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About La Grande
La Grande is the county seat of Union County in Eastern Oregon and the county's largest city. It sits on the western edge of the Grande Ronde Valley, east of the Blue Mountains, at about 2,772 feet. Wikipedia reports that the first permanent settler arrived in 1861, the settlement was first called Brownsville, and the city was incorporated in 1865. Rail service arrived in 1884, and Union Pacific still uses La Grande as a crew change point.
La Grande in numbers
| Measure | La Grande | Margin of error (ACS) |
|---|---|---|
| Population, 2020 Census | 13,026 | |
| Population, ACS 2020-2024 | 13,058 | +/- 26 |
| Population, Portland State University certified estimate, July 1, 2025 | 12,869 (-1.2% since 2020) | |
| Households | 5,538 | +/- 209 |
| Owner-occupied share of households | 51.1% (2,832 owner households) | owner count +/- 245 |
| Median household income | $58,427 | +/- $6,092 |
| Median home value (owner-occupied) | $278,700 | +/- $19,603 |
| Median age | 32.9 | +/- 2.6 |
| Owner-occupied homes valued at $300,000 or more | 1,220 of 2,832 (43.1%) | count +/- about 230 |
| Business establishments, ZIP 97850 | 598 | |
| Paid employees at those establishments | 6,975 |
A plain reading
La Grande is a small city that is a little smaller than it was at the 2020 Census, according to the Portland State University estimate. Its median age of 32.9 is younger than the other Eastern Oregon city in this network, Pendleton, at 36.9, and the Census does not say why; a university campus is in the city. Median household income is about $58,400 and the median home value about $278,700. Close to half of owner-occupied homes, 43.1 percent, are valued at $300,000 or more.
Treat these as estimates. The American Community Survey is a sample, and for a city this size the margins of error are wide: the home-value median could be off by about $19,600, and the count of $300,000-plus homes by about 230. Differences of a few percent between this page and another source are not meaningful.
How we got these numbers
- Households, tenure, income, home value, age and home-value brackets come from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates for 2020-2024, tables B01003, B11001, B25003, B19013, B25077, B01002 and B25075, read through Census Reporter for the La Grande city place (Census code 4140350). Dollars are 2024 inflation-adjusted ACS dollars. The margin of error for the sum of home-value brackets is the square root of the sum of squared bracket margins, the Census Bureau's standard method.
- The 2020 population is the Census count, read from the Census Bureau's TIGERweb service. The 2025 figure is the certified estimate from Portland State University's Population Research Center, as published in the League of Oregon Cities table of certified estimates (certified December 15, 2025).
- Business counts are from Census ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023 for ZIP 97850. They are by ZIP code, not by city limit, and they leave out businesses with no paid employees. The Census Bureau adds statistical noise to employment counts, so treat the employee figure as approximate.
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year data (2020-2024)
- Census Reporter
- Census TIGERweb
- Census ZIP Code Business Patterns
- League of Oregon Cities, certified population estimates (Portland State University)
- Portland State University Population Research Center
- La Grande, Oregon (Wikipedia), for history and location
Also from Oregon Living: Oregon Living in Pendleton, Oregon.