Klamath County, Oregon

Klamath County is a county in Oregon, United States, in the south-central part of the state,
about 78 miles east of Medford. It had a population of 69,413 at the 2020 census, an estimated
70,274 by 2025, and covers 6,136 square miles (15,890 km2) centred near 42°41′N 121°39′W.

Klamath Falls is the county seat and its largest city; its postal code is 97601. The county
holds 5 incorporated cities, 15 census-designated places and roughly 30 smaller unincorporated
communities, and it runs on Pacific Time. Its FIPS code is 41035.

Towns & Villages in Klamath County

Klamath County is Oregon’s fourth-largest county by land area but one of its more thinly
settled ones. It has 5 incorporated cities and 15 census-designated places (CDPs), plus dozens of
unincorporated crossroads and rural communities with no local government of their own. CDP stands
for census designated place; Unincorp. covers communities the Census Bureau has not mapped as a
CDP. The table below lists all 5 incorporated cities first, then the 12 CDPs and unincorporated
places with 2020 census data on record.

Altamont, an unincorporated CDP wrapped around Klamath Falls’s south and east sides, is the
county’s second-largest community by population but has never incorporated as its own city —
its residents use Klamath Falls mailing addresses. Twelve more CDPs and unincorporated communities
have 2020 population figures on record; three smaller CDPs (Beaver Marsh, Falcon Heights and
Oregon Shores) and roughly 30 other named crossroads have no published count.

ZIP Codes

• 97601 — Klamath Falls (also serves 97603, and covers Altamont and Running Y Ranch)
• 97627 — Keno
• 97733 — Crescent
• 97731 — Chemult
• 97737 — Gilchrist
• 97622 — Bly
• 97639 — Sprague River
• 97624 — Chiloquin (also serves 97604)
• 97632 — Malin
• 97633 — Merrill
• 97623 — Bonanza

Rocky Point, Crescent Lake, Beatty and Fort Klamath have no post office or ZIP code of their
own; mail there is delivered under the nearest incorporated town’s code.

Geography

Klamath County straddles the line between the Cascade Range and Oregon’s high desert basin
country. Of its 6,136 square miles, 5,941 are land and 194 are water, about 3.2 percent —
high for Oregon, mostly accounted for by Upper Klamath Lake, the largest freshwater lake in Oregon
by surface area, which drains north-to-south through the Link River into the Klamath River at
Klamath Falls. Crater Lake National Park, Oregon’s only national park, sits largely within the
county’s northwestern corner. Klamath Falls, Chiloquin and Fort Klamath all lie along the
Klamath Basin’s chain of lakes and marshes; the county’s eastern half, around Bly and Beatty,
rises into the drier Fremont National Forest highlands.

Deschutes County borders Klamath to the north, Lake County to the east, Siskiyou County and
Modoc County in California to the south, Jackson County to the west, and Douglas County and Lane
County to the northwest. Deschutes
County, Lake County, Siskiyou County, Modoc County, Jackson County, Douglas County and Lane County all border Klamath
directly.

Demographics

Klamath County had a population of 69,413 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the
county near 70,274 residents. Klamath Falls and Altamont, its unincorporated southern suburb,
together account for well over half the county’s population. Median household income runs about
$58,830, well below Oregon’s statewide figure of $80,160 under the 2023 ACS. Population density
works out to roughly 12 people per square mile of land, low even by Oregon standards outside the
Willamette Valley, reflecting the county’s vast, sparsely settled Cascade and high-desert
backcountry.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance is the county’s largest employment sector, with about 4,184
workers, followed by retail trade at 3,688 and educational services at 2,880. Sky Lakes Medical
Center, based in Klamath Falls, is the county’s largest single employer and its regional hospital.
The Klamath County School District and Jeld-Wen, the door and window manufacturer founded in
Klamath Falls, are also major employers. Timber and agriculture, especially potatoes, alfalfa and
cattle, built the county’s early economy and still anchor its rural towns; Merrill, in the
irrigated Lost River farming district, hosts an annual Potato Festival celebrating that crop.
Tourism centers on Crater Lake National Park and the Klamath Basin’s lakes and wildlife refuges,
which draw anglers and birdwatchers to Rocky Point and the Upper Klamath Lake shoreline.

History

The Oregon legislature organized Klamath County on 17 October 1882, named for the Klamath
people, whose reservation and treaty lands cover much of the eastern county. In 1872, a dispute
over forcing a Modoc band under Kintpuash, known as Captain Jack, back onto the Klamath
reservation broke into gunfire near the Lost River outside present-day Merrill, opening the Modoc
War, which pushed the Modoc into lava-bed strongholds across the California line. The early 1900s
brought the railroad and the federal Klamath Irrigation Project, which converted roughly 188,000
acres of former lakebed into farmland and set the pattern of water disputes between farmers and
fish and wildlife interests that still shapes the Klamath Basin today. On 5 May 1945, a Japanese
balloon bomb exploded near Bly, killing a minister’s wife and five children who had found it on a
picnic — the only fatalities from enemy action on the U.S. mainland during World War II.

Getting There

U.S. Route 97 runs north–south through the county past Klamath Falls, Chemult, Crescent
and Gilchrist, and is the main route toward Bend. Oregon Route 39 runs from Klamath Falls south to
Merrill and the California line. Oregon Route 140 crosses the county east–west through
Klamath Falls and Bly, and Oregon Route 62 links Klamath Falls to Fort Klamath and Crater Lake’s
south entrance. No interstate highway crosses the county.

• Medford — about 78 miles west
• Chiloquin — about 26 miles north of Klamath Falls
• Merrill — about 20 miles southeast of Klamath Falls
• Bonanza — about 21 miles southeast of Klamath Falls

Crater Lake–Klamath Regional Airport, six miles south of downtown Klamath Falls, offers limited
commercial service; Rogue Valley International–Medford Airport, 78 miles west, is the
nearest larger commercial hub. Amtrak’s Coast Starlight stops daily at the Klamath Falls station
and at Chemult, connecting Seattle and Los Angeles.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Klamath County located?
It sits in south-central Oregon, about 78 miles east of Medford, bordered by Deschutes, Lake,
Siskiyou, Modoc, Jackson, Douglas and Lane counties.

What is the population of Klamath County?
69,413 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 70,274.

How big is Klamath County?
6,136 square miles (15,890 km2), of which 5,941 square miles are land, making it Oregon’s
fourth-largest county by area.

What is the county seat of Klamath County?
Klamath Falls, organized as the county seat when the county was formed in 1882, is also the
county’s largest city.

How many towns and cities are in Klamath County?
Five incorporated cities — Klamath Falls, Merrill, Chiloquin, Malin and Bonanza — plus
15 census-designated places and roughly 30 smaller unincorporated communities.

What ZIP codes does Klamath County use?
97601 and 97603 for Klamath Falls and Altamont; 97624 and 97604 for Chiloquin; 97632 for Malin;
97633 for Merrill; 97623 for Bonanza; plus 97627 (Keno), 97731 (Chemult), 97733 (Crescent), 97737
(Gilchrist), 97622 (Bly) and 97639 (Sprague River).

What is Klamath County known for?
Crater Lake National Park, Upper Klamath Lake and the Klamath Basin’s fishing and birdwatching,
and the Klamath Irrigation Project that turned former lakebed into farmland in the early 1900s.

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