Southern Oregon is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon south of Lane County and generally west of the Cascade Range, excluding the southern Oregon Coast. Counties include Douglas, Jackson, Klamath, and Josephine. It includes the Southern Oregon American Viticultural Area, which consists of the Umpqua and Rogue River drainages. As of 2015, the population in the four counties is about 471,000, and in the greater, seven-county definition, it is about 564,000. [1] [2]
Always included:
Total population: 471,013
Sometimes included:
Total seven-county population: 564,446
| City | County | Population (2015) [1] |
|---|---|---|
| Medford | Jackson | 79,805 |
| Grants Pass | Josephine | 37,088 |
| Roseburg | Douglas | 22,114 |
| Klamath Falls | Klamath | 21,399 |
| Ashland | Jackson | 20,861 |
| Central Point | Jackson | 17,995 |
| Coos Bay | Coos | 16,182 |
| North Bend | Coos | 9,673 |
| Eagle Point | Jackson | 8,902 |
| Sutherlin | Douglas | 7,912 |
| Brookings | Curry | 6,476 |
| Talent | Jackson | 6,411 |
| Winston | Douglas | 5,393 |
| Phoenix | Jackson | 4,553 |
| Reedsport | Douglas | 4,107 |
| Coquille | Coos | 3,858 |
| Myrtle Creek | Douglas | 3,459 |
| Bandon | Coos | 3,115 |
| Shady Cove | Jackson | 3,022 |
| Jacksonville | Jackson | 2,883 |
| Myrtle Point | Coos | 2,514 |
| Lakeview | Lake | 2,296 |
| Gold Beach | Curry | 2,279 |
| Rogue River | Jackson | 2,227 |
| Cave Junction | Josephine | 1,932 |
| Canyonville | Douglas | 1,911 |
| Lakeside | Coos | 1,737 |
| Gold Hill | Jackson | 1,266 |
| Riddle | Douglas | 1,191 |
| Drain | Douglas | 1,157 |
| Port Orford | Curry | 1,146 |
| Yoncalla | Douglas | 1,053 |
| Oakland | Douglas | 936 |
| Glendale | Douglas | 881 |
| Merrill | Klamath | 825 |
| Malin | Klamath | 804 |
| Chiloquin | Klamath | 721 |
| Powers | Coos | 670 |
| Butte Falls | Jackson | 433 |
| Bonanza | Klamath | 411 |
| Paisley | Lake | 240 |
| Elkton | Douglas | 199 |
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Southern Oregon generally supports candidates of the Republican Party in both state and federal elections, but some liberal outliers such as Ashland and Port Orford mean Democrats are usually able to win larger shares of the vote in this region compared to Eastern Oregon. Other than Jackson County, which is considered a swing county, no Democrat has won any county of Southern Oregon in presidential elections since 1996 using the seven-county definition, or since 1964 using the four-county definition. Josephine County has not supported a Democrat for president since 1936.
Del Norte County is a county located at the far northwest corner of the U.S. state of California, along the Pacific Ocean adjacent to the Oregon border. Its population is 27,743 as of the 2020 census, down from 28,610 from the 2010 census. The county seat and only incorporated city is Crescent City. Del Norte was pioneered and populated by Azorean Portuguese settlers and dairy farmers, which may account for the local pronunciation of the county name. Locals pronounce the county name as Del Nort, not Del Nor-teh as would be expected in Spanish.
Siskiyou County is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 44,076. Its county seat is Yreka and its highest point is Mount Shasta. It falls within the Cascadia bioregion.
Lane County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 382,971, making it the fourth-most populous county in Oregon. The county seat is Eugene, the state's second most populous city. It is named in honor of Joseph Lane, Oregon's first territorial governor.
Klamath County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 69,413. The county seat is Klamath Falls. The county was named for the Klamath, the tribe of Native Americans living in the area at the time the first European explorers entered the region. Klamath County comprises the Klamath Falls, OR Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Josephine County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 88,090. The county seat is Grants Pass. The county is named after Virginia Josephine Rollins (1834–1912), a settler who was the first white woman to live in the county's boundaries. Josephine County comprises the Grants Pass, OR Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Medford-Grants Pass, OR Combined Statistical Area.
Jackson County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 223,259. The county seat is Medford. The county is named for Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States.
Douglas County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 111,201. The county seat is Roseburg. The county is named after Stephen A. Douglas, an American politician who supported Oregon statehood. Douglas County comprises the Roseburg, OR Micropolitan Statistical Area. In regards to area, Douglas County is the largest county west of the Oregon Cascades.
The State of Jefferson is a proposed U.S. state that would span the contiguous, mostly rural area of southern Oregon and Northern California, where several attempts to separate from Oregon and California, respectively, have taken place. The region encompasses most of Northern California's land but does not include San Francisco or other Bay Area counties that account for the majority of Northern California's population.
Eastern Oregon is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is not an officially recognized geographic entity; thus, the boundaries of the region vary according to context. It is sometimes understood to include only the eight easternmost counties in the state; in other contexts, it includes the entire area east of the Cascade Range. Cities in the basic eight-county definition include Baker City, Burns, Hermiston, Pendleton, Boardman, John Day, La Grande, and Ontario. Umatilla County is home to the largest population base in Eastern Oregon, accounting for 42% of the region's residents — more than twice that of the region’s second most populous, Malheur County. Hermiston, located in Umatilla County, is the largest city in the region, accounting for 10% of the population. Major industries include transportation/warehousing, timber, agriculture and tourism. The main transportation corridors are I-84, U.S. Route 395, U.S. Route 97, U.S. Route 26, U.S. Route 30, and U.S. Route 20.
The Rogue River in southwestern Oregon in the United States flows about 215 miles (346 km) in a generally westward direction from the Cascade Range to the Pacific Ocean. Known for its salmon runs, whitewater rafting, and rugged scenery, it was one of the original eight rivers named in the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1968. Beginning near Crater Lake, which occupies the caldera left by the explosive volcanic eruption and collapse of Mount Mazama, the river flows through the geologically young High Cascades and the older Western Cascades, another volcanic province. Further west, the river passes through multiple exotic terranes of the more ancient Klamath Mountains. In the Kalmiopsis Wilderness section of the Rogue basin are some of the world's best examples of rocks that form the Earth's mantle. Near the mouth of the river, the only dinosaur fragments ever discovered in Oregon were found in the Otter Point Formation, along the coast of Curry County.
The Siskiyou Mountains are a coastal subrange of the Klamath Mountains, and located in northwestern California and southwestern Oregon in the United States. They extend in an arc for approximately 100 miles (160 km) from east of Crescent City, California, northeast along the north side of the Klamath River into Josephine and Jackson counties in Oregon. The mountain range forms a barrier between the watersheds of the Klamath River to the south and the Rogue River to the north. Accordingly, much of the range is within the Rogue River – Siskiyou and Klamath national forests, and the Pacific Crest Trail follows a portion of the crest of the Siskiyous.
The Rogue Valley is a valley region in southwestern Oregon in the United States. Located along the middle Rogue River and its tributaries in Josephine and Jackson counties, the valley forms the cultural and economic heart of Southern Oregon near the California border. The largest communities in the Rogue Valley are Medford, Ashland and Grants Pass. The most populated part of the Rogue Valley is not along the Rogue proper, but along the smaller Bear Creek tributary. The Rogue Valley is a popular fall destination in Oregon because of the hardwood forests there.
The Fremont–Winema National Forest is a United States National Forest formed from the 2002 merger of the Fremont and Winema National Forests. They cover territory in southern Oregon from the crest of the Cascade Range on the west past the city of Lakeview to the east. The northern end of the forests is bounded by U.S. Route 97 on the west and Oregon Route 31 on the east. To the south, the state border with California forms the boundary of the forests. Klamath Falls is the only city of significant size in the vicinity. The forests are managed by the United States Forest Service, and the national forest headquarters are located in Lakeview.
The North Coast of California is a region in Northern California that lies on the Pacific coast between San Francisco Bay and the Oregon border. It commonly includes Mendocino, Humboldt, and Del Norte counties and sometimes includes Lake and two counties from the San Francisco Bay area, Marin and Sonoma.
The Southern Oregon AVA is an American Viticultural Area which lies in Southern Oregon, United States. The Southern Oregon AVA was established in 2005 and was created to include the land of two smaller AVAs: the Rogue Valley AVA and the Umpqua Valley AVA. Southern Oregon AVA was established to allow the two principal winegrowing regions in the southern part of the state to market themselves jointly. This creation of a "super-AVA" is a departure from the trend in the Willamette Valley AVA or northern Oregon of establishing smaller AVAs specific to a particular locale's climate or soil conditions.
Oregon's 2nd congressional district is the largest of Oregon's six districts, and is the seventh largest district in the nation. It is the second-largest congressional district in the nation that does not cover an entire state, and has been represented by Republican Cliff Bentz of Ontario since 2021.
The Klamath Basin is the region in the U.S. states of Oregon and California drained by the Klamath River. It contains most of Klamath County and parts of Lake and Jackson counties in Oregon, and parts of Del Norte, Humboldt, Modoc, Siskiyou, and Trinity counties in California. The 15,751-square-mile (40,790 km2) drainage basin is 35% in Oregon and 65% in California. In Oregon, the watershed typically lies east of the Cascade Range, while California contains most of the river's segment that passes through the mountains. In the Oregon-far northern California segment of the river, the watershed is semi-desert at lower elevations and dry alpine in the upper elevations. In the western part of the basin, in California, however, the climate is more of temperate rainforest, and the Trinity River watershed consists of a more typical alpine climate.
The Rogue River–Siskiyou National Forest is a United States National Forest in the U.S. states of Oregon and California. The formerly separate Rogue River and Siskiyou National Forests were administratively combined in 2004. Now, the Rogue River–Siskiyou National Forest ranges from the crest of the Cascade Range west into the Siskiyou Mountains, covering almost 1.8 million acres (7,300 km2). Forest headquarters are located in Medford, Oregon.
Northwest Oregon is a geographic and cultural region of the U.S. state of Oregon, composed of Clatsop, Columbia, and Tillamook counties. The region encompasses the northernmost parts of the state along the lower Columbia River.
The Medford metropolitan area is a metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon centered on the principal city of Medford, Oregon. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) identifies it as the Medford, OR Metropolitan Statistical Area, a metropolitan statistical area used by the United States Census Bureau (USCB) and other entities. The OMB defines the area as comprising all of Jackson County, including Medford, Ashland and Central Point. The Medford metropolitan area also includes Grants Pass in neighboring Josephine County, though the OMB excludes it.
