Klamath County, OR, USA - panoramio (50) · Photo: Eric Friedebach · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
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Klamath County, Oregon
70,247 residents · Updated Nov 12, 2026
Rental availability, asking rents against HUD Fair Market Rent, and community services in Klamath County, from the data behind Range Lab’s tools, refreshed daily.
Klamath County, OR, USA - panoramio (50) · Photo: Eric Friedebach · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
22,996
▼ 1.5%
vs. a year ago · Q1 2026
$1,071
▲ 4.6%
vs. a year ago · $26.77/hr
$23.08/hr
34 hrs/week
at the average wage to afford it
7.1%
▼ 0.3 pts
vs. a year ago · July 2026
$58,830
18.3%
below the poverty line · ACS 2024
Are wages keeping up with rent?
Average weekly wage and typical rent, both indexed to Q3 2023 = 100.
+4.6%wages vs. a year ago
| Q3 2023 | Wages 100.0 | Rent 100.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Q4 2023 | Wages 101.4 | Rent 97.2 |
| Q1 2024 | Wages 101.4 | Rent 95.7 |
| Q2 2024 | Wages 105.3 | Rent 99.8 |
| Q3 2024 | Wages 105.1 | Rent 100.5 |
| Q4 2024 | Wages 110.3 | Rent 101.6 |
| Q1 2025 | Wages 104.6 | Rent 102.2 |
| Q2 2025 | Wages 106.2 | Rent 102.8 |
| Q3 2025 | Wages 110.1 | Rent 103.2 |
| Q4 2025 | Wages 110.7 | Rent 104.9 |
| Q1 2026 | Wages 109.4 | Rent 105.9 |
Unemployment, year over year
Not seasonally adjusted, so each year gets its own line. A line above last year’s is the real signal. October 2025 was not published.
| Month | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 7.8% | 8.5% | 9.1% |
| February | 7.4% | 8.2% | 8.5% |
| March | 6.8% | 8.3% | 7.8% |
| April | 5.2% | 6.5% | 6.6% |
| May | 4.9% | 6.1% | 6.3% |
| June | 5.3% | 6.5% | 6.8% |
| July | 6.2% | 7.4% | 7.1% |
| August | 6.0% | 7.2% | — |
| September | 5.1% | 6.6% | — |
| October | 5.2% | — | — |
| November | 5.7% | 6.9% | — |
| December | 6.7% | 7.4% | — |
7.1%
▼ 0.3 pts
vs. July 2025
2,080
unemployed of a 29,481 labor force
July 2026
Who earns the housing wage?
Out of 100 Central Oregon nonmetro workers, how many are paid enough to afford each unit size at 30% of income. Estimated from BLS wage percentiles.
87 of 100
Studio
$15.87/hr · $825 rent
79 of 100
1 bedroom
$17.31/hr · $900 rent
50 of 100
2 bedroom
$23.08/hr · $1,200 rent
26 of 100
3 bedroom
$32.79/hr · $1,705 rent
Hourly pay, all workers
10th$23.10
Median$49.40
90th
The biggest job groups pay the least
Each bubble is an occupation group: median hourly wage across, jobs up, size by jobs. Red groups’ median worker can’t afford a 2-bedroom.
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations | $53.25/hr | 2,800 jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Management Occupations | $49.20/hr | 2,730 jobs |
| Architecture and Engineering Occupations | $45.42/hr | 640 jobs |
| Computer and Mathematical Occupations | $42.45/hr | 720 jobs |
| Legal Occupations | $35.88/hr | 210 jobs |
| Business and Financial Operations Occupations | $35.81/hr | 2,010 jobs |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations | $31.77/hr | 1,070 jobs |
| Protective Service Occupations | $30.56/hr | 1,150 jobs |
| Construction and Extraction Occupations | $29.22/hr | 2,280 jobs |
| Community and Social Service Occupations | $28.53/hr | 1,740 jobs |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations | $28.30/hr | 2,430 jobs |
| Educational Instruction and Library Occupations | $24.47/hr | 3,460 jobs |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations | $23.34/hr | 400 jobs |
| Production Occupations | $23.14/hr | 2,600 jobs |
| Office and Administrative Support Occupations | $22.34/hr | 5,680 jobs |
| Healthcare Support Occupations | $20.70/hr | 2,350 jobs |
| Personal Care and Service Occupations | $19.30/hr | 1,380 jobs |
| Transportation and Material Moving Occupations | $19.14/hr | 4,530 jobs |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations | $18.26/hr | 1,650 jobs |
| Sales and Related Occupations | $17.88/hr | 4,130 jobs |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations | $17.47/hr | 560 jobs |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations | $17.37/hr | 5,640 jobs |
What different jobs pay vs. what’s needed for rent
Hourly pay range for each occupation group against the $23.08/hr housing wage. The last column is the weekly hours the median worker needs to afford a 2-bedroom.
Pay compared with Oregon and the U.S.
Median hourly wage for all occupations, then each group’s Central Oregon nonmetro median against the statewide median, sorted by the gap.
- Central Oregon nonmetro$23.10
- Oregon$27.40
- United States$24.51
- Protective servicePays more by +7%
- Farming, fishing & forestryPays less by −2%
- ProductionPays less by −3%
- Personal care & servicePays less by −3%
- Community & social servicePays less by −4%
- Food servicePays less by −4%
- Installation & repairPays less by −5%
- Healthcare practitionersPays less by −6%
- Office & admin supportPays less by −8%
- Construction & extractionPays less by −8%
- Architecture & engineeringPays less by −9%
- Healthcare supportPays less by −9%
- Cleaning & groundsPays less by −10%
- SalesPays less by −11%
- Business & financePays less by −12%
- Transportation & movingPays less by −14%
- Education & libraryPays less by −17%
- SciencePays less by −18%
- ManagementPays less by −18%
- LegalPays less by −19%
- Computer & mathPays less by −20%
- Arts, media & sportsPays less by −25%
What sets local work apart?
Every occupation group’s share of local jobs compared with its U.S. share (location quotient). 2× means twice as common here; 0.5× means half as common.
Most concentrated here
Farming, fishing & forestry
4.0× the U.S. share
Least concentrated here
Computer & math
0.4× the U.S. share
- Farming, fishing & forestry4.0×
- Science2.3×
- Community & social service2.0×
- Personal care & service1.3×
- Food service1.3×
- Installation & repair1.2×
- Education & library1.2×
- Cleaning & grounds1.1×
- Construction & extraction1.1×
- Transportation & moving1.0×
- Office & admin support1.0×
- Sales0.9×
- Protective service0.9×
- Production0.9×
- Healthcare support0.9×
- Healthcare practitioners0.9×
- Management0.8×
- Architecture & engineering0.8×
- Arts, media & sports0.6×
- Business & finance0.6×
- Legal0.5×
- Computer & math0.4×
Key takeaways
What this means for Klamath County.
Wages are rising
The average weekly wage is $1,071, up 4.6% from a year ago.
The biggest job groups pay the least
Office & admin support, food service and transportation & moving are 32% of jobs; all have median pay under $23/hr.
Most workers earn the housing wage
About 50 in 100 workers earn the $23.08/hr needed to afford a 2-bedroom at 30% of income.
Unemployment is falling
7.1% in July 2026, 0.3 points below a year earlier.
Sources: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (through July 2026) · BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (Q1 2026) · BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025, Central Oregon nonmetropolitan area, which covers 7 counties; BLS doesn’t publish occupational wages for single counties) · Census ACS 2024 · Range Lab RST listings. The housing wage follows the National Low Income Housing Coalition method: rent × 12 ÷ 0.30 ÷ 2,080 hours. About the data.