Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 10,851, settled in 1855.
Cottage Grove grades D overall, ranked 95th of 142 in Oregon. One bright spot: it is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns. Cottage Grove’s trail density is 1.9 miles per square mile, where Oregon’s towns sit at 0.8 and U.S. towns at 0.4. Cottage Grove has 8 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them First Presbyterian Church and Chambers Bridge. The typical home is worth about $399K, 5.6 years of the Eugene metro’s $72K median household income.
Where Cottage Grove beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Oregon), ordered by how far Cottage Grove is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 95% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 12%), so the D overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 974 in 1900, 10,574 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1925 and 3 maps from 1921 on.
8 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Cottage Grove. Close and well known come first.
18 mi Stadium & arenaAutzen Stadium
17 mi Stadium & arenaHayward Field
17 mi Stadium & arenaMatthew Knight Arena
17 mi MuseumJordan Schnitzer Museum of Art
16 mi GardenDorris Ranch Living History Farm
17 mi GardenHendricks ParkAutzen Stadium: Another Believer, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hayward Field: Jsayre64, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Matthew Knight Arena: Visitor7, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art: User:Akendall, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Dorris Ranch Living History Farm: Visitor7, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hendricks Park: Chris Phan, CC BY-SA 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Cottage Grove, 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 Cottage Grove.
7.4 miles of trail in 9 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Row River Nature Park, 75 acres with 1.8 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Row River Nature Park | 1.8 mi | 75 |
| 2. North Regional Park | 0.9 mi | 51 |
| 3. Bohemia Park | 0.1 mi | 14 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by South Lane SD 45J3. Two of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Cottage Grove High School, with 640 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lincoln Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 455 | C+ |
| Cottage Grove High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 640 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within OR on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 83% of U.S. communities. Since 1981, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Cottage Grove.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most working residents leave Cottage Grove for work: only 18% work in town. Cottage Grove’s average trip to work is 20 minutes, against 23 minutes in Oregon’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. Since 2013, Cottage Grove has added 467 jobs, to 3,075 in 2023.
| Cottage Grove | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 18% | 9.5% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 9.7% | 14% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 26.8 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 51% of Oregon’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 213 to 156 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Cottage Grove has mild winters and pleasant summers. The July high in Cottage Grove is 82°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical Cottage Grove home is worth about $399,000, up 0.5% in a year, 19% below the Oregon typical home. 59% of Cottage Grove households own their home.
| Cottage Grove | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 59% | 65% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,254 a month | $1,415 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Cottage Grove beats the Oregon average on 0 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 7. 72% of adults had a checkup this year in Cottage Grove.
| Cottage Grove | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 72% | 73% | 79% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 27% | 23% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 32% | 36% |
| What stands out | Cottage Grove | OR |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 8.3% | 6.8% |
| More adults who have had a stroke | 3.9% | 3.3% |
| More smokers | 14% | 12% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Cottage Grove
About 5 of every 100 Cottage Grove residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Oregon.
8 places in Cottage Grove on the National Register of Historic Places.
4 notable people were born in Cottage Grove.
City in Oregon, United States
Cottage Grove is a city in Lane County, Oregon, United States. Its population was 10,643 at the 2020 census. It is the third largest city in Lane County. It is on Interstate 5, Oregon Route 99, and the main Willamette Valley line of the CORP railroad.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Cottage Grove grades D overall, better than 14% of U.S. towns and #95 of 142 in Oregon. It grades B− for health, C for safety and C+ 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.
4 notable people were born here, including Dennis Dunaway and Steve M. Thompson.
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