City profile · Oregon · Census ACS 2023

Rufus, OR

Rufus's Census ACS profile: residents, income, housing, and the joined public-record layers available for this place.

225
Residents
$55,833
Median income
$173,400
Median home
$1,425
Median rent (state)
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Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.

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Starting with Rufus, OR - add up to three more cities on the compare page.

See how it ranks

State rank, size-class rank, and four peer cities for Rufus.

Place dossier plate

Sheet OR-RUFUS-OR · Rufus, OR 225 pop · income 29th pct

POP-VILLAGE · INC-MID · COL-PAR · SAFE-UNK · RANK-LOWER · PHOTO-FINISH · HOME-LOW · BOOK-UNK

  • POP-VILLAGE 225
  • INC-MID $55,833
  • COL-PAR 103.4
  • SAFE-UNK Safety pending
  • RANK-LOWER 29th
  • PHOTO-FINISH ≈ Mesa del Caballo
  • HOME-LOW $173,400
  • BOOK-UNK Tracts pending

Nearest income peer: Mesa del Caballo, AZ (+ $0 income $)

Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.

Income neighbourhood around Rufus

Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Rufus on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.

median HH income

What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.

Source U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 5-Year Estimates As of 2026-08-08

Compare beyond this state

Nationwide peers by population, income

Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Rufus on ACS population and median household income . Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.

Similar population

Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 225.

4 peers

Similar household income

Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS median household income. This city: $55,833. Population peers are excluded.

4 peers

Rufus - the verdict

Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Rufus lands in the 29th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.

29th
percentile, household income
35th
percentile, home value
66th
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this

Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.

Data Snapshot: Rufus, OR

225 people live in Rufus, Oregon - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Rufus report a median income of $55,833 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 9.6%. Typical homes in Rufus are valued around $173,400, and the median resident age is 53.9 years. Educational attainment runs 12.7% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 36.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.

Oregon carries a cost-of-living premium: the state registers 103.4 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Above Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,425 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Oregon's average monthly utility costs around $185 (state average). Workers in Rufus report an average commute of 12.1 minutes, with 82.3% driving alone and 0.0% working from home. Natural-hazard exposure scores 63.4 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Moderate).

A decision-led reading path

Useful questions to ask of Rufus's data

How this reading path is ordered

This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from work and mobility to population change to housing and income to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.

For Rufus, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history. No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, matched public-school count; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.

Question 1

What does the journey to work look like in Rufus?

Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 82.3%. The reported mean trip to work is 12.1 minutes.

Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.

Compare commute patterns →

Question 2

Is Rufus growing, shrinking, or holding steady?

Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +26 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +9.8% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.

Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.

See the national growth ranking →

3. Housing and income

How far does income reach against housing in Rufus?

This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.

The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.1 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 9.6%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.

Compare the housing trade-off →

4. Comparison shortlist

Which cities make useful reference points for Rufus?

Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.

Within Oregon, the closest population matches are Nehalem (225 residents, $69,464 income); Haines (228 residents, $46,806 income); Adrian (221 residents, $50,000 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Waukeenah, FL (225 residents); Forest City, IL (225 residents); Singer, LA (225 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.

Open a side-by-side comparison →

Population

225 residents

Micro place (under 10k)

Median Household Income

$55,833 /yr

Below median income · poverty 9.6% (Above-median poverty)

Cost of Living Index (state)

103.4 (US=100)

Above-average cost · BEA RPP 2024, Oregon average

City profile score · Rufus, OR

28/100

4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023

Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians (income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out and redistribute weight. How it is calculated.

Poverty rate D
9.6%

Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.

Household income F
$55,833

Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.

Cost of living F
103.4 index

BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.

Bachelor's+ share F
12.7%

Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.

Violent crime N/A
N/A

No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).

Rufus profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions) 4-axis radar comparing 1 series across Poverty rate, Household income, Cost of living, Bachelor's+ share. Poverty rateHousehold incomeCost of livingBachelor's+ share 28 F
Rufus profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)
Read the chart values
  • Poverty rate: 41/100 (D) · 9.6%
  • Household income: 28/100 (F) · $55,833
  • Cost of living: 25/100 (F) · 103.4 index
  • Bachelor's+ share: 14/100 (F) · 12.7%

How does Rufus compare to other US cities?

Rufus measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.

Household income 29% higher than other cities
Home value 35% pricier than other cities
Median rent 66% pricier than other cities

"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.

How we calculate these percentiles & ranks

Each percentile compares Rufus against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Oregon only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.

Oregon-relative analysis

Median Gross Rent places Rufus near the bottom of Oregon's cities

Among the 395 Oregon cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Rufus ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Rufus only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.

Median Household Income
#276 of 364
24th percentile in Oregon
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 395
0th percentile in Oregon
Median Home Value
#338 of 366
7th percentile in Oregon
Poverty Rate
#120 of 395
70th percentile in Oregon
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#297 of 395
24th percentile in Oregon
How in-state ranks are ordered

Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Oregon only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.

29thIncome percentile
Gauge source note

29th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.

How Rufus's home value compares nationally

Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)

$173,400 Among the most affordable more affordable than 65% of 15,600 US cities

Show national distribution $0–$25,000: 5 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $25,000–$50,000: 54 US cities (0%). Below this entry. $50,000–$75,000: 352 US cities (2%). Below this entry. $75,000–$100,000: 1,086 US cities (7%). Below this entry. $100,000–$125,000: 1,516 US cities (10%). Below this entry. $125,000–$150,000: 1,170 US cities (8%). Below this entry. $150,000–$175,000: 1,278 US cities (8%). This entry sits in this band. $175,000–$200,000: 1,229 US cities (8%). Above this entry. $200,000–$225,000: 1,035 US cities (7%). Above this entry. $225,000–$250,000: 976 US cities (6%). Above this entry. $250,000–$275,000: 754 US cities (5%). Above this entry. $275,000–$300,000: 712 US cities (5%). Above this entry. $300,000–$325,000: 521 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $325,000–$350,000: 526 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $350,000–$375,000: 465 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $375,000–$400,000: 393 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $400,000–$425,000: 317 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $425,000–$450,000: 300 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $450,000–$475,000: 307 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $475,000–$500,000: 250 US cities (2%). Above this entry. $500,000–$525,000: 160 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $525,000–$550,000: 156 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $550,000–$575,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $575,000–$600,000: 172 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $600,000–$625,000: 163 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $625,000–$650,000: 167 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $650,000–$675,000: 135 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $675,000–$700,000: 101 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $700,000–$725,000: 95 US cities (1%). Above this entry. $725,000–$750,000: 71 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $750,000–$775,000: 65 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $775,000–$800,000: 70 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $800,000–$825,000: 57 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $825,000–$850,000: 67 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $850,000–$875,000: 60 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $875,000–$900,000: 58 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $900,000–$925,000: 47 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $925,000–$950,000: 37 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $950,000–$975,000: 31 US cities (0%). Above this entry. $975,000–$1,000,000: 470 US cities (3%). Above this entry. $1,000,000–$1,025,000: 0 US cities (0%). Above this entry. Rufus $0 $1,025,000 every US city, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023

Rufus's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.1×

ACS median home value divided by median household income.

Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#7,215 of 15,516
More affordable than 54% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#6,014 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)

At 3.1×, Rufus sits in the moderate band: national rank #7,215 of 15,516 and #6,014 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000). Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.

How this ratio is calculated

Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000. Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0). This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.

Income distribution context

$55,833 Rufus, OR median household income (Census ACS)

Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Household income distribution - Rufus, OR Rufus, OR's median household income ($55,833) against the U.S. national quintile-share pattern. The Lorenz curve and quintile bars are national context, not Rufus, OR-specific shares. $ Household Income Distribution Rufus, OR median $55,833/yr, vs. U.S. national quintile pattern QUINTILE SHARE OF AGGREGATE INCOME Lowest 20% 3.4% Second 20% 9.2% Middle 20% 15.1% Fourth 20% 23.2% Top 20% 49.1% LORENZ CURVE cumulative income vs. population 100% 0% 100% pop. 0%
Rufus, OR median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Rufus, OR.

Key socioeconomic indicators

Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+) 12.7%

Census ACS S1501, educational attainment

Poverty rate (households below FPL) 9.6%

Census ACS S1701, poverty status

Labor force participation (adults 16+) 36.0%

Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force

Population
225
Median Income
$55,833
Median Home Value
$173,400
Median Age
53.9
Poverty Rate
9.6%
Labor force participation
36.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
12.7%

Population Change

PEP vintage

Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025

See the fastest-growing cities →
260 residents270 residents280 residents290 residents300 residents 202020212022202320242025 266 residents 292 residents ▲ +9.8%
Rufus's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.
Read the chart as text
Period Population
2020 266 residents
2021 272 residents
2022 278 residents
2023 279 residents
2024 286 residents
2025 292 residents

Commute Patterns

Commute source

How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023

Average Commute Time
12.1 minutes
Drive Alone
82.3%
Carpool
8.1%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
9.7%
Work from Home
0.0%

Based on 62 workers 16 and over.

Monthly Utility Costs

Oregon statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $185

EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Oregon at $185 (electricity about $85 , water and sewer about $50 ).

These are Oregon statewide averages, not a meter reading for Rufus. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.

Living Costs & Risk

Oregon's BEA cost-of-living index is 103.4 (Above Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Rufus is $1,425/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Oregon statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 63.4 / 100 (Moderate).

Cost/risk geography note

Cost of living is a Oregon statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Rufus sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.

How Rufus compares to similar-size Oregon cities

Same-state peer method

Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.

City Population Median Household Income
Rufus (this city) 225 $55,833
Nehalem 225 $69,464
Haines 228 $46,806
Adrian 221 $50,000
Primary sources on this page

Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Citation & verification links Data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCities

Primary sources: Census ACS, FBI UCR, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES. Joins use OMB Bulletin 23-01 / FIPS keys.

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Estimate caveats

ACS and UCR figures are citywide estimates with vintage lags; they do not replace a local visit, school visit, or insurance quote.

Editorial standards, provenance, and how to cite this page

Every figure on PlainCities is rendered directly from Census ACS source data, no number is typed in by an editor. This page draws directly on Census ACS source data, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.

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