Umatilla County, Oregon

Umatilla County is a county in Oregon, United States, in the northeastern corner of the state
along the Columbia River. It had a population of 80,075 at the 2020 census, an estimated 81,119
by 2025, and covers 3,232 square miles (8,370 km2) centred near 45°23′N 118°45′W.

Pendleton is the county seat; its postal code is 97801. Hermiston, not Pendleton, is the
county’s largest city. The county holds 12 incorporated cities and 10 census-designated
communities, and it runs on Pacific Time. Its FIPS code is 41059.

Towns & Villages in Umatilla County

Umatilla County has 22 named places on record: 12 incorporated cities and towns and 10 census
designated places (CDPs) with no local government of their own. CDP stands for census designated
place; a handful of additional rural crossroads carry local names but no official Census Bureau
status, so they are not tabled below.

The old version of this page listed Pendleton as the largest city and Hermiston only as county
seat — both backward. Pendleton is the seat of county government; Hermiston has outgrown it
and is now the county’s largest city and the largest city in Eastern Oregon overall. Mission,
the CDP that includes the headquarters of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian
Reservation, sits about 5 miles east of Pendleton, not to be confused with the many other
places named Mission elsewhere in the country.

ZIP Codes

• 97801 — Pendleton
• 97838 — Hermiston
• 97862 — Milton-Freewater
• 97882 — Umatilla
• 97875 — Stanfield
• 97868 — Pilot Rock
• 97813 — Athena
• 97886 — Weston
• 97826 — Echo
• 97810 — Adams
• 97835 — Helix
• 97880 — Ukiah
• 97859 — Meacham

Mission, Umapine, Cayuse, Gopher Flats, Green Meadows, Kirkpatrick, McKay, Riverside and
Tutuilla have no ZIP code of their own; mail there is delivered under the nearest incorporated
town’s code — mostly Pendleton or Milton-Freewater.

Geography

Umatilla County spans the transition from the Columbia Plateau’s wheat country in the
north to the forested Blue Mountains in the south and east. Of its 3,232 square miles, 3,216 are
land and 16 are water, about 0.5 percent — the Umatilla River, which gives the county its
name, and the Columbia River along the northern edge account for most of it. The Columbia forms
the county’s border with Washington, and the McNary Dam backs up the river into Lake
Wallula near Umatilla.

Walla Walla County and Benton County in Washington lie across the Columbia to the north,
Columbia County, Washington touches the northeast corner, Wallowa County and Union County lie to
the east and southeast, Grant County lies to the south, and Morrow County lies to the west. Walla Walla County, Benton County, Columbia County, Wallowa County, Union County, Grant County and Morrow County all border Umatilla
directly.

Demographics

Umatilla County had a population of 80,075 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts
the county near 81,119 residents by 2025. Hermiston and Pendleton are the two largest
communities, together holding almost half the county’s population. Median household income
runs $67,728, a 2024 county estimate, below Oregon’s statewide figure of $80,160 (2023 ACS).
Population density works out to roughly 25 people per square mile of land, sparse by national
standards and typical for rural Eastern Oregon outside the Hermiston-Pendleton core. Hispanic or
Latino residents made up 28.3 percent of the county’s population in 2020, up sharply from
4.6 percent in 1980.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance employs the most workers in the county, about 4,840 people,
followed by retail trade at 4,513 and educational services at 3,589. Hermiston’s position at
the interchange of Interstate 82 and Interstate 84, cheap power from the Umatilla Electric
Cooperative and a regional fiber-optic backbone have drawn large logistics and data operations:
Amazon Web Services employs about 2,058 people there and a Walmart distribution center employs
about 1,050 more. The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, headquartered at
Mission, own and operate Wildhorse Resort & Casino east of Pendleton, which draws roughly
750,000 visitors a year and has grown the tribes’ operating budget from under $10 million in
1992 to about $190 million by 2010. Pendleton Woolen Mills, founded in 1909, still weaves wool
blankets and garments in the county seat. Milton-Freewater anchors a growing wine industry,
formalized in February 2015 as the Rocks District of Milton–Freewater American Viticultural
Area. The county’s biggest annual event is the Pendleton Round-Up, a Professional Rodeo
Cowboys Association-sanctioned rodeo held every September since 1910.

History

Oregon’s territorial legislature formed Umatilla County on 27 September 1862, carving it
out of Wasco County, and named it for the Umatilla River. The Umatilla, Walla Walla and Cayuse
peoples had lived in the area for generations before the 1855 Treaty of Walla Walla resettled
them onto the Umatilla Indian Reservation near present-day Mission and Pendleton. An 1862 gold
rush first drew settlers into the mountainous south of the county, and the arrival of the
railroad in 1881 shifted the local economy toward wheat farming, which still dominates the
Columbia Plateau portion of the county today. Umatilla, on the Columbia River, briefly served as
county seat before Pendleton took over the role in 1868.

Getting There

Interstate 84 crosses the county west to east through Hermiston and Pendleton, meeting
Interstate 82 near Hermiston. US 30 parallels I-84 through Pendleton, and US 395 runs
north-south through Pilot Rock and Pendleton. Oregon routes 11, 37, 74 and 244 serve the
smaller towns.

• Portland — about 207 miles west via I-84
• La Grande — southeast of Pendleton via I-84, on the far side of the Blue Mountains
• Walla Walla, Washington — north of Milton-Freewater

Eastern Oregon Regional Airport, three miles outside Pendleton, offers daily Boutique Air
flights to Portland — the county’s only scheduled commercial air service. Amtrak
served Pendleton on the Pioneer route between Chicago and Seattle from 1977 to 1997; that service
was discontinued, and the county has no active passenger rail station today.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Umatilla County located?
In northeastern Oregon along the Columbia River, bordered by Walla Walla, Benton and Columbia
counties in Washington, and by Wallowa, Union, Grant and Morrow counties in Oregon.

What is the population of Umatilla County?
80,075 at the 2020 census, with an estimate near 81,119 by 2025.

How big is Umatilla County?
3,232 square miles (8,370 km2) total, of which 3,216 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Umatilla County?
Pendleton, though Hermiston, not Pendleton, is now the county’s largest city.

How many towns and cities are in Umatilla County?
Twelve incorporated cities — Hermiston, Pendleton, Milton-Freewater, Umatilla, Stanfield,
Pilot Rock, Athena, Weston, Echo, Adams, Helix and Ukiah — plus 10 census-designated
communities including Mission and Umapine.

What ZIP codes does Umatilla County use?
97801 for Pendleton, 97838 for Hermiston, 97862 for Milton-Freewater and 97882 for Umatilla, plus
separate codes for each of the smaller cities.

What is Umatilla County known for?
The Pendleton Round-Up rodeo, Pendleton Woolen Mills, wheat farming on the Columbia Plateau, and
the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation’s Wildhorse Resort &
Casino.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Oregon.