Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Corvallis's standout: it is among the most walkable places in the country. Overall it grades C+, ranked 52nd of 142 in Oregon. Its public schools beat 82% of Oregon towns on state tests and graduation and CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 79% of the country. Its weakest subject is cost of living: homes are expensive, about $556K for a typical one and 7.2 times the Corvallis metro’s $78K median household income. 46% of working residents work locally in Corvallis, where Oregon’s towns sit at 9.5% and U.S. towns at 8%. Its National Register listings include Benton County Courthouse and Children's Farm Home School. Corvallis's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 95% of U.S. towns.
Where Corvallis beats most towns.
Episcopal Church of the Good Samaritan
Its founding year, 1845, comes before those of 93% of the Oregon towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 1,128 in 1880, 59,922 in 2020. The archive holds 22 old photos and papers going back to 1854 and 7 maps from 1913 on.
37 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Oregon), ordered by how far Corvallis is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 5%), so the C+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Corvallis, 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 Corvallis.
Corvallis is shaped by its college students, fares better on crime within Oregon than nationally and is healthier than towns with similar incomes.
24 miles of trail in 36 parks and preserves. Corvallis’ trail density is 1.7 miles per square mile. Willamette Park & Kendall Natural Area, at 125 acres with 3.1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Corvallis | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.7 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 9.1% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Willamette Park & Kendall Natural Area | 3.1 mi | 125 |
| 2. Woodland Meadow Park | 1.4 mi | 30 |
| 3. Avery City Park | 1.2 mi | 70 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its A− for schools comes with a D− for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $556K.
Its public schools are run by Corvallis SD 509J. Two of its 13 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linus Pauling Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 712 | – |
| Corvallis High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,273 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within OR on state tests and graduation
Against the 9,931 U.S. towns with household incomes like Corvallis’s, it is healthier than 96%, so its A− isn’t only a matter of income.
24% of adults have high blood pressure in Corvallis. No town among the 142 in Oregon we compare has a lower share of adults who have diabetes than Corvallis. 26% of adults have obesity in Corvallis.
| Corvallis | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 33% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 69% | 73% | 79% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 32% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 35% | 35% |
| What stands out | Corvallis | OR |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 7.8% | 11.2% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 4.6% | 6.5% |
| More adults in frequent mental distress | 20.6% | 17.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 32.3 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 60% of Oregon’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 1,896 to 1,441 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The property crime rate in Corvallis is 21.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Corvallis | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 21.1 per 1,000 residents | 15.2 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.8 per 1,000 residents | 2.2 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 75% of U.S. communities. Since 1996, 17 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Corvallis.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Corvallis has mild winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 35° and about 4 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 21,755 working residents takes 16.1 minutes, against 23 across Oregon.
24% of Corvallis residents live below the poverty line. Since 2013, Corvallis has added 2,082 jobs, to 29,088 in 2023. 19% of Corvallis workers work from home.
| Corvallis | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 24% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 19% | 14% | 11% |
| Median household income | $65,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 7.2 years of the Corvallis metro’s $78K median household income, the typical home (about $556K) costs more against local pay than in 86% of Oregon towns; that ratio is one input to its D− for cost of living.
No town among the 142 in Oregon we compare has a lower share of households owning their home than Corvallis. The typical Corvallis home is worth about $556,000, about the same as a year ago, 13% above the Oregon typical home.
| Corvallis | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 42% | 65% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 64% | 53% | 48% |
| Median rent | $1,391 a month | $1,415 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Corvallis. Close and well known come first.
in town Stadium & arenaReser Stadium
37 mi Stadium & arenaAutzen Stadium
23 mi Theme parkEnchanted Forest
38 mi Stadium & arenaHayward Field
38 mi State parkSilver Falls State Park
38 mi Stadium & arenaMatthew Knight ArenaReser Stadium: Zapper258, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Autzen Stadium: Another Believer, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Enchanted Forest: Trashbag (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hayward Field: Jsayre64, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Silver Falls State Park: Kelvin Kay -- Kkmd at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Matthew Knight Arena: Visitor7, CC BY-SA 3.0
2 within 15 miles of the center of Corvallis
College town 32 of every 100 Corvallis residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Oregon.
37 places in Corvallis on the National Register of Historic Places.
42 notable people were born in Corvallis.
City in Benton County, Oregon, United States
Corvallis ( kor-VAL-iss) is a city in and the county seat of Benton County in central western Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Corvallis, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton County. As of the 2023 Census Population Estimates, the population was 61,087, making it the 9th most populous city in Oregon. This includes the 24,900 Oregon State University students at the main campus in Corvallis, over 5,250 of whom live in one of 16 residence halls on the main campus. Corvallis is the location of Oregon State University's 420-acre (170 ha) main campus, Samaritan Health Services, a top 10 largest non-profit employer in the state, an 84-acre (34…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Corvallis grades C+ overall, better than 45% of U.S. towns and #52 of 142 in Oregon. It grades A− for health, C− for safety and A− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D−.
42 notable people were born here, including Carl Wieman and Meredith Brooks.
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