Small Town Guide
Menu

Towns / Oregon

Carlton, Oregon

Carlton is a small town of about 2,300 people in Yamhill County, Oregon. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 4.3 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Portland, is about 30 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
2,291
up 1.9% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$420,600
Yamhill County prices up 7.6% since 2022
Household income
$98,393
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Portland area
105.4
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
6 miles
McMinnville, OR
To Portland
30 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 5.4% above the U.S. average in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 4.3 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood2 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 0.9 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 6.6 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town1 public school. No public high school in town: the nearest is Yamhill Carlton High School, about 3 miles away.
  • A hospital close byWillamette Valley Medical Center in McMinnville, about 6 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityPortland is about 30 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Carlton meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$420,600U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 7.6%Yamhill County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,839 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$98,393U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
75%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$3,712 a yearOregon: $3,876
Homes built before 1940
8%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
25%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
105.4U.S. average = 100 (the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 7.6% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro metro area, not Carlton alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
2,2912020: 2,248
Median age
40.2 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
19%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
24%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
33%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
8%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Manufacturing (19%); schools, health care and social services (19%); construction (14%)
Unemployment rate
5%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
28 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
12%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
6%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Willamette Valley Medical Center, McMinnville, OR, about 6 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

1 public school in Carlton, run by Yamhill Carlton SD 1. The nearest public high school is Yamhill Carlton High School, about 3 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Oregon's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
74%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
95%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
36°F
July average high
83°F
Days 90°F or hotter
19 a year
Nights at or below freezing
46 a year
Rain and melted snow
44.1 inches a year
Snow
5 inches a year
Elevation
196 feet

Weather stations: Mc Minnville (5 miles away) and Dilley 2 S (12 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Willamette Valley Medical Center, Hillsboro, Portland.

Yamhill County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Fort Vancouver National Historic Site33 miles

Read about Carlton's history on Wikipedia.

Know Carlton?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Gaston, OR672 people, 10 miles
  • St. Paul, OR429 people, 11 miles
  • Cherry Grove, OR (unincorporated)335 people, 11 miles
  • Dilley, OR (unincorporated)200 people, 14 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.