Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Coos Bay earns a D−, 137th of 142 graded towns in Oregon, mostly because of safety and incomes. Its crime rate is higher than 97% of U.S. towns, with 81 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. The median household income is $57K, and 15% of residents live below the poverty line. One bright spot: it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 87% of U.S. towns. 41% of working residents work locally in Coos Bay, above both the Oregon town median (9.5%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). Its National Register listings include Marshfield Elks Temple and Chandler Hotel and Annex. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 89% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top.
Where Coos Bay beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Marshfield Sun Printing Plant
Census counts: 250 in 1870, 15,985 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1872 and 2 maps from 1942 on.
22 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Oregon), ordered by how far Coos Bay is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Coos Bay, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Oct 2, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Coos Bay.
Coos Bay draws workers from North Bend and beyond, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has cooler summers than nearly all U.S. towns.
Reported crimes fell from 1,002 to 688 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Coos Bay’s violent crime rate is 5.1 per 1,000 residents. Among 75 Oregon towns, just 3 have a higher property crime rate than Coos Bay. Coos Bay reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 97% report less.
| Coos Bay | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 38.5 per 1,000 residents | 15.2 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.1 per 1,000 residents | 2.1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by Coos Bay SD 9. Two of its 11 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Millicoma SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades 3–6 | Grades 3–6 | 473 | C |
| Marshfield Senior High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 798 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within OR on state tests and graduation
9,320 jobs are based in Coos Bay, 1.6 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 14.1 minutes, against 23 across Oregon.
The average trip to work in Coos Bay is 14 minutes. Since 2013, Coos Bay has added 1,110 jobs, to 9,320 in 2023. 6.7% of workers work from home in Coos Bay.
| Coos Bay | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 14 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 6.7% | 14% | 11% |
| Median household income | $57,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Since 1978, 45 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Coos Bay.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The typical Coos Bay home is worth about $325,000, down 0.7% in a year, 34% below the Oregon typical home. 60% of Coos Bay households own their home.
| Coos Bay | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 60% | 65% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,034 a month | $1,415 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
July afternoons average 66°, cooler than in 100% of U.S. towns; January nights average 40.3°.
Only 3 of the 142 Oregon towns we compare have a lower July high than Coos Bay. Coos Bay has warm winters and cool summers, with plenty of rain. Snow is almost unheard of.
| Coos Bay | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| July high | 66°F | 82°F | 85°F |
| January low | 40°F | 36°F | 22°F |
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 7,886 U.S. towns with household incomes like Coos Bay’s, it is healthier than 60%, so its C isn’t only a matter of income.
Coos Bay beats the Oregon average on 0 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 13.
| Coos Bay | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 20% | 19% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 33% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 74% | 72% | 79% |
| What stands out | Coos Bay | OR |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 18.3% | 12.5% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.6% | 6.8% |
| More adults who have had a stroke | 4.4% | 3.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
8.3 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Mingus Park, at 38 acres.
| Coos Bay | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5.4% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Mingus Park | — | 38 |
| 2. Boardwalk Park | 0.1 mi | 2 |
| 3. Eastside Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
1 within 15 miles of the center of Coos Bay
About 4 of every 100 Coos Bay residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Oregon.
22 places in Coos Bay on the National Register of Historic Places.
18 notable people were born in Coos Bay.
City in Oregon, United States
Coos Bay (Coos: Atsiixis) is a city in Coos County, Oregon, United States, located where the Coos River enters the Coos Bay estuary on the Pacific Ocean. The city borders the adjacent municipality of North Bend; the two cities together form a contiguous urban core often referred to as Coos Bay–North Bend or "Oregon's Bay Area". With a population of 15,985 at the 2020 census, Coos Bay is the most populous city on the Oregon Coast. The surrounding Coos Bay Census County Division (CCD) has an estimated total population of 32,308.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Coos Bay.
| Town | OR rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coos Bay | #137 | D− | C− | D− | C+ | C |
| Bunker Hill | — | — | B− | — | C+ | C− |
| North Bend | #122 | D | C− | C− | C+ | B− |
Bunker Hill has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Bunker Hill reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Coos Bay with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Coos Bay grades D− overall, better than 2% of U.S. towns and #137 of 142 in Oregon. It grades C for health, D− for safety and C+ for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D−.
Yes. That is 5.2 years of the area's median household income ($62,143 across the Coos Bay-North Bend, OR area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
18 notable people were born here, including Steve Prefontaine and Mel Counts.
