Saunders LakeOR
A town of 1,338.
Is Saunders Lake a good place to live?
Saunders Lake’s weakest subject grade is a D for hazard risk. Saunders Lake’s July high is 66°F, against 82°F in Oregon’s towns and 85°F across U.S. towns. Only 22 of Oregon’s 228 towns score lower on incomes. The typical home is worth about $340K, 5.5 years of the Coos Bay area’s $62K median household income. Only 20 of Oregon’s 228 towns score lower on the outdoors. The biggest park or preserve is Siuslaw National Forest, at 111 acres. Saunders Lake has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
1,338 people, and everyone knows the way
In a town this size, neighbors are the best guide. Ask them anything.
How Saunders Lake grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Oregon), ordered by how far Saunders Lake is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Saunders Lake: who provides what
Saunders Lake is unincorporated, so Coos County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Oct 2, 2026.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Saunders Lake.
Very high risk in Saunders Lake, with earthquakes at the top
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 84% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most of Saunders Lake’s workers commute out: the town has 0.4 jobs for each of them
Most working residents leave Saunders Lake for work: only 2% work in town. 18% of Saunders Lake residents live below the poverty line, above both Oregon’s towns (11%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Saunders Lake’s average trip to work is 30 minutes.
| Saunders Lake | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 18% | 11% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 30 minutes | 23 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 2% | 9.8% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Fewer young adults than Oregon overall
Adults 18 to 34 are 11% of residents (23% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 44% of residents (39% statewide). 35% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Saunders Lake.
| Saunders Lake | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 43 years | 39.4 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 35% | 27% | 29% |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
Somewhere between 19% and 66% women
The Census survey reached too few of Saunders Lake’s residents to say more: its margin here is ±23.8 points. Across Oregon, 50.1% of residents are women.
| Saunders Lake | OR | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 14.3% | 10.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10% | 9.6% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 1.5% | 8.5% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9% | 14% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 15.2% | 14.1% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.7% | 12.3% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 16.1% | 12.2% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 16.1% | 11.5% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 4.9% | 7.6% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.6% | 8.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 23.6% | 22.4% | 26% |
| Some college | 23.9% | 23.5% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11.4% | 9.1% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 16.4% | 22.7% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 18.1% | 14.1% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,300, single groups can be off by several points
Saunders Lake has mild winters and pleasant summers
Saunders Lake has warm winters and cool summers, with plenty of rain. The January low in Saunders Lake is 40°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Saunders Lake has set aside 5.9% of its land for conservation
0.8 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves.
| Saunders Lake | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5.9% | 4.4% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area | 0.4 mi | 109 |
| 2. Siuslaw National Forest | 0.2 mi | 111 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Residents of Saunders Lake are healthier than 56% of U.S. towns
Saunders Lake beats the Oregon average on 4 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 9. 41% of Saunders Lake adults have high blood pressure.
| Saunders Lake | Oregon towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 33% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 15% | 14% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 15% | 16% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 18% | 17% |
| What stands out | Saunders Lake | OR |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer uninsured adults | 6.1% | 8.5% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 77.6% | 71.4% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 19.5% | 12.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Homes in Saunders Lake sell for about $842K
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Saunders Lake
Colleges nearby
1 within 15 miles of the center of Saunders Lake
About 9 of every 100 Saunders Lake residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Oregon.
98% of working residents leave Saunders Lake for work
Where Saunders Lake’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
About Saunders Lake
Census-designated place in Oregon, United States
Saunders Lake is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Coos County, Oregon, United States. It was first listed as a CDP prior to the 2020 census. As of the 2020 census, Saunders Lake had a population of 1,055. The CDP is in northwestern Coos County, along U.S. Route 101, 11 miles (18 km) north of Coos Bay and 16 miles (26 km) south of Reedsport. Saunders Lake, a small water body, is in the northern part of the CDP, draining north through Clear Lake to Saunders Creek, which flows north to Tenmile Creek between Lakeside and the Pacific Ocean. The Saunders Lake CDP is bordered to the west by the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 2.9 sq mi
- Elevation
- 197 ft
- Area code
- 458, 541
Questions about Saunders Lake
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Saunders Lake, OR expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $340,000, 31% below the Oregon typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.