Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,042, settled in 1889.
Falls City’s best subject grades are a B for history and civic life; its weakest is a D− for schools. Only 11 of Oregon’s 228 towns score lower on incomes. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 86% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. Only 3 of the 143 Oregon towns we compare have a lower share of working residents who work in town than Falls City. Grants Pass Supervisor's Warehouse and Beulah Methodist Episcopal Church is on the National Register of Historic Places. Falls City has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Oregon), ordered by how far Falls City is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 3 old photos and papers going back to 1911.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Falls City, 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 Falls City.
Its public schools are run by Falls City SD 57. Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Falls City Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–8 | Grades K–8 | 116 | – |
| Falls City High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 59 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within OR on state tests and graduation
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most working residents leave Falls City for work: only 1% work in town. 20% of residents live below the poverty line in Falls City, above both Oregon’s towns (11%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). The average trip to work in Falls City is 31 minutes.
| Falls City | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 20% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 31 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $51,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The typical Falls City home is worth about $348,000, about the same as a year ago, 29% below the Oregon typical home. Falls City’s median rent is $1,095 a month, below the Oregon town median ($1,414 a month) and near the median of U.S. towns ($1,185 a month).
| Falls City | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,095 a month | $1,414 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 74% | 65% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Falls City beats the Oregon average on 0 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 9. 17% of adults report frequent physical distress in Falls City. Among 143 Oregon towns, just 8 have a higher share of adults who smoke cigarettes than Falls City.
| Falls City | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 27% | 23% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 72% | 72% | 79% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Falls City | OR |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 9.9% | 6.8% |
| More smokers | 16.7% | 12% |
| More adults who have had a stroke | 4.3% | 3.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Falls City has mild winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 35° and about 10 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
1 within 15 miles of the center of Falls City
About 4 of every 100 Falls City residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Oregon.
Where Falls City’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
City in Oregon, United States
Falls City is a city in Polk County, Oregon, United States. The population was 1,051 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
That is 4.4 years of the area's median household income ($78,900 across the Salem, OR metro 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+.