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Juniper Canyon, Oregon

Juniper Canyon is an unincorporated community of about 2,700 people in Crook County, Oregon. It has no city government of its own: local services come from the county, or in some states from the town or township. A typical home costs about 4.8 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 131 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
2,666
Census survey, 2020-24
Typical home, 2020-24
$408,500
Crook County prices up 8.7% since 2022
Household income
$84,861
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Bend area
103.6
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
8 miles
Prineville, OR
To Portland
131 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 3.6% above the U.S. average in the Bend metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 4.8 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI doesn't publish crime figures for unincorporated communities. Call the county sheriff's office (or the town or township police, where there is one) and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in townNo public schools inside the town. The nearest high school is Crook County High School, about 8 miles away.
  • A hospital close bySt. Charles Medical Center Prineville in Prineville, about 8 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityPortland is about 131 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 Juniper Canyon 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
$408,500U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 8.7%Crook County, 2022 to 2025
Typical household income
$84,861U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
96%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$2,735 a yearOregon: $3,876
Homes built before 1940
0%U.S.: 12%
Vacation and seasonal homes
8%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
103.6U.S. average = 100 (the Bend 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 8.7% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Bend metro area, not Juniper Canyon 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, 2020-2024 Census survey
2,666The Census Bureau makes yearly estimates only for incorporated towns
Median age
50.7 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
31%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
17%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
18%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
3%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 (17%); construction (13%); schools, health care and social services (12%)
Unemployment rate
0%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
35 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
10%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: St. Charles Medical Center Prineville, Prineville, OR, about 8 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare gives it 3 of 5 stars.

Nearest general hospital: St. Charles Medical Center - Bend, Bend, OR, about 28 miles away. Medicare gives it 4 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

There are no public schools inside Juniper Canyon itself. The nearest public high school is Crook County High School, about 8 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
46%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
92%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
25°F
July average high
87°F
Days 90°F or hotter
31 a year
Nights at or below freezing
166 a year
Rain and melted snow
13.4 inches a year
Snow
21 inches a year
Elevation
4,139 feet

Weather stations: Prineville (8 miles away) and Grizzly (24 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: St. Charles Medical Center Prineville, Bend, Portland.

Crook County is in a metro area of fewer than 250,000 people (USDA rural-urban code 3, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • John Day Fossil Beds National Monument37 miles

Read about Juniper Canyon's history on Wikipedia.

Know Juniper Canyon?

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

  • Prineville Lake Acres, OR (unincorporated)1,497 people, 3 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.