Jackson + Josephine counties · Workforce housing · October 2026

Workers here say $2,000 a month is their limit.

About 1 in 3 family-size rentals, and about 1 in 8 homes for sale, fit under it.

This page sets that budget against Range Lab's live listings: what $2,000 a month actually gets a worker today.

KeyWhat workers sayAnnum survey · amberWhat the market showsRange Lab listings · oliveThe $2,000 line

Annum Workforce Housing Survey 2024–25 (n=413) · 85% want to own; 16.5% searching nowRange Lab listings 2026-10-01 · rentals with 3+ bedrooms and homes for sale

01 · Who answered

Where 413 workers live now

Employees at 7 SOREDI member employers, recruited at work. These are people with jobs, not a random sample of residents. Each house below is 1% of respondents.

41.9%

Renting

41.2%

Paying a mortgage

10.4%

With family or friends

4.6%

Own outright

Annum Workforce Housing Survey 2024–25 (n=413) · housing status · remaining 1.9% other or no answer

02 · Renting

Fine for one bedroom. Not for a family.

Range Lab tracks 1,038 priced rental listings in the two counties: 762 in Jackson, 276 in Josephine. The median asks $1,650 ($1,700 in Jackson, $1,495 in Josephine), and 70% ask $2,000 or less. Then the bedrooms add up.

Roof peak = median asking rent · house width grows with bedrooms

$2,000 CEILING

Studiomed. $1,08584%of 44 at or under $2,000

1 bedroommed. $1,29596%of 228 at or under $2,000

2 bedroomsmed. $1,49588%of 348 at or under $2,000

3 bedroomsmed. $2,19536%of 340 at or under $2,000

4+ bedroomsmed. $2,6005%of 37 at or under $2,000

Range Lab rental listings 2026-10-01 (n=1,038 priced units; excludes 94 RV and home-lot spaces) · all sizes: median $1,650, 70% at or under $2,000

Who needs the room

112

respondents are families with children

are multi-generational households

Those households need three bedrooms or more. That's where the roofline breaks through the $2,000 ceiling.

What's on the market

125

rentals with three or more bedrooms ask $2,000 or less across both counties, out of 377 listed.

84 JACKSON

41 JOSEPHINE

That's 29% of Jackson's family-size listings and 48% of Josephine's.

Annum survey 2024–25 (n=413) · household typeRange Lab rental listings 2026-10-01 · 3+ bedroom units (n=377; 3 bedrooms alone: 36% of 340)

Street directory

Cities with 30+ listings. Filled houses = share of listings at or under $2,000, to the nearest 10%.

Grants Pass$1,49581%

Medford$1,57570%

Talent$1,60073%

Central Point$1,85056%

Ashland$1,90062%

Jacksonville$1,99554%

Eagle Point$2,19536%

Range Lab rental listings 2026-10-01 · median asking rent · share at or under $2,000

03 · Moving in

The price of the front door

Even when the rent fits, getting the keys takes cash up front: first month, deposit and fees. Each doorway is as tall as the cash it takes; each plank is one week of income.

Cash to move inOne week of income, $896

$3,075

WK 1

WK 2

WK 3

1 bedroom3.4 weeks

$3,600

WK 1

WK 2

WK 3

WK 4

2 bedrooms4.0 weeks

$5,150

WK 1

WK 2

WK 3

WK 4

WK 5

WK 6

3 bedrooms5.7 weeks

1 bedroom: $1,325 rent + $1,700 deposit + $50 application = $3,075 ÷ $896 = 3.4 wks2 bedrooms: $1,500 rent + $2,050 deposit + $50 application = $3,600 ÷ $896 = 4.0 wks3 bedrooms: $2,200 rent + $2,900 deposit + $50 application = $5,150 ÷ $896 = 5.7 wks

What workers say

26%

struggled with upfront move-in costs

38%

of 25–34-year-olds (n=88)

To cope, they…

Took extra work54%

Borrowed or used credit cards53%

Shared housing when they didn't want to40%

The typical deposit is 1.3× a month's rent (median $2,250). A week of income here is Jackson County's median renter household income, $46,613 a year: $46,613 ÷ 52 = $896 a week, before tax ($22.41 an hour).

Range Lab rental listings 2026-10-01 · 690 listings that publish a deposit (66%)Annum survey 2024–25 (n=413; ages 25–34 n=88)Official: Census ACS 2020–2024 median renter household income

04 · Buying

The 85% who want to own

Range Lab's for-sale feed lists 1,856 homes, not counting land: 1,292 in Jackson, 564 in Josephine. The median asking price is $465,000 in Jackson and $479,000 in Josephine.

$2,000 / MO

$235,000–$245,000what $2,000 a month buys

$465,000 · ~$3,790/mothe median Jackson home

Only 4% of respondents say they can pay more than $3,000 a month. The median home would cost about $3,790.

Payment = principal, interest, taxes, insurance + mortgage insurance · 7.28% 30-yr fixed (Freddie Mac, Oct 1, 2026) · 3.5% down (FHA)

Plat · every home for sale, 2026-10-01

1,856

homes for sale across both counties. Each house is one listing, cheapest first.

236

(13%) are at or under the price a $2,000 monthly payment buys.

191

of those 236 (81%) are manufactured homes. Lot rent, where there is one, comes on top.

are single-family houses with three or more bedrooms.

With 20% down the ceiling rises to about $301,000–$314,000 (19%–20% of listings), but 20% down on that home is more than $60,000 in cash.

Range Lab for-sale feed (Zillow listings) 2026-10-01 · n=1,856 · excludes land · 236 ÷ 1,856 = 13% · 191 ÷ 236 = 81%

Official context

6.1×

Median home value to median household income, Southern Oregon

+1.3% / +5.1%

Jackson: home values / rents, year to August 2026

+0.1% / +4.4%

Josephine: home values / rents, year to August 2026

Official, via SOREDI dashboard (Census ACS 2024) · Zillow ZHVI and ZORI, Aug 2025 → Aug 2026

05 · Supports

The closing checklist

Workers rated eight supports that would help them get or keep a home. Against each: organizations listed in Rangefinder, Range Lab's resource directory, serving each county.

Workforce housing · closing checklistJackson + Josephine · 2026-10-01

SupportRated helpfulListed Jac / Jos

Repair services

93%

1/1

Emergency support (rent, retention)

84%

4/2

Relocation bonus / move-in help

84%

1/0

Deposit assistance

Lease guarantees

66%

0/0

Rate buydownEmployer / lender product

94%

0/0

Cash-offer supportEmployer / lender product

88%

0/0

Mortgage guaranteesEmployer / lender product

86%

0/0

Down payment, IDA, Habitat

Path to ownership · not rated

1/2

Homebuyer education

Path to ownership · not rated

1/0

Wholesale access

95%

Not a directory category

Annum survey 2024–25 (n=413) · % rating 3 or 4 of 4Rangefinder 2026-10-01 · active public resources, keyword-matched and read by hand · organizations

The ownership supports workers rate highest (rate buydowns, cash-offer support, mortgage guarantees) are products an employer or lender offers, not services a person can look up. That's the opening for SOREDI members.

A 0 means not listed in Rangefinder today, not that the program doesn't exist anywhere.

06 · Fact sheet

The one-minute version

Budget80% of 413 surveyed workers say the most they can pay for housing is $2,000 a month or less.

Rent70% of rental listings ask $2,000 or less, but only 33% of those with three or more bedrooms, the size families need.

Move-inMoving in takes $3,075–$5,150 in cash: 3.4 to 5.7 weeks of the typical renter household's income.

Buy13% of homes for sale fit a $2,000 payment. 81% of those are manufactured homes; 5 are family houses.

SupportsThe ownership supports workers rate highest have no listings in Rangefinder in either county.

A blueprint for what's next

Three rooms, one for each audience. Each action is tied to a number above.

Room A

Employers and SOREDI

Offer move-in or relocation assistance.≈4 weeks of income to move into a 2-bedroom

Add repair benefits for workers who own.93% rate repair help useful

Offer rate-buydown or down-payment matching.13% of homes fit a $2,000 payment

Room B

Funders and policy

Seed a regional lease-guarantee or risk-mitigation fund.0 listed · 66% rate it helpful

Fund deposit help in Josephine County.0 deposit programs listed

Back family-size rentals.33% of 3+ bedroom rentals ask $2,000 or less

Room C

Range Lab

Show "cash to move in" on every Rental Search Tool listing.$3,600 for a typical 2-bedroom

Fill Rangefinder's ownership and repair gaps.4 of 7 rated supports: none listed in either county

The fine print

Sources and caveats

Annum Workforce Housing Survey

Fielded 2024–25: 413 employees at 7 SOREDI member employers in Jackson and Josephine counties, via the SOREDI Regional Economic Data Explorer (captured Oct 1, 2026). Self-reported and employer-recruited, so it describes these employed workers, not all residents. Groups smaller than 50 are marked (ages 25–34 n=88).

"$2,000 or less" is a best case

$2,000 is the top of the survey's lowest budget band, so the shares of listings at or under $2,000 are a best case: many respondents can pay less.

Range Lab rental listings (Rental Search Tool)

Oct 1, 2026. 1,038 on-market listings with a whole-unit rent (762 in Jackson, 276 in Josephine), not counting 94 RV and home-lot spaces. Deposits come from the 690 listings (66%) that publish one, from property-manager sites and listing fee tables; 1 deposit over 4× the rent was treated as a data error. The application fee is the median of the 77 listings that name one.

Range Lab for-sale feed (Zillow listings)

Oct 1, 2026, every home Zillow listed for sale in both counties, in price bands to get past its 820-result search limit. Houses, condos, townhouses, multi-family and manufactured homes; 546 land listings and 23 placeholder prices under $20,000 are left out. Payment: 7.28% 30-year fixed (Freddie Mac PMMS, week of Oct 1, 2026), FHA terms of 3.5% down with the 1.75% upfront premium financed and 0.55% a year after, plus Zillow's median property-tax rate and insurance estimate per county.

Rangefinder

Public, active resources serving each county, matched by keyword and read by hand, counted as organizations. A zero means not listed in Rangefinder today, not that no such program exists anywhere.

Official context

Week of income: Jackson County's median renter household income, $46,613 a year (Census ACS 2020–2024), ÷ 52 = $896.40 ($22.41 an hour over 2,080 hours), before tax. Home value to income and other benchmarks via the SOREDI dashboard; Zillow ZHVI and ZORI for year-over-year change. Range Lab's own listings show no trends: live tracking began Sept 26, 2026.