ZIP code 97856

ZIP 97856 is a very small community in Grant County, Oregon, with 455 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #339 of 428 ranked by population — larger than 20% of them. The median age here is 45.8 years against 39.1 nationally, a markedly older profile that usually tracks retirees staying put and younger households leaving for work. 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 97856 earn a median of $37,438 a year, 52.3% 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 31.9% of residents here, well above the 12.4% national rate, which is the single clearest signal in this dataset that median income here is carried by a narrow band of households.

The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 97856 is valued at $254,200, 16.2% below the national figure, while median gross rent runs $708 a month, 49.6% below the national figure, or roughly $8,496 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 22.7% 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 6.8×, 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. 77.3% 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 6.8× 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. With 455 residents, a handful of survey responses moves every median on this page. Compare ZIP 97856 against its county rather than against national figures.

All values below were released by the Census for this exact geography, with no gap-filling on our side. 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 97856 is tabulated inside Grant County, Oregon, one of 11 ZIP areas the Census publishes for that county and 428 across Oregon. This is one of the smallest tabulated ZIP areas in the state, the kind of rural route where a single subdivision or farm cluster accounts for most addresses. 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 97856 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.

Against its own county, 97856 reports a median household income of $37,438, 37% below the $59,033 county median, and 48% below the $71,485 typical OR ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $254,200, 12% above the county figure and 34% below the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at $708 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 97856.

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 97856 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.