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About Ontario
Ontario is the largest city in Malheur County, in Eastern Oregon, on the Idaho state line. Wikipedia reports that developers founded it on June 11, 1883, and that the Oregon Legislative Assembly incorporated it on February 11, 1899. The Snake River forms its eastern boundary and the state line. Ontario observes Mountain Time.
Ontario in numbers
| Measure | Ontario | Margin of error (90%) |
|---|---|---|
| Population, 2020 Census | 11,645 | count |
| Population, ACS 2020-2024 | 11,842 | +/- 32 |
| Population, certified estimate published by the League of Oregon Cities (Portland State University), December 2025 | 11,878 (+2.0% since 2020) | not published |
| Households | 4,575 | +/- 235 |
| Owner-occupied share of households | 55.6% (2,545 homes) | owners +/- 261 |
| Median household income | $46,308 | +/- $8,944 |
| Median home value (owner-occupied) | $236,300 | +/- $22,011 |
| Median age | 35.2 | +/- 2.2 |
| Hispanic or Latino residents | 45.4% (5,378 people) | +/- 450 people |
| Owner-occupied homes valued at $300,000 or more | 935 of 2,545 (36.7%) | about +/- 199 homes |
| Business establishments, ZIP 97914 | 526 | none (Census adds small noise) |
| Paid employees at those establishments | 7,257 | none (noise) |
A plain reading
Ontario is a renter-heavy city by Eastern Oregon standards: about 44 percent of households rent. Median household income is about $46,300, but the margin of error is close to $9,000 either way, so read it as a range. Median home value is about $236,000, and a little over a third of owner-occupied homes are valued at $300,000 or more. About 45 percent of residents identify as Hispanic or Latino, with a margin of about 4 percentage points. The population estimate is only 2.0 percent above the 2020 Census count.
How we got these numbers
- Population, households, tenure, income, home value, age, Hispanic or Latino origin (table B03003) and the home-value brackets come from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates for 2020-2024, tables B01003, B11001, B25003, B19013, B25077, B01002, B03003 and B25075, read through Census Reporter for Ontario city (Census place 4154900). Dollars are 2024 inflation-adjusted ACS dollars.
- Homes valued at $300,000 or more are the sum of the B25075 brackets from $300,000 up (574, 293, 57, 0, 0, 9 and 2). The margin of error for that sum is our own square-root-of-summed-squares combination of the published margins, so it is approximate.
- The 2020 population is the Census count, read from the Census TIGERweb 2020 incorporated places layer.
- The December 2025 figure is from the League of Oregon Cities table, which says it reflects the December 15, 2025 certification by Portland State University. We read it from the League's table, not from a Portland State table.
- Business counts are from Census ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023 for ZIP code 97914. They are by ZIP code, not by city limit, and they leave out businesses with no paid employees.
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year data (2020-2024)
- Census Reporter
- Census TIGERweb
- Census ZIP Code Business Patterns
- League of Oregon Cities, certified population estimates
- Portland State University Population Research Center
- Ontario, Oregon (Wikipedia), for history and geography
Also from Oregon Living: Oregon Living in Pendleton, Oregon · Oregon Living in La Grande, Oregon · Oregon Living in Hermiston, Oregon · Oregon Living in Baker City, Oregon.