Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 11,957, founded in 1883.
Ontario is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C− overall, ranked 80th of 142 in Oregon, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is schools: its schools outperform 46% of the state's. Its lowest everyday mark is in incomes: the median household income is $46K, and 21% of residents live below the poverty line. A typical home there costs about $303K, 4.8 years of the Ontario area’s $63K median household income. 49% of working residents work locally in Ontario, where Oregon’s towns sit at 9.5% and U.S. towns at 8%. Only 4 of Oregon’s 228 towns score higher on hazard risk. Ontario is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns.
Where Ontario beats most towns.
Where Ontario’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Oregon), ordered by how far Ontario is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 200 in 1890, 11,645 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1908 and 2 maps from 1951 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Ontario, 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 Ontario.
Ontario carries less natural-hazard risk than nearly all of Oregon (mostly inland flooding), draws workers from Payette and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes.
7,621 jobs are based in Ontario, 1.8 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. 21% of working residents cross a state line to work, Fruitland among the top destinations.
The top destinations are Fruitland (6%), Nampa (4%) and Vale (2%). The average trip to work in Ontario is 14 minutes. Employers in Ontario shed 596 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 7,621. The share of workers in Ontario who work from home: 7.7%.
| Ontario | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 14 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $46,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 7.7% | 14% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Of its 7 schools, two are listed below, each with the reason. The largest public high school is Ontario High School, with 709 students. The public schools here belong to Ontario SD 8C.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ontario Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 471 | D |
| Ontario High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 709 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within OR on state tests and graduation
Walkers can cover 9.0 miles of trail in 5 parks and preserves. In Ontario, the density of trails is 1.5 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Beck-Kiwanis Park, at 34 acres.
| Ontario | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.5 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.4% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Beck-Kiwanis Park | 0.7 mi | 34 |
| 2. Ontario State Recreation Site | 0.3 mi | 17 |
| 3. Lions Park | 0.1 mi | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Against the 4,441 U.S. towns with household incomes like Ontario’s, it is less healthy than 52%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
41% of Ontario adults have obesity. Among 142 Oregon towns, just 8 have a higher share of adults 18 to 64 who have no health insurance than Ontario.
| Ontario | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 8.4% | 8.1% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 20% | 19% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 15% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 21% | 25% |
| What stands out | Ontario | OR |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 17.5% | 8.5% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 20.6% | 12.5% |
| More adults who get no exercise | 29.8% | 20.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The median property tax bill is $1,814, against $3,876 across Oregon, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
In the year to September 2026, typical home values climbed 2.4%. 56% of households live in a home they own in Ontario. Only 3 of the 140 Oregon towns we compare have a lower rent at the middle of the market than Ontario. On the market locally: a median 122 days to sell.
| Ontario | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $804 a month | $1,415 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 56% | 65% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk lower than 96% of Oregon towns, with expected losses of about $119 per resident a year; that rating is what its A− for hazard risk is built on.
Ontario’s FEMA hazard score comes in at 20 of 100. Of the losses FEMA expects in the town, 64% come from inland flooding and 22% from earthquakes. Since 1982, Ontario has seen 3 flood insurance claims paid out.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
A winter brings about 15 inches of snow, with January nights at 23° and July afternoons at 93°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
79 violent crimes were reported in 2023. Ontario’s property offense rate stands at 42.9 per 1,000 residents. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts.
| Ontario | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2023) | 42.9 per 1,000 residents | 18.9 | 13.1 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2023) | 6.7 per 1,000 residents | 2.2 | 1.8 |
FBI crime data, 2023 · crimes reported to police
1 within 15 miles of the center of Ontario
About 5 of every 100 Ontario residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Oregon.
2 places in Ontario on the National Register of Historic Places.
19 notable people were born in Ontario.
City in Oregon, United States
Ontario is the largest city in Malheur County, Oregon, United States. It lies along the Snake River at the Idaho border. The population was 11,645 at the 2020 census. The city is the largest community in the region of far eastern Oregon, also known as the Western Treasure Valley. Ontario is the principal city of the Ontario, OR-ID Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes Malheur County in Oregon and Payette County in Idaho. Ontario is approximately halfway between Portland and Salt Lake City. It is the closest city to the Idaho border along Interstate 84. The city's slogan is "Where Oregon Begins".
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Ontario grades C− overall, better than 21% of U.S. towns and #80 of 142 in Oregon. It grades C− for health and B− for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
19 notable people were born here, including Phyllis McGinley and Denny Smith.
