Home Care in Oregon: Licensed In-Home Care Agencies by City

Aging at home in Oregon

Oregon's older adults make up roughly one in five residents, about 19.9 percent. The state's three largest cities, Portland, Eugene and Salem, are all in the Willamette Valley, but plenty of older Oregonians live on the coast, in the Rogue Valley and across the high desert. In Union County, in the northeast, about one in four residents is 65 or older, a reminder that the state's oldest communities are not always its biggest. For a family choosing in-home care, geography does a lot of the sorting: a Pearl District condo and a ranch outside Pendleton are very different caregiving jobs.

19.9% of Oregon residents are 65 or older. Source: U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates, Vintage 2024, July 1, 2024 (civilian population, computed from single-year-of-age file; the Vintage 2025 file puts it at 21.0).

Cities, towns and neighborhoods we cover

Metro Portland offers the widest choice, from the Pearl District and Alberta Arts District to the Hollywood and Lloyd districts, and Salem's West Salem and Sunnyslope areas lie to the south. Eugene's Whiteaker and Friendly Area neighborhoods have their own university-town pace. Over the Cascades, Bend serves Central Oregon, and Medford covers the Rogue Valley, with its drier, sunnier winters. On the coast, Coos Bay and Astoria are Pacific port cities. Out east, Pendleton and Ontario are far from the valley, so families there should ask early how far an agency's caregivers will drive.

• Portland: Pearl District, Alberta Arts District, Hollywood District, Lloyd District
• Salem: West Salem, Sunnyslope, Northgate, Southeast Salem
• Eugene: Whiteaker, Friendly Area, Jefferson Westside

Regions

• Willamette Valley: Home to Portland, Salem and Eugene, with very wet winters and dry summers west of the Cascades
• Oregon Coast: Port towns such as Astoria and Coos Bay along the Pacific, near the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area
• Rogue Valley: Southwest Oregon around Medford, with a Mediterranean climate and hotter summers
• Central Oregon: High-desert country east of the Cascades along the Deschutes River, centered on Bend
• Eastern Oregon: Blue Mountains and Snake River country around Pendleton and Ontario, with cold, snowy winters

Familiar places

Crater Lake National Park, south-central Oregon; Mount Hood, Cascade Range east of Portland; Multnomah Falls, Columbia River Gorge near Troutdale; Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach; Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, near North Bend and Florence; Pittock Mansion, Portland; Painted Hills, Wheeler County.

Planning care around Oregon's seasons and geography

Oregon's seasons arrive differently on each side of the Cascades. West of the mountains, a long wet winter is normal and a rare ice storm can knock out power across the valley, as it did for more than 330,000 customers in February 2021. East of the mountains, snow and cold are the winter concern. Late summer brings wildfire smoke; in 2026 it triggered advisories from Portland to Ontario, and at one Union County senior center fewer people came for meals while more used home delivery. Ask how an agency covers missed shifts during smoke, storms and road closures.

• West of the Cascade Range, winters are chilly with frequent rain and occasional snow, while the eastern two-thirds of the state is largely high desert with cold, snowy winters and very dry summers.
• In February 2021 an ice storm left more than 330,000 Oregonians without power, mostly in the Willamette Valley, and the governor called it the largest number of outages in the state's recorded history.
• In July 2026 state air quality advisories covered an area from the Portland metro and Salem to Hermiston and Ontario because of wildfire smoke; in Union County, fewer older adults were coming to the senior center for meals and more were using home delivery.
• Eastern Oregon towns sit far from the Willamette Valley: Ontario is the largest city in far eastern Oregon on the Idaho border, and Pendleton is the county seat of Umatilla County.

Oregon resources for families

• Licensing. Yes. Oregon requires an In-Home Care Agency license from the Oregon Health Authority for agencies that provide personal care in a person's home (ORS 443 and OAR chapter 333, division 536); these services do not include curative or rehabilitative care. Confirm current requirements with the state before you hire. Oregon Health Authority, Health Care Regulation and Quality Improvement
• Aging services. Oregon has 16 Area Agencies on Aging. The Aging and Disability Resource Connection (adrcoforegon.org or 855-673-2372) can direct you to the one for your county, or call 211. Oregon Department of Human Services (ODHS), Aging and People with Disabilities
• Help paying. Oregon's Medicaid home and community-based program for older adults is K Plan (Oregon's Community First Choice option for in-home Medicaid services, run by ODHS Aging and People with Disabilities). Eligibility is based on income and care needs.