Deschutes County ( ) is one of the 36 counties in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 198,253. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Bend. The county was created in 1916 out of part of Crook County and was named for the

Deschutes River The Deschutes River ( ) in central Oregon is a major tributary of the Columbia River. The river provides much of the drainage on the eastern side of the Cascade Range in Oregon, gathering many of the tributaries that descend from the drier, easte ...

, which itself was named by

French-Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French colonists first arriving in France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of French Canadians live in the prov ...

trappers of the early 19th century. It is the political and economic hub of

Central Oregon Central Oregon is a geographic region in the U.S. state of Oregon and is traditionally considered to be made up of Deschutes, Jefferson, and Crook counties. Other definitions include larger areas, often encompassing areas to the north towards t ...

. Deschutes comprises the Bend, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area and

media market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television station, television and radio broadcasting, ra ...

. Deschutes is Oregon's fastest-growing and most recently formed county.

History

French-Canadian fur trappers of the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

gave the name (River of the Falls) to the Deschutes River, from which the county derived its name. On December 13, 1916, Deschutes County was created from the southern part of Crook County. Bend has been the county seat since the county's formation. It was the last county in Oregon to be established. The Shevlin-Hixon Lumber Company also operated within the Bend area processing

Ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine, is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is t ...

trees.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.2%) is water.

Adjacent counties

* Linn County (northwest) * Jefferson County (north) * Crook County (east) * Harney County (southeast) * Lake County (south) * Klamath County (south) * Lane County (west)

National protected areas

Deschutes National Forest The Deschutes National Forest is a United States national forest (NF) located in Central Oregon, in parts of Deschutes, Klamath, Lake, and Jefferson counties. It was established in 1908, with border changes following in 1911 and 1915. The f ...

(part) * Newberry National Volcanic Monument

Demographics

2000 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 115,367 people, 45,595 households, and 31,962 families living in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 54,583 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 94.85%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.19%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.83% Native American, 0.74% Asian, 0.07%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 1.36% from other races, and 1.96% from two or more races. 3.73% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. 19.4% were of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, 13.2% English, 11.4% Irish and 9.1% American ancestry. There were 45,595 households, out of which 32.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.00% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 8.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.90% were non-families. 22.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.50 and the average family size was 2.91. In the county, 24.80% of the population was under the age of 18, 7.80% from 18 to 24, 28.60% from 25 to 44, 25.70% from 45 to 64, and 13.10% was 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 98.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.00 males. The median income for a household in the county was $41,847, and the median income for a family was $48,403. Males had a median income of $34,070 versus $25,069 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $21,767. About 6.30% of families and 9.30% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 10.40% of those under age 18 and 6.10% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 157,733 people, 64,090 households, and 43,062 families living in the county. The population density was . There were 80,139 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 92.2% white, 0.9% Asian, 0.9% American Indian, 0.4% black or African American, 0.1% Pacific islander, 3.0% from other races, and 2.5% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 7.4% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 24.0% were

, 15.3% were Irish, 14.5% were English, and 4.8% were American. Of the 64,090 households, 30.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.4% were married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 32.8% were non-families, and 24.1% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.88. The median age was 40.2 years. The median income for a household in the county was $53,071 and the median income for a family was $61,605. Males had a median income of $43,543 versus $33,207 for females. The per capita income for the county was $27,920. About 7.6% of families and 10.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.9% of those under age 18 and 7.7% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Bend (county seat) * La Pine * Redmond *

Sisters A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to r ...

Census-designated places

* Black Butte Ranch * Deschutes River Woods * Eagle Crest *

Pronghorn The pronghorn (, ) (''Antilocapra americana'') is a species of artiodactyl (even-toed, hoofed) mammal indigenous to interior western and central North America. Though not an antelope, it is known colloquially in North America as the American ante ...

* Seventh Mountain * Sunriver * Terrebonne * Three Rivers South * Tetherow * Tumalo

Former Communities

* Shevlin

Resort Communities, etc.

* Black Butte Ranch * Eagle Crest *

* Sunriver

Unincorporated communities

Alfalfa Alfalfa () (''Medicago sativa''), also called lucerne, is a perennial plant, perennial flowering plant in the legume family Fabaceae. It is cultivated as an important forage crop in many countries around the world. It is used for grazing, hay, ...

Brothers A brother (: brothers or brethren) is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingl ...

* Cloverdale * Deschutes * Elk Lake * Hampton * Millican * Plainview

Politics

Deschutes County has traditionally fallen politically more in line with the conservative eastern side of

than the liberal western side. However, this has shifted in recent years, due in large part to the rapid growth and urbanization within the city of Bend. By January 2021, a narrow plurality of registered voters in Deschutes County were registered with the Democratic Party. In addition,

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

carried the county with 52.7% of the vote in the 2020 presidential election compared to 44.4% of the vote for

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

, thereby marking the first time a Democratic Party candidate won the county since 1992 and the first time a Democratic Party candidate received a majority of the vote in the county since 1964. In

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, Deschutes County swung to the left, despite Oregon and the country swinging to the right.

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...

received 53.47% of the vote, the highest vote share for a Democratic presidential nominee since 1964 in the county. In 2008, the Democratic Party won the Oregon House seat encompassing the city of Bend, becoming the only Democratic-controlled district east of the Cascades, though the Republicans retook the seat in 2010. Republicans would hold the seat for the remainder of the decade until 2020, when Democrat Jason Kropf was elected to the State House and re-elected in 2022. In 2022, the 53rd District, including Redmond, elected Democrat Emerson Levy to the Oregon House. Portions of Deschutes County also fall into the 55th, 59th and 60th House Districts, respectively held by Republicans E. Werner Reschke, Vikki Breese-Iverson and Mark Owens. Deschutes County is also divvied up between the 27th, 28th and 30th Senate Districts in the Oregon Senate, respectively represented by Republicans Tim Knopp, Dennis Linthicum and Lynn Findley. Deschutes County is currently one of 11 counties in Oregon in which therapeutic psilocybin is legal.

Economy

During the 1990s, Deschutes County experienced the most rapid growth of any county in Oregon, largely due to the year-round availability of recreational activities, and its location as the nearest population center to much of the central

Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington (state), Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as m ...

. Beyond tourism, principal industries in the county are lumber, ranching and agriculture—chiefly potatoes. The Forest Service owns 51% of the lands within the county boundaries. Deschutes County is the home of four ''destination resorts'' as defined by Oregon's Department of Land Conservation and Development. These resorts are major employers within the county. Three of these resorts, Sunriver, Eagle Crest, and Pronghorn, are among the county's ten largest tax payers.

Geology

The overall defining landscape of Deschutes County is primarily marked with that of lava flows. Most of the lava found in Deschutes County issued forth from

Newberry Volcano Newberry Volcano is a large, active, shield-shaped stratovolcano located about south of Bend, Oregon, United States, east of the major crest of the Cascade Range, within the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. Its highest point is Paulina P ...

located just south of Bend. Because of this, many

lava tube A lava tube, more rarely called a pyroduct, is a 'roofed conduit through which molten lava travels away from its vent'. If lava in the tube drains out, it will leave an empty cave. Lava tubes are common in low-viscosity volcanic systems. La ...

s are located within, including the prominent

Lava River Cave The Lava River Cave near Bend, Oregon, is part of the Newberry National Volcanic Monument, which is managed by the United States Forest Service. At in length, the northwest section of the cave is the longest continuous lava tube in Oregon. Whi ...

. As a consequence, the county is the most cave-rich in the state of Oregon, with over 500 known caves in the county. Other prominent lava flows exist too, especially those related to the Mount Bachelor Volcanic Chain which consists of Mount Bachelor as well as three smaller

shield volcano A shield volcano is a type of volcano named for its low profile, resembling a shield lying on the ground. It is formed by the eruption of highly fluid (low viscosity) lava, which travels farther and forms thinner flows than the more viscous lava ...

s, and a series of

cinder cone A cinder cone or scoria cone is a steep, volcanic cone, conical landform of loose pyroclastic rock, pyroclastic fragments, such as volcanic ash, clinkers, or scoria that has been built around a volcanic vent. The pyroclastic fragments are forme ...

s. Large volcanoes serve as a backdrop to the city of Bend in Deschutes County, ranging from the prominent Three Sisters,

Mount Washington Mount Washington is an ultra-prominent mountain in the state of New Hampshire. It is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States at and the most topographically prominent mountain east of the Mississippi River. The mountain is notorio ...

, Mount Bachelor,

Broken Top Broken Top is a glacially eroded complex stratovolcano. It lies in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, part of the extensive Cascade Range in the U.S. state of Oregon. Located southeast of the Three Sisters peaks, the volcano, residing within the Three ...

, Newberry, Tumalo Mountain, Maiden Peak and others. A group of geologists have discovered

Smith Rock State Park Smith Rock State Park is a state park located in central Oregon's High Desert (Oregon), High Desert near the communities of Redmond, Oregon, Redmond and Terrebonne, Oregon, Terrebonne. The day-use area of the park is open daily from dawn to dusk ...

is part of an ancient supervolcano called the Crooked River caldera with a rim nearly six times the diameter of Newberry Volcano's caldera. This ancient supervolcano has long gone extinct. Its crater rim is barely recognizable as remnants mark portions of Powell Buttes, Gray Butte, and the western front of the

Ochoco Mountains The Ochoco Mountains are a mountain range in central Oregon in the United States, located at the western end of the Blue Mountains (Pacific Northwest), Blue Mountains. They were formed when Permian, Triassic, and Jurassic rocks were slowly uplif ...

at Barnes Butte. On the eastern side of the county, it is mostly characterized by large

butte In geomorphology, a butte ( ) is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and table (landform), tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from the French l ...

s of much older volcanic origin. Most of these did not create any proper lava flows, or at least none that are known to exist. Some of the prominent buttes include Horse Ridge, Pine Mountain, China Hat, and several others on the county border. Two main types of lava flows are found within the county. The most common are the pāhoehoe flows which have been partially buried by

volcanic ash Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, produced during volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used to r ...

, tephra deposits, and dirt over tens to hundreds of thousands of years. The aā flows are fewer but much more prominent, with the most notable being associated with

Lava Butte Lava Butte is a cinder cone in central Oregon, United States, just west of U.S. Route 97 between the towns of Bend, and Sunriver in Deschutes County. It is part of a system of small cinder cones on the northwest flank of Newberry Volcano, a ...

and the Lava Cast Forest in the Newberry National Volcanic Monument.

Education

School districts include: * Bend-La Pine Administrative School District 1 *

Crook County School District Crook County School District (CCSD) is a school district headquartered in Prineville, Oregon. Its boundary includes all of Crook County, as well as sections of Deschutes County. History The Brothers School District consolidated into the Cro ...

Redmond School District 2J The Redmond School District is a school district in the U.S. state of Oregon that serves a area in Deschutes County, Oregon, Deschutes and Jefferson County, Oregon, Jefferson counties, including the city of Redmond, Oregon, Redmond and the uni ...

* Sisters School District 6 The former Brothers School District merged into the Crook County district effective 2006. Deschutes County is in the boundary of

Central Oregon Community College Central Oregon Community College is a public community college in Bend, Oregon. It primarily serves residents of Deschutes, Jefferson, and Crook Counties. Its service district also includes portions of Klamath, Lake, and Wasco counties. His ...