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About Florence
Florence is a city in Lane County, on the central Oregon coast at the mouth of the Siuslaw River. According to Wikipedia it was incorporated in 1893, and the Siuslaw people lived in the area before settlement. It sits roughly midway between Newport and Coos Bay on U.S. Route 101.
Florence in numbers
| Measure | Florence | Margin of error |
|---|---|---|
| Population, 2020 Census | 9,396 | |
| Population, Portland State University certified estimate, July 1, 2025 | 9,664 (+2.9% since 2020) | |
| Population, ACS 2020-2024 | 9,482 | plus or minus 29 |
| Households | 4,614 | plus or minus 230 |
| Owner-occupied share of households | 64.0% (2,953 homes) | owners plus or minus 288 |
| Median household income | $53,333 | plus or minus $7,931 |
| Median home value (owner-occupied) | $358,300 | plus or minus $17,841 |
| Median age | 60.8 | plus or minus 4.5 |
| Residents aged 65 and over | 43.3% | not checked |
| Owner-occupied homes valued at $300,000 or more | 1,991 of 2,953 (67.4%) | owners plus or minus 288 |
| Seasonal, recreational or occasional-use homes | 8.3% of all housing units | about 431 homes, plus or minus 208 |
| Business establishments, ZIP 97439 | 427 |
A plain reading
Florence is one of the oldest towns on the Oregon coast. More than four in ten residents are 65 or older and the median age is about 61. Median household income is lower than in most coast towns, and the median home value is below $360,000, yet about two in three owner-occupied homes are still valued at $300,000 or more. The seasonal-home share is under one in ten, so most homes are lived in year-round.
Small-town estimates are less precise than big-city ones. The margins above are large for income and for seasonal homes, so treat those two figures as a rough guide, not exact counts.
How we got these numbers
- Households, tenure, income, home value, age, home-value brackets and seasonal housing come from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates for 2020-2024, tables B01003, B11001, B25003, B19013, B25077, B01002, B25075 and B25004, read through Census Reporter. Dollars are 2024 inflation-adjusted ACS dollars. Margins of error are the 90 percent margins the Census publishes.
- The 2020 population is the 2020 Census count for Florence city, read from Census TIGERweb. The 2025 figure is the Portland State University Population Research Center certified estimate, as listed by the League of Oregon Cities. We have not re-checked it against the PSU site itself.
- The 65-and-over share and the seasonal-home percentage are from our earlier worksheet of the same ACS tables. The margin of error for the 65-and-over share was not checked.
- Business counts are from Census ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023. They are by ZIP code, not by city limit, and they leave out businesses with no paid employees.
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
- Florence, Oregon (Wikipedia), for incorporation and location
Also from Oregon Living: Oregon Living in Brookings, Oregon · Oregon Living in Coos Bay, Oregon · Oregon Living in Bandon, Oregon · Oregon Living in Gold Beach, Oregon · Oregon Living in Newport, Oregon.