Vale, Oregon

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title: "Vale, Oregon" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["vale,-oregon", "county-seats-in-oregon", "oregon-trail", "ontario,-oregon-micropolitan-area", "populated-places-established-in-1883", "1883-establishments-in-oregon", "cities-in-oregon", "cities-in-malheur-county,-oregon"] topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vale,_Oregon" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
name	Vale, Oregon
settlement_type	City
motto	Born and raised on the Oregon Trail
image_skyline	Vale, Oregon.jpg
imagesize	260px
image_caption	Downtown Vale
image_map	Malheur_County_Oregon_Incorporated_and_Unincorporated_areas_Vale_Highlighted.svg
mapsize	250x200px
map_caption	Location in Oregon
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name	United States
subdivision_type1	State
subdivision_name1	Oregon
subdivision_type2	County
subdivision_name2	Malheur
leader_title	Mayor
established_title	Incorporated
established_date	1889
unit_pref	Imperial
area_footnotes
area_total_sq_mi	1.14
area_land_sq_mi	1.14
area_water_sq_mi	0.00
area_total_km2	2.94
area_land_km2	2.94
area_water_km2	0.00
population_as_of	2020
population_footnotes
population_total	1894
population_density_km2	644.14
population_density_sq_mi	1668.72
timezone	Mountain
utc_offset	-7
timezone_DST	Mountain
utc_offset_DST	-6
coordinates
elevation_ft	2244
elevation_footnotes
postal_code_type	ZIP code
postal_code	97918
area_code	541
blank_name	FIPS code
blank_info	41-76600
blank1_name	GNIS feature ID
blank1_info	2412141
website
::

Vale is a city in and the county seat of Malheur County, Oregon, United States, approximately 12 mi west of the Idaho border. It is at the intersection of U.S. Routes 20 and 26, on the Malheur River at its confluence with Bully Creek.

Vale was selected as Malheur's county seat in 1888 in a vote where other candidate communities were Ontario and Jordan Valley. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 1,894. Vale is part of the Ontario, OR–ID Micropolitan Statistical Area. thumb|Rinehart Stone House Museum

History

The area where present-day Vale sits was historically home to small groups of Native Americans. The area was also a central gathering place for Paiutes during salmon run season.

The community was the first stop in Oregon along the Oregon Trail. Journals of those who traveled the trail note a trading post in the area as early as 1853, and by 1864, Johnathan Keeney had built a cabin and a barn that he offered for lodging for passing travelers. This cabin was replaced by the Rinehart House in 1872, which still stands today.

The railroad arrived in Vale in 1883, and the town became an important shipping gateway. A post office with the name of Vale was established in the Rinehart House the same year, though the community was not incorporated by the Oregon Legislative Assembly until February 21, 1889. Originally incorporated as the Town of Vale, it became the City of Vale in 1905.

Geography

Vale is in northeastern Malheur County, in the valley of the Malheur River, where it is joined from the west by Bully Creek and from the north by Willow Creek. The Malheur is an east-flowing tributary of the Snake River. Ontario, the largest city in Malheur County, is 16 mi to the east-northeast via U.S. Routes 20 and 26, and Oregon Route 201. US 20 leads west-southwest 113 mi to Burns, while US 26 leads west-northwest 114 mi to John Day.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Vale has a total area of 1.17 sqmi, all land. The city has an elevation of 2244 ft above sea level.

Climate

Vale has a semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk). July is on average the hottest month and January the coldest. Typically there will be 148.3 nights each winter falling below 32 F and 6.3 nights falling under 0 F, although the clear skies mean that only 25.2 days do not top freezing and only 101.5 days fail to top 50 F. During summer, 12.7 days will top 100 F and 61.2 days – including 43 of 62 in July and August – will on average top 90 F. However, the low humidity and clear high-altitude skies mean nights are cool even in summer, with minima rarely above 65 F.

December is the wettest month, when the average precipitation totals about 1.38 in, although the wettest month has been May 1998 with 5.57 in, whilst zero precipitation has been reported during each month between July and October. Snowfall is rare despite temperatures falling well below freezing between mid-October and mid-April, with a median of only 7.3 inch and usually negligible snow on the ground even in January, although during February 1989 a depth of 18 inch was reached. The most snow in one month was 16 in in January 1975. |location = Vale, Oregon (1971–2000) |single line = Y |width = auto |collapsed = Y |Jan record high F = 61 |Feb record high F = 67 |Mar record high F = 81 |Apr record high F = 92 |May record high F = 102 |Jun record high F = 106 |Jul record high F = 110 |Aug record high F = 110 |Sep record high F = 101 |Oct record high F = 91 |Nov record high F = 75 |Dec record high F = 66 |Jan high F = 35.4 |Feb high F = 44.5 |Mar high F = 56.8 |Apr high F = 65.8 |May high F = 75.1 |Jun high F = 84.4 |Jul high F = 93.2 |Aug high F = 91.6 |Sep high F = 80.4 |Oct high F = 66.1 |Nov high F = 47.8 |Dec high F = 36.5 |year high F = 64.8 |Jan low F = 18.3 |Feb low F = 24.0 |Mar low F = 30.2 |Apr low F = 35.3 |May low F = 43.9 |Jun low F = 50.5 |Jul low F = 55.7 |Aug low F = 52.7 |Sep low F = 42.5 |Oct low F = 32.6 |Nov low F = 26.0 |Dec low F = 18.4 |year low F = 35.8 |Jan record low F = −28 |Feb record low F = −23 |Mar record low F = 7 |Apr record low F = 14 |May record low F = 21 |Jun record low F = 20 |Jul record low F = 36 |Aug record low F = 30 |Sep record low F = 19 |Oct record low F = 6 |Nov record low F = −14 |Dec record low F = −27 |year record low F = −28 |precipitation colour = green |Jan precipitation inch = 1.22 |Feb precipitation inch = 0.96 |Mar precipitation inch = 1.00 |Apr precipitation inch = 0.85 |May precipitation inch = 1.05 |Jun precipitation inch = 0.75 |Jul precipitation inch = 0.47 |Aug precipitation inch = 0.38 |Sep precipitation inch = 0.52 |Oct precipitation inch = 0.62 |Nov precipitation inch = 1.11 |Dec precipitation inch = 1.35 |Jan precipitation days = 8.1 |Feb precipitation days = 6.3 |Mar precipitation days = 6.9 |Apr precipitation days = 5.3 |May precipitation days = 5.4 |Jun precipitation days = 4.5 |Jul precipitation days = 2.4 |Aug precipitation days = 2.6 |Sep precipitation days = 3.1 |Oct precipitation days = 3.7 |Nov precipitation days = 7.9 |Dec precipitation days = 8.0 |unit precipitation days = 0.01 inch |Jan snow inch = 4.3 |Feb snow inch = 0.6 |Mar snow inch = 0.2 |Apr snow inch = 0.0 |May snow inch = 0.0 |Jun snow inch = 0.0 |Jul snow inch = 0.0 |Aug snow inch = 0.0 |Sep snow inch = 0.0 |Oct snow inch = 0.0 |Nov snow inch = 2.1 |Dec snow inch = 5.6 |Jan snow days = 2.3 |Feb snow days = 0.5 |Mar snow days = 0.1 |Apr snow days = 0.0 |May snow days = 0.0 |Jun snow days = 0.0 |Jul snow days = 0.0 |Aug snow days = 0.0 |Sep snow days = 0.0 |Oct snow days = 0.0 |Nov snow days = 0.9 |Dec snow days = 2.0 |unit snow days = 0.1 inch |source 1 = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |date=September 2015}}

Demographics

|1890= 131 |1900= 127 |1910= 992 |1920= 935 |1930= 922 |1940= 1083 |1950= 1518 |1960= 1491 |1970= 1448 |1980= 1558 |1990= 1491 |2000= 1976 |2010= 1874 |2020= 1894 |footnote=Source: U.S. Decennial Census | align = right | align-fn = center

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Vale had a population of 1,894 and a median age of 36.4 years. 27.5% of residents were under the age of 18 and 17.3% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 99.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 93.9 males age 18 and over.

0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 713 households in Vale, of which 35.1% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 42.8% were married-couple households, 20.1% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 28.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 28.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 769 housing units, of which 7.3% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 62.7% were owner-occupied and 37.3% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.3% and the rental vacancy rate was 5.3%.

::data[format=table title="Racial composition as of the 2020 census{{cite web|title=2020 Decennial Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171)|url=https://api.census.gov/data/2020/dec/pl?get=NAME%2CP1_001N%2CP1_003N%2CP1_004N%2CP1_005N%2CP1_006N%2CP1_007N%2CP1_008N%2CP1_009N%2CP2_001N%2CP2_002N%2CH1_001N%2CH1_002N&for=place%3A76600&in=state%3A41|website=United States Census Bureau|year=2021|access-date=January 30, 2026|df=mdy}}"]

Race	Number	Percent
White	1,535	81.0%
Black or African American	9	0.5%
American Indian and Alaska Native	15	0.8%
Asian	10	0.5%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander	6	0.3%
Some other race	195	10.3%
Two or more races	124	6.5%
Hispanic or Latino (of any race)	389	20.5%
::

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 1,874 people, 669 households, and 441 families residing in the city. The population density was 1643.9 PD/sqmi. There were 754 housing units at an average density of 661.4 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the city was 86.7% White, 0.3% African American, 1.3% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.3% Pacific Islander, 8.2% from other races, and 2.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 23.4% of the population.

There were 669 households, of which 38.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.8% were married couples living together, 12.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 34.1% were non-families. 28.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.27.

The median age in the city was 33.4 years. About 29% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.8% were from 25 to 44; 19.7% were from 45 to 64; and 16.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 50.5% male and 49.5% female.

2000 census

As of the 2000 census, the median income for a household in the city was $27,065, and the median income for a family was $33,355. Males had a median income of $27,176 versus $22,500 for females. The per capita income for the city was $11,943. About 20% of the population and 15.6 percent of families had incomes below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 27.8% of those under the age of 18 and 12.2% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Old_Vale_City_Hall.jpg" caption="Old Vale City Hall"] ::

Transportation

In the 21st century, Vale is a stop on the Eastern POINT intercity bus line between Bend and Ontario. It makes one stop per day in each direction.

Miller Memorial Airpark

Education

Vale is within the Vale School District 84. It has grades K-12.

References

"City of Vale, Oregon". City of Vale.
"2024 U.S. Gazetteer Files: Oregon". United States Census Bureau.
"P1. Race – Vale city, Oregon: 2020 DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171)". U.S. Census Bureau.
"2010 ANSI Codes for Places: Oregon". United States Census Bureau.
{{GNIS. 2412141
"History".
"History".
(September 1, 2013). "On the trail to Vale". The Bend Bulletin.
Whitney, J. R.. (1905). "The Special Laws of the State of Oregon Enacted by The Twenty-third Legislative Assembly Regular Session". State Printer.
(2009). "The Oregon Companion". Timber Press.
"Monthly Averages for Vale, Oregon". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Moffatt, Riley. (1996). "Population History of Western U.S. Cities and Towns, 1850–1990". Scarecrow Press.
United States Census Bureau. "Census of Population and Housing".
(2021). "2020 Decennial Census Demographic Profile (DP1)".
(2023). "2020 Decennial Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics (DHC)".
(2021). "2020 Decennial Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171)".
"U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau.
"Eastern Point Schedule". Oregon Department of Transportation.
"2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Malheur County, OR". [[U.S. Census Bureau]].
"Home". [[Vale School District 84]].

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