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About Cottage Grove
Cottage Grove is a city in Lane County in the southern Willamette Valley, at an elevation of about 650 feet. According to Wikipedia, the post office opened in 1855 east of present-day Creswell and took its name from an oak grove near the first postmaster's home. The city was incorporated in 1887, and gold discovered near Bohemia Mountain in 1858 helped fund the town's founding. The city received the National Civic League's All-America City Award in 1968 and 2004.
Cottage Grove in numbers
| Measure | Cottage Grove |
|---|---|
| Population, 2020 Census | 10,574 |
| Population, July 1, 2025 estimate (PSU) | 10,909 (+3.2% since 2020) |
| Population, ACS 2020-2024 | 10,698 |
| Households (ACS 2020-2024) | 4,225 |
| Owner-occupied share of households | 59.0% |
| Median household income | $80,875 (margin of error plus or minus $11,657) |
| Median owner-occupied home value | $346,600 (margin of error plus or minus $10,944) |
| Median age | 38.9 (margin of error plus or minus 3.4) |
| Residents aged 65 and over | 17.0% (margin of error about 2.8 points) |
| Owner-occupied homes valued at $300,000 or more | 1,786 of 2,493 (71.6%), margin of error about plus or minus 320 |
| Owner-occupied homes valued at $750,000 or more | 29 |
| Business establishments, ZIP 97424 | 417 |
A plain reading
Cottage Grove is a small, steady town. The Portland State University estimate is 3.2 percent above the 2020 Census count. Nearly six in ten households own their home, and the median owner-occupied home value is $346,600. About seven in ten owner-occupied homes are valued at $300,000 or more by the ACS count. Median household income is $80,875, but the margin of error is more than $11,000, so treat it as a range. The median age is 38.9.
In ZIP 97424 the largest industry groups by number of establishments were construction (67), retail (56), accommodation and food service (46), other services (41) and health care and social assistance (37).
How we got these numbers
- Population, households, tenure, income, home value, age and home-value brackets come from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates for 2020-2024, tables B01003, B01001, B11001, B25003, B19013, B25077, B01002 and B25075, read through Census Reporter. They are survey estimates with a margin of error. Margins of error shown here are the ones the Census Bureau publishes, and the margin for the $300,000-or-more count is our own combination of the bracket margins. With a small city, the margins are wide.
- The 2020 population is the 2020 Census count from Census TIGERweb. The 2025 figure is the certified estimate of the Portland State University Population Research Center for July 1, 2025, as listed by the League of Oregon Cities.
- Business counts are from Census ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023 for ZIP 97424. They are by ZIP code, not by city limit, so they include some addresses outside the city. 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
- Portland State University Population Research Center
- League of Oregon Cities, population estimates
- Cottage Grove, Oregon (Wikipedia)
- City of Cottage Grove
Also from Oregon Living: Oregon Living in Eugene, Oregon · Oregon Living in Springfield, Oregon.