Medford, OR
Medford, OR Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Medford, OR Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Medford ranks 218th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 162nd for income. A household earns $74,653 a year while median rent runs $1,369/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 1% above the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is commute (15th of 300), while cost of living is the soft spot (247th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 178th and home prices 242nd among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Medford, your take-home is worth about $54,524 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it less than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 162nd of 300↑32.2%$74,653
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 247th of 300101 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $73,598
- Per-capita income
- $42,378
- Full-time pay
- $41,881
Housing
- Median rent
- 178th of 300↑30.1%$1,369/mo
- Home value
- 242nd of 300↑40.9%$449,200
- Property tax
- $3,326/yr · 0.7%
- Sales tax
- 0.00%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 164th of 3004.6%
- Bachelor's+
- 145th of 30033.8%
- Avg commute
- 15th of 30019.5 min
People
- Population
- 221,331
- Population change
- +0.2%
- Median age
- 43.5 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 5.5%
- Broadband
- 92.7%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 80th of 30041
- Natural-hazard loss
- 234th of 300$18/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 144th of 30018.3%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 9.7%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Commute
- + Air quality
Watch-outs
- – Affordability
- – Cost of living
- – Home prices
- – Hazard safety
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — medford intl ap.
What jobs pay in Medford
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $285,470
- Pharmacists
- $163,540
- IT managers
- $139,320
- Financial managers
- $135,630
- Software developers
- $129,690
- Lawyers
- $127,970
- Registered nurses
- $127,030
- General & operations managers
- $95,630
- Civil engineers
- $94,560
- Electricians
- $92,410
- Police officers
- $87,160
- Accountants & auditors
- $81,210
- Plumbers
- $78,440
- Secondary school teachers
- $77,180
- Elementary school teachers
- $65,830
- Web developers
- $62,990
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $58,220
- Carpenters
- $57,930
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $51,180
- Waiters & waitresses
- $50,440
- Construction laborers
- $49,350
- Customer service reps
- $45,630
- Janitors
- $39,090
- Retail salespersons
- $35,840
- Cashiers
- $34,390
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Medford metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Oregon are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- California3,510
- Washington675
- Texas518
- Colorado317
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Medford
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Medford metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Medford metro?
- Median gross rent across the Medford, OR Metro Area is $1,369 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Medford.
- What is the median household income in the Medford metro?
- A typical household in the Medford, OR Metro Area earns $74,653 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Medford expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Medford, OR Metro Area runs about 1% above the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are higher than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Medford metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $73,598 (versus its face value of $74,653). CityLedger rates the Medford, OR Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Medford metro?
- The median home value across the Medford, OR Metro Area is $449,200 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Medford metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Medford, OR Metro Area is 4.6% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).