Klamath Falls Cost of Living (Portland, Medford: real estate, rentals, how much)

[Emme26]

Hello all - I'm interested in some averages for the cost of living in Klamath Falls. We've been planning a move to OR for the past few months and recently came across a great property for our business and are looking for a home (rental to start) as well. We live in Hawaii and I am trying to get a general idea of how much our COL prices will decrease. I've tried a few of the online calculators and know prices will be less expensive than what we are use to but I am trying to get some real numbers. For example, prices we pay here are:

Rent - 2 bed/2 bath "luxury" townhouse with small 1 car garage and small yard (I say luxury because it is the newest and nicest in our area without living in a McMansion on the water. Rentals for similar amount of space but not as nice run between $1,800-2,500 in our town) - $2,400

Rent on a 1,250sqft warehouse - $1,300 + utilties

Electricity - $340-360 for 2 (sometimes 3 people, not even with the air conditioner running except at night)

Gallon of Milk - $5.25+

Gallon of Gas - $4.30+ (87)

Can anyone give some comparisons? Oh, quick add, what are the pros and cons of gas vs electricity utilities in K Falls?

[PNW-type-gal]

Your cost of living will decrease - housing, food, utilities. That will be true pretty much anywhere on the mainland, outside of some of the really expensive housing cities.

Your summer utility bill will certainly be less. Your winter bill will become the sticking point. Winter is cold, frequently snowy and long - when the sun is out, it can be nice even when it is cold, but temps can drop into single digits and even below zero (although that isn't common).

Klamath Falls is a relatively poor area with very high unemployment and no real way of improving those numbers. Amenities (shopping, dining) are limited and anything beyond basic means a 2 hour drive elsewhere.

If you have kids pick your school district very very carefully. Off hand, I know about 3 families who moved there from Hawaii and they've all left for warmer winters. What attracts you to the area, specifically?

[Sherwoody]

It would be helpful to know, generally speaking, what kind of business?

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Real estate in Klamath Falls is relatively inexpensive. Housing costs are a big chunk of the budget, so big savings, there. You can check out cost of rents on Craigslist and usually see a photo of the unit to evaluate what you are getting for your money.

Shopping is just fine, unless you want designer clothes and there is nowhere to wear designer clothing in K Falls. There are several decent shopping centers and a lot of big chain stores like Walmart, Fred Meyers, and the home improvement stores.

Groceries, you can look on-line for the Safeway and Albertson's ads. Fred Myers advertises their grocery prices. There is a Grocery Outlet that will occasionally have good bargains on useful items, but they don't have prices on-line.

There are websites on-line that give gasoline prices that you can check. There is no self service gasoline, but prices are still lower than gas in California or Washington.

K-Falls is part of Central Oregon. It doesn't matter that it is on the southern border, it is still Central Oregon, so you might get more local answers on the Bend forum.

There are unlimited options for outdoor activities but not a lot of "culture". As far as I know, there is no opera house, but the fishing is great.,

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

Shopping is just fine, unless you want designer clothes and there is nowhere to wear designer clothing in K Falls. There are several decent shopping centers and a lot of big chain stores like Walmart, Fred Meyers, and the home improvement stores.

Clothing shopping is limited, unless you spend your day in Carhartt. You don't have to want "designer" clothes to think that the limited selection at WalMart, Fred Meyer, K-Mart, Big R ranchwear and a small and not very clean Ross are inadequate. There used to be quote a bit more, including a small but nice Gottschalk's department store - the Klamath Falls store was actually one of the more profitable stores in their chain, but the parent company went bankrupt and the KFalls store closed. In recent years, both Lowe's, Costco and Sonic have sold/declined potential commercial property without developing. Drew's clothes and boots closed (the boot store was spun off). The current rumor is that the Rue21 store (teen and preteen) that recently opened is closing as well.

Most clothing shopping is done in jaunts out to Medford or Bend - both cities have small malls and specialty stores.

[Emme26]

Originally Posted by PNW-type-gal

If you have kids pick your school district very very carefully. Off hand, I know about 3 families who moved there from Hawaii and they've all left for warmer winters. What attracts you to the area, specifically?

No kids, just myself, my husband, his 19 yr old son who works with us and my MIL who is ready to retire. We already know the winters are going to be a big change for us - one we are both dreading and looking forward to! My husband has sensitive skin and we are hoping a change in climate may help. We were looking all over OR but came across a great property that is very hard to resist in K Falls. So that would be the main "attraction" plus the housing costs are all lower. We all like the small town feel. Here, we work all the time it seems, its never ending. Everything is expensive so we have to make 2x+ to be able to afford our bills, etc We live right near the ocean but I can't remember the last time we went to the beach, went camping, etc

Originally Posted by Sherwoody

It would be helpful to know, generally speaking, what kind of business?

Our business is internet/mail order based so we have the "luxury" of being able to move anywhere but it actually makes it harder in some cases. A majority of our supplies are shipped from the Mainland to Hawaii and what supplies are local to us currently, we can get shipped to us or get a container once a year.

Originally Posted by Sherwoody

Shopping is just fine, unless you want designer clothes and there is nowhere to wear designer clothing in K Falls. There are several decent shopping centers and a lot of big chain stores like Walmart, Fred Meyers, and the home improvement stores.

There are unlimited options for outdoor activities but not a lot of "culture". As far as I know, there is no opera house, but the fishing is great.,

We live on an island so we are use to working with what is available when it comes to shopping. For example - on our side of the island, the "big box stores" that are available are Star Market (grocery), Office Max, Safeway, 2 Foodlands, Longs, Walgreens and a small Ace Hardware. To do big shopping, we have to drive about 45 mins to get to Kmart, Ross, Costco, Walmart, a mall with Sears, Macy's, etc We don't have many big stores on the island anyway and wind up paying $$$$ at the little mom and pop shops or small chains all over OR ordering online. We aren't fancy dressers - normally wear shorts, t's and flip flops all day and so jeans and sweatshirts are cool by us. What designer clothing we do wear we ordered online anyway! Culture - there isn't much of it here either. Yes, we have museums, shows, etc for local culture but they are all geared towards the tourists and we do have a nice arts center that has awesome concerts, etc going on. A lot of arts and artists. We have 3 movie theaters on the island. Folks don't really think "culture" when they come to Hawaii (to visit or move to) Hawaii (Maui) is beach, ocean, some shopping, camping, Haleakala Crater, diving, boating, snorkeling, whales, Road to Hana, lava tubes, scenic tours, helicopter tours, etc

I appreciate everyone's responses. I'm thinking K Falls might just work for us. We are planning on renting both our house and business space so the way I look at it, if it doesn't work out, we can move.

[BLAZER PROPHET]

When I lived there the cost of living was cheap. Small town so not as much driving, a lot of outdoor activities close in...

[MariGee]

I'm originally from Klamath. While growing up I hated it because there is not much to do unless you like the outdoors. Even then there is only so much you can do until it gets cold and not want to go outside. There are a few museums, one movie theater, two bowling alleys. Compared to Portland cost of living down there is really inexpensive however the community has little diversity with lots of close minded people.

When I had left there were a lot of older people moving to the area from California to retire. There has also been a big problem with meth in the area.

The shopping is limited and good restaurants are hard to find. However Medford and Ashland maybe an hr drive and offer more selection.

When I go to visit I find it to be uncomfortable when out and about but I miss the family, the snow and the people I grew up with so the trip tends to be worth it.

[Grumbler]

I've been to Klamath Falls several times over the past few years. Have noticed that Washburn Way, which runs north and south btw OR-39 and OR-140, is where plenty of business establishments have been built over the past few years. If you look for Klamath Falls on google maps then use the search nearby feature for "restaurants" you'll see that north/south road.

BTW, Klamath Falls is also known as Siberia during the winter months due to the relatively isolated location and winter road conditions. I prefer Keno, the next town west of Klamath Falls via OR-66 (Green Springs Hwy), as it's a nice, quiet rural community.

[PNW-type-gal]

Originally Posted by Grumbler

BTW, Klamath Falls is also known as Siberia during the winter months due to the relatively isolated location and winter road conditions. I prefer Keno, the next town west of Klamath Falls via OR-66 (Green Springs Hwy), as it's a nice, quiet rural community.

While I have heard several nick names for KFalls (that being the chief one plus several less nice names), I have never heard anyone call it "Siberia." We get occasional snow falls that can stay on the ground for weeks or even a month, but the roads are cleared fairly quickly (less so if you are out of the main town or up in the hills). To be "Siberia" it would have to be constant blowing snow and extreme cold. The record low here is -15° but dropping below zero doesn't happen every year and generally last for a week or two and then it warms back up. The passes can take some negotiating during a storm, and an AWD/4WD with good snow/ice tires or chains is a plus in winter.

Here is the yearly avg temp graph from City Data's page:






While Keno is nice, it is 10 or so miles outside KFalls, has a population around 2,200 and a median age in the mid-50s - it is a tiny retirement hamlet without even a real grocery store (it does have a sort of "Minute Mart").