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Merlin is a small town of 1,617 people in Josephine County, Oregon. It's about 8 miles from Grants Pass, OR and 212 miles from Portland, OR, the nearest major city. Summer highs average 89°F and winter highs 52°F, with about 2 inches of snow a year. The typical home is valued around $435k and rent runs about $1k a month.
1,617people
$435kTypical home
$1,194/moRent
89° / 52°Summer / winter
2"Snow
230Sunny days
126Rain/snow days
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Size & setting
- Small town of 1,617
- Part of a metro area
- About 390 people per sq mi
- 212 mi to Portland, OR
- 8 mi to Grants Pass, OR
- 8 mi to the nearest town of 10k+
Money
- Typical home $435k (≈$2,743/mo)
- Median rent $1,194/mo
- Median household income $66k
- Property tax about 0.5% of value
- 3.0% unemployment
Weather
- Summer highs around 89°F
- Winter highs around 52°F
- Dry summers (dew point 48°F)
- 230 sunny days a year (126 totally clear)
- 135 cloudy days a year
- 56 of 90 winter days are gray
- 126 days a year with rain or snow
- 2" of snow a year
- Snow days are rare
- 4 days a year over 100°F
- Rarely drops below 10°F
- Usually calm
Safety
- Low violent crime (248 per 100k), county-wide
- Low property crime (1,196 per 100k), county-wide
People
- Median age 53
- 20% of households have kids
- 31% are 65 or older
- 18% have a college degree
- Not very diverse
- 4% of residents are college students
Getting around & homes
- Average commute 35 min
- 0% walk or take transit to work
- 30 mi to MFR airport
- 216 mi to PDX (major hub)
- 97 mi to the nearest Amtrak station
- 85% single-family homes
- Typical home built around 1989
- 98% of homes have broadband
Outdoors
- Mountain country
- Elevation 883 ft
- 49 mi to the ocean
- 69 mi to a big lake
- 6 mi to the nearest trailhead
- 48 mi to the nearest ski area
- 5 mi to the nearest campground
- 2 golf courses within 25 mi
Things to do
- 80 sit-down restaurants within 25 mi
- 10 bars within 25 mi
- 25 coffee shops within 25 mi
- No music venues & clubs within 25 mi
- 6 museums within 25 mi
- No breweries & distilleries within 25 mi
- 8 mi to the nearest farmers market
Everyday
- Schools in the bottom 27% of Oregon districts (reading)
- 8 mi to the nearest grocery store
- 10 mi to the nearest ER hospital
- 35 mi to a 4–5★ hospital
- 7 mi to the nearest vet
- 7 mi to the nearest dog park
- 5 congregations per 10k people
- 44 mi to the nearest college
Politics
- Josephine County: R+29 in 2024
- Oregon: D+14 in 2024
Natural hazards
- Very low hurricane risk
- Very low tornado risk
- High wildfire risk
- High earthquake risk
- Very low flood risk
- Low drought risk
- High winter storm risk
- Moderate heat wave risk
- Very low volcano risk
Limited data: this place is small enough that most of its Census numbers (rent, home value, income, age) are blended with county figures. Treat its match as a rough guide.