Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Klamath Falls earns a D−, ranked 134th of 142 in Oregon, mostly because of incomes and safety. The median household income is $47K, and 23% of residents live below the poverty line. Its crime rate is higher than 89% of U.S. towns, with 102 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. What it does well: it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 95% of U.S. towns. 46% of working residents work locally in Klamath Falls, where Oregon’s towns sit at 9.5% and U.S. towns at 8%. Klamath Falls has 13 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Baldwin Hotel and Judge Henry L. Benson House. Klamath Falls's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) is stronger than in 88% of U.S. towns.
Where Klamath Falls beats most towns.
Baldwin Hotel
Census counts: 250 in 1880, 21,813 in 2020. The archive holds 23 old photos and papers going back to 1890 and 3 maps from 1957 on.
13 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Oregon), ordered by how far Klamath Falls is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 95% of comparable towns) to D for jobs and income (better than 7%), so the D− overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Klamath Falls, 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 Klamath Falls.
Klamath Falls has a shorter frost-free season than nearly all U.S. towns and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it has poverty well above the Oregon rate.
Moore Park, at 221 acres with 5 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Across 19 parks and preserves: 52 miles of trail. Klamath Falls’ trail density comes in at 2.5 miles per square mile.
| Klamath Falls | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 2.5 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.5% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Moore Park | 5 mi | 221 |
| 2. Steen Sports Park | 3.1 mi | 121 |
| 3. Conger Heights Park | 1.4 mi | 117 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Public schools: the Klamath Falls City Schools. Two of the 11 schools are below, and why each made the list. 5 public schools serve Klamath Falls, with 1,214 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ponderosa Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 561 | C+ |
| Klamath Union High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 671 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within OR on state tests and graduation
Klamath Falls’ level of property crime is 25.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Klamath Falls | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 25.6 per 1,000 residents | 15.2 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.6 per 1,000 residents | 2.1 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Klamath Falls: 49% of households own their home. The going rate for rent for Klamath Falls comes to $986 a month. On the market here: a median 72 days to sell.
| Klamath Falls | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 49% | 65% | 73% |
| Median rent | $986 a month | $1,415 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Against the 4,546 U.S. towns with household incomes like Klamath Falls’s, it is healthier than 58%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
For adults in Klamath Falls, the share who report frequent mental distress is 21%. Two figures for adults locally: 71% had a checkup this year, 17% report frequent physical distress.
| Klamath Falls | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 18% | 17% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 71% | 73% | 79% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 27% | 23% |
| What stands out | Klamath Falls | OR |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 17.8% | 12.5% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.4% | 6.8% |
| More smokers | 16.4% | 12% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The Keno weather station, 11 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 107 days, shorter than in 99% of U.S. towns.
A winter brings about 52 inches of snow, with January nights at 22° and July afternoons at 86°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 8,110 working residents takes 14.3 minutes, against 23 across Oregon.
For Klamath Falls, the average trip to work is 14 minutes. The median commute is under 3 miles. In Klamath Falls, 6% of workers work remotely from home. The top destinations are Altamont (12%), Medford (3%) and Bend (3%).
| Klamath Falls | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 14 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $47,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 6% | 14% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Of the losses FEMA expects in Klamath Falls, 45% come from earthquakes and 35% from inland flooding. FEMA expects more storm and flood damage locally than in 50% of U.S. communities. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Klamath Falls once, in 2020.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
2 within 15 miles of the center of Klamath Falls
About 11 of every 100 Klamath Falls residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Oregon.
13 places in Klamath Falls on the National Register of Historic Places.
19 notable people were born in Klamath Falls.
City in Oregon, United States
Klamath Falls ( KLAM-əth) is a city in and the county seat of Klamath County, Oregon, United States. The city was originally called Linkville when George Nurse founded the town in 1867. It was named after the Link River, on whose falls the city was sited. The name was changed to Klamath Falls in 1893. The population was 21,813 at the 2020 census. With its suburb Altamont, a census-designated place, the combined population of the towns is 42,046 residents. The city is on the southeastern shore of the Upper Klamath Lake, at the foothills of the Cascade Range, and is home to the Oregon Institute of Technology. Logging was the first major industry of Klamath Falls.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Klamath Falls.
| Town | OR rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Klamath Falls | #134 | D− | D | D | C+ | C− |
| Altamont | #98 | D | C | — | B | C |
Altamont reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Klamath Falls with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Klamath Falls grades D− overall, better than 3% of U.S. towns and #134 of 142 in Oregon. It grades C− for health, D for safety and C+ for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. That is 5.1 years of the area's median household income ($58,830 across the Klamath Falls, OR area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
19 notable people were born here, including Brenda Bakke and Ralph Hill.
