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About Prineville
Prineville is the county seat of Crook County, in Central Oregon, where Ochoco Creek meets the Crooked River at an elevation of about 2,868 feet. Wikipedia reports that the Oregon legislature incorporated the city on October 23, 1880, and that it is named for Barney Prine, the first merchant to set up business at the site.
Prineville in numbers
| Measure | Prineville |
|---|---|
| Population, 2020 Census | 10,736 |
| Population, ACS 2020-2024 | 11,470 |
| Population, Portland State University certified estimate, July 1, 2025 | 12,288 (+14.5% since 2020) |
| Households | 4,791 |
| Owner-occupied share of households | 60.1% |
| Median household income | $72,980 |
| Median home value (owner-occupied) | $425,900 |
| Median age | 38.4 |
| Owner-occupied homes valued at $300,000 or more | 2,256 of 2,877 (78.4%) |
| Business establishments, ZIP 97754 | 555 |
| Paid employees at those establishments | 6,089 |
A plain reading
Prineville is a growing small city with a younger median age than La Pine or Sunriver. The Portland State University estimate is 14.5 percent above the 2020 Census count. Median household income is about $73,000 and the median home value is about $426,000. Nearly four in five owner-occupied homes are valued at $300,000 or more.
In 2023 the largest kinds of business by number of establishments in ZIP 97754 were construction (83), retail trade (69), accommodation and food services (49), health care and social assistance (49), and professional and technical services (39). Manufacturing had 37 establishments. See the data centers page for what the City and the companies say about that part of the local economy.
Read the margins
These are survey estimates and they carry margins of error. For Prineville, the median household income is plus or minus $5,115, the median home value is plus or minus $23,779, and the median age is plus or minus 2.2 years. Treat each figure as a range.
How we got these numbers
- 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, B11001, B25003, B19013, B25077, B01002 and B25075, read through Census Reporter (place 4159850). Dollars are 2024 inflation-adjusted ACS dollars.
- The 2020 population is the 2020 Census count for Prineville city, read from Census TIGERweb. The 2025 figure is the Portland State University Population Research Center certified estimate for July 1, 2025, as published by the League of Oregon Cities.
- Business counts are from Census ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023 for ZIP 97754. They are by ZIP code, not by city limit, and they leave out businesses with no paid employees. The Census adds a small amount of random noise to employment counts.
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, certified population estimates
- Prineville, Oregon (Wikipedia), for history and geography
Also from Oregon Living: Oregon Living in Bend, Oregon · Oregon Living in Redmond, Oregon · Oregon Living in Sisters, Oregon · Oregon Living in La Pine, Oregon · Oregon Living in Sunriver, Oregon.