Do you live in one of the most miserable places in Oregon?
According to a Harris Poll taken in October of 2015, only a third of Americans say they are truly happy. That’s too bad, considering that Americans – especially folks in Oregon – don’t really have it too bad, in the grand scheme of things.
But, we were curious – which Oregon cities might be the most miserable? We’re about to find out, using science and data.
After analyzing the largest cities, we sadly present the most miserable cities in the Beaver State:
- Milton-Freewater (Photos)
- Madras (Photos)
- Sheridan (Photos)
- Ontario (Photos)
- Woodburn (Photos)
- Umatilla (Photos)
- Klamath Falls (Photos)
- Gresham (Photos)
- Monmouth (Photos)
- Springfield (Photos)
Read on below to see how we crunched the numbers and how your town ranked. If you have a smile on your face, you probably don’t live in one of these cities.
Oh, and by the way, Bethany is the happiest place in Oregon.
Or check out the Most Miserable Cities In America.
If you’re looking for something more positive, check out the best states in America or the best places to live in America.
How We Measured The Most Miserable Cities In Oregon
In order to rank the unhappiest places in Oregon, we had to determine what criteria makes people happy. It isn’t a stretch to assume that happy people earn great salaries, are relatively stress free, and have a stable home life.
So we went to the Census’s American Community Survey 2010-2014 report for the criteria, flipped the list, and it spit out the answer. Like magic.
We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible:
- Percentage of residents with a college degree
- Average commute times
- Unemployment rates
- Cost of living
- % of married couples
- % of home owners
- Poverty rate
After we decided on the criteria, we gathered the data for the 108 places in Oregon with over 2,000 people.
We then ranked each place from one to 110 for each of the seven criteria with a score of one being the most miserable (Any ties were given to the larger place).
Next, we averaged the seven rankings into a Miserable Index for each place with the lowest overall Miserable Index ‘earning’ the title ‘Most Miserable City In Oregon’.
If you’d like to see the complete list of states, most miserable to happiest, scroll to the bottom of this post to see the unabridged chart.
1. Milton-Freewater
Population: 7,094People Who Own Their Home: 47.17%
Married Adults: 40.57%
2. Madras
Population: 6,419People Who Own Their Home: 37.61%
Married Adults: 36.51%
3. Sheridan
Population: 6,081People Who Own Their Home: 52.69%
Married Adults: 38.95%
4. Ontario
Population: 11,148People Who Own Their Home: 47.23%
Married Adults: 42.61%
5. Woodburn
Population: 24,282People Who Own Their Home: 51.68%
Married Adults: 48.7%
6. Umatilla
Population: 6,998People Who Own Their Home: 47.29%
Married Adults: 29.67%
7. Klamath Falls
Population: 21,165People Who Own Their Home: 41.23%
Married Adults: 43.37%
8. Gresham
Population: 108,250People Who Own Their Home: 49.75%
Married Adults: 45.03%
9. Monmouth
Population: 9,769People Who Own Their Home: 45.7%
Married Adults: 32.53%
10. Springfield
Population: 59,882People Who Own Their Home: 49.52%
Married Adults: 41.74%
There You Have It
Like we said earlier, trying to determine the most miserable cities in {state} is usually a subjective matter. But if you’re analyzing cities where people are not stable, where you’re stuck in traffic, and no one spent the time to go to college, then this is an accurate list.
If you’re curious enough, here are the happiest cities in {state}, according to science:
For more Oregon reading , check out:
- These Are The 10 Most Ghetto Cities In Oregon
- These Are The 10 Worst Places To Live In Oregon
- These Are The 10 Best Places To Live In Oregon
Detailed List Of Miserable Places In Oregon
| City | Rank |
|---|---|
| Milton-Freewater | 1 |
| Madras | 2 |
| Sheridan | 3 |
| Ontario | 4 |
| Woodburn | 5 |
| Umatilla | 6 |
| Klamath Falls | 7 |
| Gresham | 8 |
| Monmouth | 9 |
| Springfield | 10 |
| Independence | 11 |
| Prineville | 12 |
| Toledo | 13 |
| Jennings Lodge | 14 |
| White City | 15 |
| Cottage Grove | 16 |
| Four Corners | 17 |
| Hayesville | 18 |
| Redmond | 19 |
| Portland | 20 |
| Eugene | 21 |
| Medford | 22 |
| Grants Pass | 23 |
| Seaside | 24 |
| Lincoln City | 25 |
| Salem | 26 |
| Coos Bay | 27 |
| Corvallis | 28 |
| Three Rivers | 29 |
| Ashland | 30 |
| Roseburg | 31 |
| Junction City | 32 |
| Roseburg North | 33 |
| Stayton | 34 |
| Mcminnville | 35 |
| La Grande | 36 |
| Sweet Home | 37 |
| Beaverton | 38 |
| Dayton | 39 |
| Lebanon | 40 |
| Phoenix | 41 |
| Astoria | 42 |
| Talent | 43 |
| Cornelius | 44 |
| Eagle Point | 45 |
| Albany | 46 |
| Wilsonville | 47 |
| Hood River | 48 |
| Forest Grove | 49 |
| Newberg | 50 |
| Lafayette | 51 |
| Dallas | 52 |
| Milwaukie | 53 |
| Gladstone | 54 |
| Hillsboro | 55 |
| Brookings | 56 |
| Oak Grove | 57 |
| Sutherlin | 58 |
| Boardman | 59 |
| Winston | 60 |
| Fairview | 61 |
| North Bend | 62 |
| Troutdale | 63 |
| Warrenton | 64 |
| Newport | 65 |
| Hermiston | 66 |
| Silverton | 67 |
| Oregon City | 68 |
| Green | 69 |
| Aloha | 70 |
| Bend | 71 |
| Hubbard | 72 |
| Tualatin | 73 |
| Keizer | 74 |
| Scappoose | 75 |
| Lakeview | 76 |
| King City | 77 |
| Molalla | 78 |
| Jefferson | 79 |
| Pendleton | 80 |
| Florence | 81 |
| Garden Home-Whitford | 82 |
| Baker City | 83 |
| Tigard | 84 |
| Canby | 85 |
| Altamont | 86 |
| Harrisburg | 87 |
| The Dalles | 88 |
| West Slope | 89 |
| Deschutes River Woods | 90 |
| Central Point | 91 |
| Cedar Hills | 92 |
| Sandy | 93 |
| Oak Hills | 94 |
| Raleigh Hills | 95 |
| Damascus | 96 |
| Columbia City | 97 |
| Oatfield | 98 |
| Lake Oswego | 99 |
| Jacksonville | 100 |
| Bull Mountain | 101 |
| Beavercreek | 102 |
| West Linn | 103 |
| Happy Valley | 104 |
| Sherwood | 105 |
| Rockcreek | 106 |
| West Haven-Sylvan | 107 |
| Cedar Mill | 108 |
| Stafford | 109 |
| Bethany | 110 |
Monmouth does not need to be on this list. Monmouth is a beautiful town with a lot to offer..but it is in fact a college town. The numbers are going to be drastically lower in the categories your looking for because of that. I’ve lived in Monmouth\ independence my entire life and you will not find a better town in Oregon. The people are friendly, the crime rate is much lower than the other towns listed, it’s a cute little town and is townies are happy as clams with it.
Survey comes out of Durham, NC .That tells me alot about this worthless article! I lived in Eugene, Bend, Lakeview, La Grande and Clay Creek (Oregon coastal mountains) I have friends in Springfield, Portland and Yachats. All these areas are fantastic places and I enjoyed living there very much. I would take any of Oregon’s towns over where I live now. Had to move to So Cal for work but my heart is still in Oregon. The people there are happy, mellow and friendly! More than I can say for the jerks I deal with in So Cal although my desert city of Hesperia is rural and pretty nice. In my opinion this article is stupid and I had to chime in! By the way GO DUCKS!
Sheridan is right where it should be, #3, though I would have put it at #1. I lived there for 6 years. If your looking for meth users and the thievery that comes with it Sheridan is the place to go. Management and operations at the city hall is a pathetic joke and are unfriendly and uncooperative, especially if you rent. If you don’t want your things stolen rent a storage unit NOT located in Sheridan or bolt it down and strip the bolt heads (Did I mention the thieves?). At one time Sheridan was a nice place, then the lumber mills shutdown and anyone with money left. The people left are either commuters who aren’t interested, welfare families and single pregnant teenage girls (with and without previous children), teenage boys with no jobs and no opportunities and it has one of the worst public school systems in the state. While located in a very beautiful spot tucked away in the northwest corner of the Willamette Valley, it’s dying. Sheridan’s one saving grace is the Sheridan Japanese School, an excellent, top notch 4-12 charter school that is very challenging and relatively selective public charter school. Unfortunately, school district resents the school, probably for blowing them out of the water when it comes to academic excellence and the Japanese School gets treated like the ugly step child, when the school district should be using the Japanese School as a benchmark to overcome their own woeful deficiencies.
just cause a person dont have a collage degree isn’t married or doesn’t own their home does not mean they are miserable because of it
*doesn’t
*college
Just because you have a miserable life in Sheridan does not make the town an awful place. Like any other town on Earth Sheridan has its good and bad. Your bad experience with the city hall and the other people in our community isn’t typical by any means! What is typical is that in any community there are trash talkiing know it alls like Hinge here who seem to know the problems but refuse to to take action to better or community! If you don’t like to town Hinge Weilher then you know the roads out of town because the town folk of Sheridan don’t want or need people such as yourself! You could very easily point out what you think is wrong but have you looked at what was right and beautiful? No? Bet its because you are in fact just a MISERABLE person. Do us all a big favor and keep your big fat mud flaps closed and or leave!
How come Salem is not number one with any doubt????????? Lived there for 8 years. Complete hell hole. Even the homeless people have their own special hell called UGM. Ran by religious right wing bigots. Back in Portland now and I would NEVER go the 44 miles south to Salem again
I think there is an error is saying the list is based on cities of 2000 people or more. Based on the number of missing towns, including my hometown, my guess is that you meant 4000.
Lmao I think this list is accurate. Just because you chose to see only the good things does not mean bad doesn’t exist. Calm down u defensive animals