ZIP code 97828

ZIP 97828 is a small town in Wallowa County, Oregon, with 3,369 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #193 of 428 ranked by population — larger than 55% of them. The median age here is 44.6 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly older profile than the country as a whole. At this population the ACS sample is small, so the margin of error around every dollar figure below is wide — treat the numbers as a band, not a point, and expect them to move between annual releases without the place itself changing.

Households in ZIP 97828 earn a median of $57,275 a year, 27.1% below the national figure of $78,538. Household income here is measured before tax and pooled across everyone at the address, which is why it reads higher than typical individual earnings in the same area. Poverty reaches 8.9% of residents here, below the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 97828 is valued at $369,600, 21.8% above the national figure, while median gross rent runs $821 a month, 41.6% below the national figure, or roughly $9,852 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 17.2% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is cheap relative to what people here earn. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 6.5×, 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. 72.6% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans toward owners. Rent is reported gross — contract rent plus tenant-paid utilities — which is why it runs above the advertised price on a listing for the same unit.

Home values sit at 6.5× 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.

No figure on this page is estimated by us; each one comes straight from the published ACS tables for this area. 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 97828 is tabulated inside Wallowa County, Oregon, one of 5 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 97828 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.

Against its own county, 97828 reports a median household income of $57,275, 13% below the $65,744 county median, and 20% below the $71,485 typical OR ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $369,600, close to the county figure and 4% below the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at $821 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 97828.

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 97828 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.