ZIP code 97537

ZIP 97537 is a mid-size town in Jackson County, Oregon, with 6,656 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #148 of 428 ranked by population — larger than 65% of them. The median age here is 50 years against 39.1 nationally, a markedly older profile that usually tracks retirees staying put and younger households leaving for work. Places under 65,000 residents only appear in the five-year release, never the one-year file, so these values pool sixty months of responses and lag the current year by design.

Households in ZIP 97537 earn a median of $58,445 a year, 25.6% below the national figure of $78,538. The median is the midpoint household, not an average, so a handful of very high earners cannot drag it upward the way they distort a mean. Poverty reaches 9.2% of residents here, below the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 97537 is valued at $362,300, 19.4% above the national figure, while median gross rent runs $1,161 a month, 17.4% below the national figure, or roughly $13,932 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 23.8% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 6.2×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is out of reach on local earnings alone and the ownership market leans on outside income, equity or dual high earners. 74.8% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans toward owners. Gross rent folds in the utilities a tenant pays separately, so it is closer to the real monthly outlay than a headline rent figure.

Home values sit at 6.2× median household income, far past the 3.9× national mark, so ownership costs here are set by something other than local wages — second homes, retirees with equity, or commuters earning elsewhere. A median age of 50 puts ZIP 97537 well into retirement-weighted territory, which pulls median household income down even where household wealth is high, because retirement draws are counted differently from wages.

Every value on this page is published directly by the Census for this area — nothing is modelled or interpolated. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.

ZIP 97537 is tabulated inside Jackson County, Oregon, one of 15 ZIP areas the Census publishes for that county and 428 across Oregon. Population sits in the small-town band, typically one main street plus the addresses that feed into it. County assignment on this page follows the largest share of the ZIP's land area, which matters where a delivery route crosses a county line: mail addressed to 97537 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.

Against its own county, 97537 reports a median household income of $58,445, 6% below the $61,971 county median, and 18% below the $71,485 typical OR ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $362,300, 3% below the county figure and 6% below the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at $1,161 a month, which is why it reads higher than the advertised rent on a listing for the same unit.

Oregon charges 0% statewide, and no local sales tax is layered on top, so the state rate is the full amount collected in 97537.

Everything above comes from the Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZIP Code Tabulation Area, with sales tax rates traced to the state revenue agency. Five-year estimates pool sixty months of responses, so they are stable enough to compare 97537 with its neighbours but always trail the current year, and any value the Census suppressed for sample size is shown as unpublished rather than filled in with a model.