Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 34,647, settled in 1855.
McMinnville's standout: it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 96% of U.S. towns. Overall it grades C+, 55th of 142 graded towns in Oregon. Its schools outperform 86% of the state's and it has 10 miles of trail. 35% of working residents work locally in McMinnville, against 9.5% in Oregon’s towns and 8% across U.S. towns. McMinnville is home to Linfield University.
Where McMinnville beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Memorial Elementary School | K–5 | 557 |
| Grandhaven Elementary School | K–5 | 446 |
| Newby Elementary School | K–5 | 443 |
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Oregon), ordered by how far McMinnville is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 388 in 1870, 34,319 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1883 and 4 maps from 1926 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in McMinnville, 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 McMinnville.
Below: Two of its 12 schools, each with why it was picked. Public schools: McMinnville SD 40. 5 public schools serve McMinnville, with 2,287 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duniway Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 761 | – |
| McMinnville High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,228 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within OR on state tests and graduation
The trail network density for McMinnville comes to 1.0 miles per square mile. Trails total 11 miles in 15 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Joe Dancer Park, 82 acres with 1.3 miles of trail.
| McMinnville | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.0 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.1% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Joe Dancer Park | 1.3 mi | 82 |
| 2. Galen McBee Airport Park | 1.3 mi | 23 |
| 3. Discovery Meadows Community Park | 1.1 mi | 21 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
For McMinnville, the FEMA hazard score is 68 of 100. Federal disaster aid has reached households in McMinnville after 4 declared disasters, most recently in 2021. Expected losses in McMinnville break down as 69% from earthquakes and 22% from inland flooding. The town has had 2 paid flood insurance claims since 1991.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
In July, afternoons reach 83°; in January, nights fall to 36°, and about 13 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The top destinations are Portland (7%), Salem (6%) and Newberg (6%). Roughly one working resident in three has a job in McMinnville itself. McMinnville: 16% of residents live below the poverty line. Jobs in McMinnville grew by 2,115 from 2013 to 2023, reaching 15,084.
| McMinnville | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $74,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Reported crimes fell from 753 to 508 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Within Oregon, it does better than 63% of towns. The property offense rate in McMinnville is 12.7 per 1,000 residents.
| McMinnville | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 12.7 per 1,000 residents | 15.6 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.6 per 1,000 residents | 2.2 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
For adults in McMinnville, the share who sleep under 7 hours is 34%. Two figures for adults in the town: 15% binge drink, 38% have obesity.
| McMinnville | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 73% | 72% | 79% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 8.4% | 8.1% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 15% | 16% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 35% | 35% |
| What stands out | McMinnville | OR |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 11.2% | 8.5% |
| More adults in fair or poor health | 21.9% | 19% |
| More adults who have had a stroke | 3.7% | 3.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
On the market in McMinnville: a median 21 days to sell. Values fell 1.1% in the year to September 2026. In McMinnville, 63% of households own their home.
| McMinnville | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 63% | 65% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,380 a month | $1,415 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around McMinnville. Close and well known come first.
in town MuseumEvergreen Aviation & Space Museum
34 mi Stadium & arenaModa Center
32 mi Stadium & arenaProvidence Park
32 mi City parkForest Park
32 mi MuseumPittock Mansion
34 mi Stadium & arenaVeterans Memorial ColiseumEvergreen Aviation & Space Museum: Notkeel at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Moda Center: Lugnuts, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Providence Park: Pdx.rollingthunder, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Forest Park: EncMstr, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Pittock Mansion: PittockBack.jpg: Cacophony derivative work: Tiptoety talk, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Veterans Memorial Coliseum: Steve Morgan, CC BY-SA 3.0
2 within 15 miles of the center of McMinnville
About 7 of every 100 McMinnville residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Oregon.
6 places in McMinnville on the National Register of Historic Places.
17 notable people were born in McMinnville.
City in Oregon, United States
McMinnville is the county seat of and the most populous city in Yamhill County, Oregon, United States, at the base of the Oregon Coast Range. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 34,319. McMinnville is located in the Willamette Valley at the confluence of the North and South forks of the Yamhill River. The city's economy has both industry and service businesses as well as the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum, home of Howard Hughes's famed Spruce Goose flying boat. Linfield University provides higher education. McMinnville is a center of the well-developed Oregon wine industry in the Willamette Valley, which has hundreds of wineries and vineyards.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
McMinnville grades C+ overall, better than 42% of U.S. towns and #55 of 142 in Oregon. It grades B− for health, C+ for safety and A for schools.
Within Oregon, it does better than 63% of towns.
That is 4.9 years of the area's median household income ($97,436 across the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA 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.
17 notable people were born here, including Beverly Cleary and Joni Huntley.
