart shows the distribution of veterans by conflict in Wasco County, OR.

Economy

The economy of Wasco County, OR employs 11.9k people. In 2024, the largest industries in Wasco County, OR were Health Care & Social Assistance (1,896 people), Retail Trade (1,383 people), and Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting (1,100 people), and the highest paying industries were Utilities ($88,906), Finance & Insurance ($84,950), and Finance & Insurance, & Real Estate & Rental & Leasing ($80,536).

Employment

Occupations

11.9k

2024 Value

± 762

From 2023 to 2024, employment in Wasco County, OR stayed at a rate of 0%, from 11.9k employees to 11.9k employees.

The most common job groups, by number of people living in Wasco County, OR, are Management Occupations (1,726 people), Office & Administrative Support Occupations (1,105 people), and Sales & Related Occupations (934 people). This chart illustrates the share breakdown of the primary jobs held by residents of Wasco County, OR.

Unemployment Insurance Claims

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for Oregon.

This chart shows weekly unemployment insurance claims in Oregon (not-seasonally adjusted) compared with the four states with the most similar impact.

The most recent data point uses Advance State Claims data, which can be revised in subsequent weeks.

Industries

Employment by Industries

11.9k

2024 Value

± 762

From 2023 to 2024, employment in Wasco County, OR stayed at a rate of 0%, from 11.9k employees to 11.9k employees.

The most common employment sectors for those who live in Wasco County, OR, are Health Care & Social Assistance (1,896 people), Retail Trade (1,383 people), and Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting (1,100 people). This chart shows the share breakdown of the primary industries for residents of Wasco County, OR, though some of these residents may live in Wasco County, OR and work somewhere else. Census data is tagged to a residential address, not a work address.

Median Earnings by Industry

$46,083

Median earning men ± $4,545

$37,066

Median earning women ± $2,920

The industries with the best median earnings for men in 2024 are Finance & Insurance, & Real Estate & Rental & Leasing ($81,905), Information ($78,571), and Public Administration ($72,684).

The industries with the best median earnings for women in 2024 are Information ($96,250), Wholesale Trade ($58,239), and Manufacturing ($50,341).

Employment by Industry Sector

Data is only available at the state level. Showing data for Oregon.

Y-Axis

2.87%

Year-over-year growth

Employment change between February 2022 and February 2023

As of February 2023, there are 1.97M people employed in Oregon. This represents a 2.87% increase in employment when compared to February 2022.

Right after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, during April 2020, a general dip can be seen across industry sectors, resulting in an overall decline in employment by 13.1%.

The following chart shows monthly employment numbers for each industry sector in Oregon.

Establishments by Size

The industries with the most establishments

56
Construction
48
Other Services (except Public Administration)
42
Real Estate and Rental and Leasing

The visualization shows the distribution of establishments by industry and by size according to the number of employees.

The visualization shows the number of establishments and its share across establishment sizes.

Payroll by Industry Sector

The industries with the highest total annual payroll

$105k
Health Care and Social Assistance
$60.9k
Retail Trade
$34.6k
Information

The chart shows the total annual payroll and the average annual payroll by industry.

Civics

In the 2024 presidential election, the popular vote in Oregon went to Kamala Harris with 55.3% of the vote. The runner-up was Donald J. Trump (41%), followed by Robert Kennedy (1.5%).

Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley are the senators currently representing the state of Oregon. In the United States, senators are elected to 6-year terms with the terms for individual senators staggered.

Oregon is currently represented by 6 members in the U.S. house, and members of the House of Representives are elected to 2-year terms.

Presidential Elections

Presidential Popular Vote Over Time

Voting results are not available for Wasco County, OR. Showing the available data for Oregon.

2024 Election Results

Kamala Harris (55.3%)
Democratic Party
Donald J. Trump (41%)
Republican Party
Robert Kennedy (1.5%)
Independent Party

In the 2024 presidential election, the popular vote in Oregon went to Kamala Harris with 55.3% of the vote. The runner-up was Donald J. Trump (41%), followed by Robert Kennedy (1.5%).

The following chart shows the popular vote results in Oregon for each registered party from 1976 to 2024.

Senator Elections

US Senators from Oregon

Senatorial voting results are only available at the state level. Showing data for Oregon.

Ron Wyden

Senator from Oregon

Assumed office on February 5, 1996
Elected to the seat following the resignation of Bob Packwood.

Jeff Merkley

Senator from Oregon

Assumed office on January 3, 2009

Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley are the senators currently representing Oregon.

In the United States, senators are elected to 6-year terms with the terms for individual senators staggered.

The following chart shows elected senators in Oregon over time, excluding special elections, colored by their political party.

Education

In 2023, universities in Wasco County, OR awarded 148 degrees. The student population of Wasco County, OR in 2023 is skewed towards women, with 262 male students and 474 female students.

Most students graduating from Universities in Wasco County, OR are White (81 and 54.7%), Hispanic or Latino (41 and 27.7%), Unknown (15 and 10.1%), and Two or More Races (5 and 3.38%).

The largest universities in Wasco County, OR by number of degrees awarded are Columbia Gorge Community College (148 and 100%).

The most popular majors in Wasco County, OR are Liberal Arts & Sciences (44 and 29.7%), General Studies (42 and 28.4%), and Electrical, Electronic, & Communications Engineering Technology (19 and 12.8%).

Admissions & Enrollments

Enrollments by Gender and Races

In 2023 there were 736 students enrolled in Wasco County, OR, 35.6% men and 64.4% women.

By race, the largest number of students enrolled was concentrated in White with 268 records, of which 59.7% were women and 40.3% men.

Completions

Concentrations

Most Common

General Studies
42 degrees awarded
Registered Nursing
19 degrees awarded
Liberal Arts & Sciences
44 degrees awarded

In 2023, the most common concentation for Associates Degree recipients in Wasco County, OR was General Studies with 42 degrees awarded.

This visualization illustrates the percentage of students graduating with a Associates Degree from schools in Wasco County, OR according to their major.

Universities

Gender

Race

Columbia Gorge Community College

Largest Universities by degrees awarded

148 degrees awarded

In 2023, the institution with the largest number of graduating students was Columbia Gorge Community College with 148 degrees awarded.

Student Diversity

In 2023, 66 men were awarded degrees from institutions in Wasco County, OR, which is 0.805 times less than the 82 female students who received degrees in the same year.

In 2023, the most common race/ethnicity group awarded degrees at institutions was White students. These 81 degrees mean that there were 1.98 times more degrees awarded to White students then the next closest race/ethnicity group, Hispanic or Latino, with 41 degrees awarded.

Awarded Degrees over Time

The graph shows the evolution of awarded degrees by degrees. Under the paragraphs, the average number of awarded degrees by university in each degree is shown.

Tuition

Average Net Price by Sector

Public, 2-year ($4,284) is the sector with the highest median state tuition in 2023.

Public, 2-year ($1,260) is the sector with the highest median state fee in 2023.

Public, 2-year ($1,200) is the sector with the highest average net price of books and supplies.

The graph shows the average net price by sector and year.

Housing & Living

The median property value in Wasco County, OR was $367,400 in 2024, which is 1.1 times larger than the national average of $332,700. Between 2023 and 2024 the median property value increased from $332,500 to $367,400, a 10.5% increase. The homeownership rate in Wasco County, OR is 67.5%, which is higher than the national average of 65.2%.

People in Wasco County, OR have an average commute time of 18.9 minutes, and they drove alone to work. Car ownership in Wasco County, OR is approximately the same as the national average, with an average of 2 cars per household.

In 2025, 14.9% of the population was living with severe housing problems in Wasco County, OR. From 2014 to 2025, the indicator declined 1.81%.

Housing

Property

$367,400

Median Property Value 2024

±$17,134

$7,131

Median Property Taxes

±$477

The following chart display owner-occupied housing units distributed between a series of property tax buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. In Wasco County, OR the largest share of households pay taxes in the $3k+ range.

The chart underneath the paragraph shows the property taxes in Wasco County, OR compared to it's parent and neighbor geographies.

Rent vs Own

67.5%

Homeownership

2024

66%

Homeowners with Mortgage

2024

In 2024, 67.5% of the housing units in Wasco County, OR were occupied by their owner. This percentage grew from the previous year's rate of 66.2%.

This chart shows the percentage of owner in Wasco County, OR compared it's parent and neighboring geographies.

Equity

Household Income

Please note that the buckets used in this visualization were not evenly distributed by ACS when publishing the data.

$64,175

Median Household Income

± $3,054

10.6k

Number of Households

± 668

In 2024, the median household income of the 10.6k households in Wasco County, OR grew to $64,175 from the previous year's value of $63,602.

The following chart displays the households in Wasco County, OR distributed between a series of income buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. The largest share of households have an income in the $75k - $100k range.

Wage Distribution

The closest comparable wage GINI for Wasco County, OR is from Oregon.

0.461

2023 Wage GINI in Oregon

0.463

2022 Wage GINI in Oregon

In 2023, the income inequality in Oregon was 0.461 according to the GINI calculation of the wage distribution. Income inequality had a 0.437% decline from 2022 to 2023, which means that wage distribution grew somewhat more even. The GINI for Oregon was lower than than the national average of 0.476. In other words, wages are distributed more evenly in Oregon in comparison to the national average.

This chart shows the number of workers in Oregon across various wage buckets compared to the national average.

Transportation

Commuter Transportation

Most Common Commute in 2024

Drove Alone (73.7%)
Carpooled (9.66%)
Worked At Home (7.89%)

In 2024, 73.7% of workers in Wasco County, OR drove alone to work, followed by those who carpooled to work (9.66%) and those who worked at home (7.89%).

The following chart shows the number of households using each mode of transportation over time, using a logarithmic scale on the y-axis to help better show variations in the smaller means of commuting.

Commute Time

18.9 minutes

Average Travel Time

Using averages, employees in Wasco County, OR have a shorter commute time (18.9 minutes) than the normal US worker (26.4 minutes). Additionally, 2.63% of the workforce in Wasco County, OR have "super commutes" in excess of 90 minutes.

The chart below shows how the median household income in Wasco County, OR compares to that of it's neighboring and parent geographies.

Car Ownership

2 cars

Average Number

The following chart displays the households in Wasco County, OR distributed between a series of car ownership buckets compared to the national averages for each bucket. The largest share of households in Wasco County, OR have 2 cars.

Poverty

Severe Housing Problems

In 2025, 14.9% of the population was living with severe housing problems in Wasco County, OR. From 2014 to 2025, the indicator declined 1.81%.

The graph shows the trend of the percentage of the population living with severe housing problems.

Poverty & Diversity

11.6% of the population for whom poverty status is determined in Wasco County, OR (3.02k out of 26k people) live below the poverty line, a number that is lower than the national average of 12.5%. The largest demographic living in poverty are Males 25 - 34, followed by Females 65 - 74 and then Females 25 - 34.

The most common racial or ethnic group living below the poverty line in Wasco County, OR is White, followed by Hispanic and Two Or More.

The Census Bureau uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who classifies as impoverished. If a family's total income is less than the family's threshold than that family and every individual in it is considered to be living in poverty.

Children in Poverty

In 2025, 18.3% of the children was living in poverty in Wasco County, OR. From 2014 to 2025, the indicator declined 7.5%.

The graph shows the trend of the percentage of the children living in poverty.

Social Needs

Data only available at the state level.

Most prevalent states

California
35,798 individuals
New York
5,087 individuals
Florida
4,915 individuals

In 2017, California had the highest estimated number of chronically homeless individuals in the nation, at 35,798. New York has the second highest (5,087), followed by Florida (4,915).

The following map shows the estimated number of chronically homeless individuals by state over multiple years.

Security

Crimes & Accidents

Indicator

In 2022, the number of reported violent crimes offenses per 100,000 population was 159 in Wasco County, OR. From 2014 to 2022, the indicator grew 80.8 per 100,000 population.

The graph shows the trend in the number of reported violent crimes offenses per 100,000 population.

Health

91.5% of the population of Wasco County, OR has health coverage, with 38.4% on employee plans, 22% on Medicaid, 14.7% on Medicare, 14.3% on non-group plans, and 2.04% on military or VA plans.

Primary care physicians in Wasco County, OR see 954 patients per year on average, which represents a 0% change from the previous year (954 patients). Compare this to dentists who see 1207 patients per year, and mental health providers who see 139 patients per year.

By gender, of the total number of insured persons, 50.4% were men and 49.6% were women.

Coverage

Patient to Clinician Ratios

954 to 1

Patient to Primary Care Physician Ratio in Wasco County, OR

Primary care physicians in Wasco County, OR see an average of 954 patients per year. This represents a 0% change from the previous year (954 patients).

The following chart shows how the number of patients seen by primary care physicians has been changing over time in Wasco County, OR in comparison to its neighboring geographies.

Health Care Diversity

In 2024, insured persons according to age ranges were distributed in 22.6% under 18 years, 19.1% between 18 and 34 years, 37.6% between 35 and 64 years, and 20.6% over 64 years.

By gender, of the total number of insured persons, 50.4% were men and 49.6% were women.

The following chart shows the number of people with health coverage by gender.

Uninsured People

8.55%

Uninsured

38.4%

Employer Coverage

22%

Medicaid

14.7%

Medicare

14.3%

Non-Group

2.04%

Military or VA

Between 2023 and 2024, the percent of uninsured citizens in Wasco County, OR declined by 10.1% from 9.51% to 8.55%.

The following chart shows how the percent of uninsured individuals in Wasco County, OR changed over time compared with the percent of individuals enrolled in various types of health insurance.

Health Indicators

Health Outcomes

Indicator

In 2025, the number of deaths among residents under age 18 per 100,000 population was 51.5 in Wasco County, OR.

The graphic shows the trend of the indicator in Wasco County, OR.

Health Behaviors

Indicator

In 2025, the percentage of the adult population (age 18 and older) that reports a body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 30 kg/m2 (age-adjusted) was 32.9% in Wasco County, OR.

The graphic shows the trend of the indicator in Wasco County, OR.