Photo: User:Yuehai1981 · CC BY 4.0Households in Klamath Falls have lower incomes than those in 91% of U.S. towns
23.4% of residents live below the poverty line, against 11.9% across Oregon. Klamath Falls grades D for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 3.3 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 19.6 in Portland.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Klamath Falls apart
Where Klamath Falls’ Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Klamath Falls is better than 7% of U.S. towns, #135 of 142 in Oregon. Job access by car holds Klamath Falls’ grade up (ahead of 38% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($46,693, U.S. $80,734).
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Klamath Falls stays D.
A commute of about 14 minutes in Klamath Falls
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Klamath Falls workers work from home, vs 19% across Oregon. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,211 commuters (the 6% who work from home are left out). Across Oregon: 80% drive alone, 3% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The workday shuffle in and out of Klamath Falls
On a workday 4,347 residents head out to work, 3,763 work right here, and 8,222 people come in from elsewhere.
About 26,000 people are in Klamath Falls on a workday afternoon, 18% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.48 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
12% of working residents work in Altamont
Where Klamath Falls clocks in
3% of workers
3% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
What work there is in Klamath Falls: 11,985 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Klamath Falls, 2013 → 2023: 11,723 → 11,985. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Klamath Falls’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Klamath Falls
About 26% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Klamath Falls
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Klamath Falls is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns, #30 of 142 in Oregon. Both inputs place Klamath Falls near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 8,735 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 93% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 75% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 77% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 11.6% of Klamath Falls households have no vehicle (Oregon 7.1%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Klamath Falls’ commuters take a bus or train.
Klamath Falls and other U.S. towns of 15,000 to 30,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Wolf Trap VA | 15,858 | $250K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 386 | Sherwood OR | 20,535 | $110K | 4.3% | 3.5% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 430 | West Linn OR | 26,567 | $147K | 5.5% | 4.3% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 688 | Happy Valley OR | 28,916 | $122K | 7.7% | 4.8% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,824 | Coolidge AZ | 19,959 | $67K | 19.9% | 14.1% | 11% | D |
| 1,825 | Opelousas LA | 15,098 | $33K | 37.4% | 11.9% | 25% | D |
| 1,826 | Klamath Falls OR | 22,111 | $47K | 23.4% | 8.5% | 46% | D |
| 1,827 | Americus GA | 15,617 | $39K | 32.7% | 5.4% | 27% | D |
| 1,828 | Rio Rico AZ | 22,017 | $61K | 16.6% | 10.5% | 15% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 1,847 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Klamath Falls, the top three, the last and three more from Oregon.
Next door is work for 12% of Klamath Falls
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Klamath Falls workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Klamath Falls | – | D | A+ | 14 min | $46,693 |
| Altamont | 12% | D | B+ | 15 min | $58,629 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Altamont. Darker towns draw more of Klamath Falls’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Klamath Falls: questions
What is the median household income in Klamath Falls?
$46,693 (±$4,050) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $83,011 across Oregon and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Klamath Falls?
23.4%, against 11.9% across Oregon and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Klamath Falls?
14 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Oregon and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Klamath Falls work?
46% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Altamont (12%, 3 mi), Medford (3%, 56 mi), Bend (3%, 129 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Klamath Falls walkable?
Klamath Falls is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.2 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Klamath Falls without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. 75% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Klamath Falls, from the people who make the trip.
More of Klamath Falls
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.