Moving to
Damascus.

All Damascus data Compare Damascus

11,437people live here $122,500median household income▲ 52% above US $2,654median rent per month▲ 88% above US $653,100median home value▲ 96% above US

Damascus is an unincorporated community in Clackamas County, OR. It has no city government: the county runs it, and the Census counts it as its own place.

What it's like to live in Damascus

Damascus is an unincorporated community in Oregon with household incomes running above the national average, air quality that stays clean most of the year, and schools with class sizes near the national average. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Damascus deals with rent well above the national average, home prices well above the national average, and a car-dependent commute, with few people using transit.

The good

Higher-than-average incomes
Clean air
Average class sizes

The not so good

Rent well above the national average
High home prices
Car-dependent — few commuters use transit

How Damascus compares

Median household income

Damascus$122,500

Oregon avg$83,011

US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Damascus$2,654

Oregon avg$1,525

US$1,413

Median home value

Damascus$653,100

Oregon avg$477,600

US$332,700

What it takes to move to Damascus

Based on Damascus's median rent, home value and household income

To rent

$5,308

up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit

Income to keep rent under 30%: $106,160 a year
36% of Damascus renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$130,620

a 20% down payment on the median home

With 10% down: $65,310
Homes cost 5.3× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of living▲ 88% above US

$2,654/mo median rent

Rent is expensive here, at $2,654 a month median and well above the national average. This is the kind of city where housing costs deserve serious budgeting before committing to a move. Home prices are steep, with a median around $653,100. Renting first to get a feel for the city before buying is often the more practical route.

Median home value $653,100 · 36% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

4.9% county unemployment

Unemployment in Clackamas County is 4.9%, somewhat above the national average of 4.3%. Lining up work before the move is the safer route. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.

Clackamas County (county-wide)

Safety

211 violent crimes per 100k, whole jurisdiction

Damascus doesn't have its own police department, so there's no crime rate for it alone. The figures shown are for the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office jurisdiction as a whole, which runs below the national average for violent crime and covers many communities. Individual neighborhoods can differ a lot from that overall rate.

Property crime 1625/100k · Policed by Clackamas County Sheriff's Office (county-wide rate) · 2025 data

Getting aroundNear US average

28 min average commute

Commutes run about average, at 27.7 minutes. Fine day to day, but it adds up over a year, and where someone lives relative to where they work starts to matter. 8 in 10 workers drive to work; 14% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone

72%

Work from home

14%

Carpool

12%

Walk

1.5%

Public transit

0.6%

Other

0.1%

Climate

Summers are warm, with highs around 81°F, and winters are chilly but manageable, with lows around 37°F. Rainfall is regular throughout the year.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforceNear US average

34% bachelor's degree or higher

Education levels run about average, with 34% college-educated. It's a mix of white-collar and blue-collar work, which can be an asset or a limitation depending on the field.

Schools

1 public school inside the boundary

There is 1 public school inside the boundary and 1 private school. The student-to-teacher ratio is 18:1, slightly above the national average of 16:1.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is Fort Vancouver National Historic Site (17 miles away). There are 2 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Damascus's strongest points are household incomes running above the national average and air quality that stays clean most of the year; the main tradeoffs are rent well above the national average and home prices well above the national average. A year of median rent ($2,654/mo) equals 26% of the median household income here, more than the 21% typical nationwide. It may be a harder fit for renters on a tight budget and anyone who doesn't drive.

See all the data for Damascus →·All Oregon cities →