Umatilla County, Oregon

Template:Short description Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox U.S. county

Umatilla County (Template:IPAc-en) is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. The population of 81,826 ranks it as the 14th largest in Oregon, and largest in Eastern Oregon.<ref name="QF">Template:Cite web</ref> Hermiston is the largest and fastest growing city in Umatilla County, but Pendleton remains the county seat.<ref name="GR6">Template:Cite web</ref> Umatilla County is part of the Hermiston-Pendleton, OR Micropolitan Statistical Area, which has a combined population of 94,833.<ref name="QF"/> It is included in the eight-county definition of Eastern Oregon.

The county is named for the Umatilla River.

History

Umatilla County was created on September 27, 1862, out of a portion of Wasco County. Adjustments were made to the county's boundaries following the creation of Grant, Morrow, Union, and Wallowa Counties. This legislative act also designated Marshall Station as the temporary county seat. An 1865 election selected Umatilla City, now known as Umatilla, as the county seat. With the development of wheat farming, population shifted to the north and east parts of the county, and a subsequent election in 1868 moved the county seat again to Pendleton.

The Umatilla Indian Reservation was established by the Treaty of Walla Walla in 1855. The Umatillas, Walla Wallas, and Cayuse tribes were resettled there, and is located immediately southeast of Pendleton.

EZ Wireless of Hermiston officially opened on February 4, 2004, one of the largest known Wi-Fi wide area networks in the United States, covering parts of Umatilla County, Morrow County and Benton County, Washington. Although created to facilitate communications among local police, firemen and EMT workers who immediately respond to possible accidents or terrorist attacks on the Umatilla Chemical Depot, where the U.S. Army maintained a national arsenal of nerve gas, the network can be accessed in some places by the public for free.<ref name="wired_051016">Template:Cite news</ref>

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert are land and Template:Convert (0.5%) are covered by water.<ref name="GR1">Template:Cite web</ref> It borders the Columbia River across from Washington.

Adjacent counties

I-84 eastbound and McKay Reservoir in Umatilla County

National protected areas

Demographics

Template:US Census population

2020 census

**Umatilla County, Oregon – Racial and ethnic composition**
Template:Nobold
Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)	Pop 1980<ref name=1980Census>Template:Cite web</ref>	Pop 1990<ref name=1990Census>Template:Cite web</ref>	Pop 2000<ref name=2000CensusP004>Template:Cite web</ref>	Pop 2010<ref name=2010CensusP2>Template:Cite web</ref>	Pop 2020<ref name=2020CensusP2>Template:Cite web</ref>	% 1980	% 1990	% 2000	% 2010	% 2020
White alone (NH)	54,165	51,303	54,670	52,691	49,753	92.02%	86.59%	77.49%	69.43%	62.13%
Black or African American alone (NH)	132	350	535	557	652	0.22%	0.59%	0.76%	0.73%	0.81%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	1,500	1,746	2,258	2,383	2,571	2.55%	2.95%	3.20%	3.14%	3.21%
Asian alone (NH)	331	503	518	626	685	0.56%	0.85%	0.73%	0.82%	0.86%
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)	x <ref>included in the Asian category in the 1980 Census</ref>	x <ref>included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census</ref>	51	95	130	x	x	0.07%	0.13%	0.16%
Other race alone (NH)	51	40	118	55	295	0.09%	0.07%	0.17%	0.07%	0.37%
Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)	x <ref>not an option in the 1980 Census</ref>	x <ref>not an option in the 1990 Census</ref>	1,032	1,375	3,367	x	x	1.46%	1.81%	4.20%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	2,682	5,307	11,366	18,107	22,622	4.56%	8.96%	16.11%	23.86%	28.25%
Total	58,861	59,249	70,548	75,889	80,075	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, 75,889 people, 26,904 households, and 18,647 families resided in the county.<ref name="census-dp1">Template:Cite web</ref> The population density was Template:Convert. The 29,693 housing units had an average density of Template:Convert.<ref name="census-density">Template:Cite web</ref> The racial makeup of the county was 79.1% White, 3.5% American Indian, 0.9% Asian, 0.8% Black or African American, 0.1% Pacific islander, 12.5% from other races, and 3.1% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 23.9% of the population.<ref name="census-dp1" /> In terms of ancestry, 21.4% were German, 12.8% were Irish, 11.6% were English, and 5.6% were American.<ref name="census-dp2">Template:Cite web</ref>

Of the 26,904 households, 36.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.9% were married couples living together, 12.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 30.7% were non-families, and 24.7% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.17. The median age was 35.7 years.<ref name="census-dp1" />

The median income for a household in the county was $45,861 and for a family was $53,585. Males had a median income of $39,288 versus $30,489 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,035. About 11.0% of families and 15.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.4% of those under age 18 and 9.5% of those age 65 or over.<ref name="census-dp3">Template:Cite web</ref>

2021 US Census American Community Survey- Household Incomes

Strong economic growth in the west end of the county has propelled Hermiston well past Pendleton with the highest median household incomes in Umatilla County.

2021 Median household incomes<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Rank	City	Median Income	% Change from 2010
1	Hermiston	$60,971	+46.5%
2	Pendleton	$58,093	+27.8%
3	Umatilla	$51,790	+25.1%
4	Milton-Freewater	$48,250	+43.3%

Government and politics

State legislature

Umatilla County contains two Oregon State House Districts: State House District 57, which is currently represented by Greg Smith, and State House District 58, which is currently represented by Bobby Levy. Umatilla County is also located in the 29th District of the Oregon State Senate, represented by Todd Nash. Smith, Levy, and Nash are registered Republicans.

Board of commissioners

Umatilla County is represented and governed by three county commissioners. The Umatilla County Board of Commissioners is currently made up of Dan Dorran, John Shafer, and Cindy Timmons.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Make-up of Umatilla County voters

Like all counties in eastern Oregon, the majority of registered voters who are part of a political party in Umatilla County are members of the Republican Party.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Registrations of Non-affiliated voters have increased significantly since Oregon began Automatic Voter Registration through the DMV in 2016.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Despite the increase in Non-affiliated voters, the Republican Party in Umatilla County has continued to see a 2:1 vote margin in Presidential elections between the years 2000 and 2024.

Economy

The gold rush of 1862 brought miners and stock raisers to the mountains and grasslands of Umatilla County. Another stimulus was the arrival of the railroad in 1881, opening the region to the development of dry-land wheat farming. Water for irrigation has been key to economic diversification and growth, most recently in the Hermiston area, where potatoes, onions, corn, and more than 200 other crops are grown commercially. Low-cost power through Umatilla Electric Cooperative and good freeway access are also driving growth in the Hermiston area, with amazon.com developing large data-center operations there, and major distribution facilities for Walmart, FedEx, UPS, and Meyer Distributing are all located in Hermiston.

The Greater Hermiston area, which encompasses the Hermiston, Umatilla, Stanfield, & Echo zip codes, and equates to a less than 10-minute commuting distance, has seen strong job growth since 2012. The Hermiston area added 2,930 jobs from 2012 to 2022, which equates to 91% of all net job growth in Umatilla County over that time.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> More recently, Greater Hermiston accounted for 114% of Umatilla County job gains from 2019 to 2022 as a result of 1,121 jobs added compared to net losses of 74 and 48 jobs in Pendleton and Milton-Freewater respectively.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Communities

Umatilla County is generally divided into three distinct economic and cultural areas, which are the West End, the Pendleton area, and the Milton-Freewater area. Although each of these communities shares some economic ties, the distance between each creates three very distinct communities. The West End includes the communities of Hermiston, Umatilla, Stanfield, and Echo. The Pendleton area includes Pendleton, Pilot Rock, Adams, and Athena. The Milton-Freewater area is largely tied to the Walla Walla, Washington area, and is considered a part of the Walla Walla Metropolitan Planning Organization. The similarities between the areas has created a long-standing rivalry, particularly between the West-End and the Pendleton-area, with regard to economic opportunity and public resources. The West End, led by Hermiston as its largest city, is now nearly twice the size of the Pendleton area, and is projected to be nearly three times the size of the Pendleton area by 2035.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Former communities

Education

School districts include:<ref>Template:Cite web - Text list</ref>

References

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External links

Umatilla County (official website)

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Template:Umatilla County, Oregon Template:Oregon

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Umatilla County, Oregon

Contents

History