An Oregon school district is the nation’s 5th poorest, Census reports

An Oregon school district has the fifth highest poverty rate in the nation among districts with at least 100 students, the Census Bureau reported Thursday.

An estimated 360 of the 641 residents age 5 to 17 within Oakridge School District boundaries, or about 56%, live below the poverty line, the bureau said. As recently as 2017, that number was closer to 70%, the Register-Guard reported at the time.

The median household income in Oakridge is $34,756, compared to $56,119 statewide, according to Census figures.

Three of the districts with higher poverty rates than Oakridge are in the Deep South.

Five other Oregon school districts, including Klamath Falls and Ontario, also rank in the nation's top 10% for child poverty among the nearly 12,400 school districts that are home to at least 100 school-aged children.

At the other end of the spectrum, eight Oregon school districts rank in the top 10% nationally for their low rates of school-aged poverty. Those include Sherwood (3%; No. 321), Lake Oswego (also 3%; No. 330), Riverdale (5%; No. 789), Banks (5%; No. 1012) and West Linn-Wilsonville (5%; 1014).

The estimates are based on data from the Census Bureau, the IRS and food stamp applications. The bureau compiles the breakdown annually as part of its Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates program.