Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For a city of 178,618, Eugene does unevenly: it grades C−, ranked 89th of 142 in Oregon. It is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns. The trade-offs: the typical home is worth about $472K, 6.6 years of the Eugene metro’s $72K median household income, and it reports more crime per resident than 87% of U.S. towns, including 617 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. 56% of working residents work locally in Eugene, above both Oregon’s towns (9.5%) and U.S. towns (8%). Its National Register listings include Deady Hall and Villard Hall. Eugene's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 86% of U.S. towns.
Where Eugene beats most towns.
Deady Hall is one of 2 National Historic Landmarks here, the National Register’s top tier. Its 64 National Register listings are more than in 98% of Oregon towns with a listing.
Census counts: 1,183 in 1860, 176,654 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1869 and 5 maps from 1910 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Oregon), ordered by how far Eugene is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 98% of comparable towns) to D− for cost of living (better than 3%), so the C− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Eugene. Close and well known come first.
in town Stadium & arenaAutzen Stadium
in town Stadium & arenaHayward Field
in town Stadium & arenaMatthew Knight Arena
36 mi Stadium & arenaReser Stadium
in town MuseumJordan Schnitzer Museum of Art
in town 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 · Reser Stadium: Zapper258, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art: User:Akendall, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hendricks Park: Chris Phan, CC BY-SA 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Eugene, 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 Eugene.
Eugene is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has seen reported crime fall beyond ordinary swings, but it has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Oregon.
70 miles of trail in 113 parks and preserves. The trail density in Eugene is 1.6 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Meadowlark Prairie, at 384 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Alton Baker Park | 7.3 mi | 366 |
| 2. Hendricks Park | 4.8 mi | 81 |
| 3. Amazon Headwaters Park | 4.6 mi | 230 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by Eugene SD 4J. Three of its 62 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Meadow View SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–8 | Grades K–8 | 672 | C+ |
| South Eugene High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,499 | A− |
| Roosevelt Middle SchoolTop results in townGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 557 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within OR on state tests and graduation
Reported crimes fell from 6,317 to 5,576 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Eugene’s property crime rate is 27.7 per 1,000 residents. Eugene reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 87% report less. Eugene’s violent crime rate is 3.4 per 1,000 residents.
| Eugene | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 27.7 per 1,000 residents | 15.2 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.4 per 1,000 residents | 2.1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Adults 18 to 34 are 34% of residents (23% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 32% of residents (39% statewide). 45% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Eugene.
| Eugene | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 16% | 21% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 45% | 27% | 29% |
| Median age | 35.2 years | 39.4 years | 40.5 years |
51.2% women, 48.8% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across Oregon, 50.1% of residents are women. Median age: women 35.6, men 34.9.
| Eugene | OR | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.2% | 10.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.6% | 9.6% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 18.7% | 8.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 15.2% | 14% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12% | 14.1% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.4% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 10% | 12.2% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.6% | 11.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.3% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.4% | 8.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 17.5% | 22.4% | 26% |
| Some college | 23.6% | 23.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.4% | 9.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 24.6% | 22.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 20.5% | 14.1% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Against the 10,144 U.S. towns with household incomes like Eugene’s, it is healthier than 87%, so its B+ isn’t only a matter of income.
Eugene beats the Oregon average on 2 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 71% of Eugene adults had a checkup this year.
| Eugene | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 71% | 73% | 79% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 27% | 23% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 32% | 36% |
| What stands out | Eugene | OR |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 9.4% | 11.2% |
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 5.8% | 6.5% |
| More adults in frequent mental distress | 19.9% | 17.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Eugene has mild winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 83°, January nights drop to 36° and about 3 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Jobs based in Eugene grew to 87,541 in 2023, 8,287 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Springfield (11%), Portland (4%) and Salem (2%).
| Eugene | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 19% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 17% | 14% | 11% |
| Median household income | $67,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 60% of U.S. communities. Since 1980, 10 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Eugene.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 6.6 years of the Eugene metro’s $72K median household income, the typical home (about $472K) costs more against local pay than in 75% of Oregon towns; that ratio is one input to its D− for cost of living.
Only 5 of the 142 Oregon towns we compare have a lower share of households owning their home than Eugene. The typical Eugene home is worth about $472,000, up 0.9% in a year, close to the Oregon typical home.
| Eugene | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 48% | 65% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 59% | 53% | 48% |
| Median rent | $1,402 a month | $1,415 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
4 within 15 miles of the center of Eugene
College town 15 of every 100 Eugene residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Oregon.
3 colleges in town.
64 places in Eugene on the National Register of Historic Places.
37 notable people were born in Eugene.
City in Oregon, United States
Eugene ( yoo-JEEN) is a city in and the county seat of Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about 50 miles (80 km) east of the Oregon Coast and approximately 110 miles south of Portland. The second-most populous city in Oregon, Eugene had a population of 176,654 as of the 2020 United States census and it covers a city area of 44.21 sq mi (114.5 km2). The Eugene-Springfield metropolitan statistical area is the second-largest in Oregon after Portland. In 2022, Eugene's population was estimated to have reached 179,887. Eugene is home to the University of Oregon, Bushnell Univer…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Eugene.
| Town | OR rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eugene | #89 | C− | D− | D | B+ | B+ |
| Santa Clara | #35 | B | D | — | B+ | B+ |
| River Road | #71 | C | D | — | B+ | B− |
| Springfield | #123 | D | D | C− | C | C+ |
Santa Clara and River Road report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Eugene with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Eugene grades C− overall, better than 18% of U.S. towns and #89 of 142 in Oregon. It grades B+ for health, D for safety and B+ 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−.
37 notable people were born here, including Rebecca Schaeffer and Eric Christian Olsen.
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