Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
John Day’s best subject grades are an A for walkability and an A− for schools; its weakest is a D for hazard risk. 36% of working residents work locally in John Day, against 9.8% in Oregon’s towns and 8% across U.S. towns. Among 116 Oregon towns, just 2 have a lower typical home value than John Day. The median household income is $58K, and 13% of residents live below the poverty line. John Day has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Kam Wah Chung Company Building and Advent Christian Church. John Day has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where John Day beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Oregon), ordered by how far John Day is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 179 in 1870, 1,664 in 2020. The archive holds 4 old photos and papers going back to 1885 and 4 maps from 1940 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in John Day, 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 John Day.
The typical John Day home is worth about $263,000, down 0.7% in a year, 47% below the Oregon typical home. 51% of households own their home in John Day, below both the Oregon town median (65%) and the median of U.S. towns (73%). John Day’s median rent is $910 a month.
| John Day | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 51% | 65% | 73% |
| Median rent | $910 a month | $1,414 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 84% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 7 flood insurance claims have been paid out in John Day.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
John Day has chilly winters and warm summers, with very little rain. The July high in John Day is 87°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
About one in 3 of John Day’s working residents works in town. Jobs based in John Day fell to 1,001 in 2023, 143 fewer than in 2013. The top destinations are Long Creek (9%), Portland (5%) and Canyon City (5%).
| John Day | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 17 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $58,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
John Day beats the Oregon average on 0 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 73% of adults had a checkup this year in John Day.
| John Day | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 73% | 72% | 79% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 35% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 27% | 23% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 32% | 36% |
| What stands out | John Day | OR |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 16.7% | 12.5% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.5% | 8.9% |
| More adults with arthritis | 31.7% | 27.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
2.1 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is 7th Street Park Complex, at 33 acres.
| John Day | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.0 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 0.7% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. John Day Community Gardens | 0.3 mi | 11 |
| 2. 7th Street Park Complex | — | 33 |
| 3. Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site | — | 4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of John Day; the nearest are
About 1 of every 100 John Day residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Oregon.
4 places in John Day on the National Register of Historic Places.
City in Oregon, United States
John Day is a city located approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Canyon City in Grant County, Oregon, United States, at the intersection of U.S. Routes 26 and 395. The city was named for the nearby John Day River, which, along with Dayville, had been named for a Virginia member of the 1811 Astor Expedition, John Day. The city was incorporated in 1901. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 1,664, making it the largest city in the county.
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 ($59,450 across the county). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
