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About West Medford
Medford is the largest city in the Rogue Valley and the county seat of Jackson County. It took the county seat from Jacksonville in 1927, and it sits at about 1,434 feet in elevation. This edition covers the part of the city that lies west of Interstate 5. It is the sister edition of East Medford, which covers the east side. By the method used here, downtown Medford lies east of I-5, so it is part of East Medford and not this edition.
West Medford in numbers
For this site, "West Medford" means the Census block groups inside the Medford city limits whose center point lies west of Interstate 5. Nineteen block groups fit that description. The figures below are our own sums and averages of official Census tables. They are estimates, and small-area estimates carry a margin of error.
| Measure | West Medford | Medford overall |
|---|---|---|
| Population (ACS 2020-2024) | 27,989 | 86,315 |
| Households | 11,148 | 34,813 |
| Owner-occupied share of households | 48.7% | 56.3% |
| Median household income | about $63,962 | $73,230 |
| Median home value (owner-occupied) | about $312,909 | $417,100 |
| Median age | about 36.2 | 38.9 |
| Residents aged 65 and over | 15.9% | 19.5% |
| Owner-occupied homes valued at $300,000 or more | 2,868 of 5,433 (52.8%) | 15,592 of 19,602 (79.5%) |
| Business establishments, ZIP 97501 | 1,646 | 3,320 (ZIPs 97501 and 97504) |
The business count for ZIP 97501 includes downtown Medford, which this site counts on the east side, so it overstates the west side. Treat it as an upper bound.
A plain reading
West Medford is the younger, more renter-heavy side of the city. Fewer than half of households own their home, the median age is about two and a half years below the citywide figure, and about 16 percent of residents are 65 or older. Median household income is about $9,000 below the citywide figure and median owner-occupied home value is about $104,000 below it. Even so, a little over half of owner-occupied homes are valued at $300,000 or more.
Medford's population was 85,824 in the 2020 Census. Portland State University's Population Research Center certified an estimate of 89,946 for July 1, 2025, a 4.8 percent rise since 2020.
How we got these numbers
- Population, 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.
- East and west sides were separated by testing which side of Interstate 5 each block group's internal point falls on, using Census TIGERweb boundaries. Counts are summed. Medians are household-weighted averages of block-group medians (owner-weighted for home value), which is an approximation because medians do not add exactly.
- The 19 west-side block groups account for 27,989 of Medford's residents. Block groups whose internal point sits outside the city line are not counted in either side.
- Business counts are from Census ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023 and are by ZIP code, not by city limit. They leave out businesses with no paid employees.
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year data (2020-2024)
- Census Reporter
- Census TIGERweb
- Census ZIP Code Business Patterns
- Portland State University Population Research Center
- Medford, Oregon (Wikipedia), for the county-seat history and elevation
Also from Oregon Living: Oregon Living in East Medford, Oregon · Oregon Living in Central Point, Oregon · Oregon Living in Talent and Phoenix, Oregon · Oregon Living in Ashland, Oregon.