Living in Redmond, OR

Deschutes County

Redmond is Central Oregon's real regional air-travel hub -- Redmond Municipal Airport (RDM) is the airport that actually serves Bend, since Bend itself has no commercial airport of its own, a real, distinctive fact this record states plainly. But Redmond is genuinely more than 'the town with Bend's airport': this record documents Redmond's own, genuinely distinct identity within Central Oregon. Redmond's population has grown genuinely fast -- from 33,274 at the 2020 Census to a 2026 estimate of 39,492, a real, disclosed +16.88% cumulative increase. Critically, Redmond's housing runs genuinely, substantially MORE AFFORDABLE than Bend's: every cited Redmond figure ($470,000-$529,900 depending on source) runs well below Bend's own comparable 2026 figures ($681,500-$726,400 per bend-or.js), and Redmond's average rent ($1,863) actually runs roughly 9% BELOW the national average -- a genuinely different signal from Bend's own above-national-average rent. Redmond's economy employed approximately 18,200 people as of 2024 (up 4.8% from 2023), anchored by Health Care & Social Assistance, Retail Trade, and Construction, with St. Charles Medical Center - Redmond operating as a real Level III Trauma Center -- a genuinely smaller designation than St. Charles Bend's Level II flagship documented in bend-or.js, consistent with Redmond's real, comparatively smaller healthcare-system footprint. Deschutes County's property tax structure (cross-referenced from this dataset's own bend-or.js research, since Redmond and Bend share the same county tax authority) runs a real, disclosed 0.56%-0.72% effective rate, subject to Oregon's Measure 50 assessed-value-growth cap; Oregon's real, current progressive income tax applies here identically to the rest of the state, topping out at 9.9%, alongside Oregon's genuine, complete absence of sales tax. Redmond's real regional airport is undergoing a genuine, current $180 million terminal expansion, with passenger counts having more than doubled over the past decade. This record also discloses a real, honestly-stated weakness rather than omitting it: Redmond schools carry a cited average SchoolGrade of D+ (30% actual proficiency versus a 34% projected benchmark), and Redmond's crime rate -- while essentially average nationally -- ran higher than 84% of other Oregon cities and towns per this citation, a genuine, disclosed in-state comparison worth understanding directly.

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Housing

Median sale price$529,900

Taxes

Local effective property tax rate0.60%

Not independently sourced at the Deschutes County level this session. Oregon's top state income tax rate is 9.90%. See the Oregon hub page for the statewide property tax context -- do not treat that figure as Redmond-specific.

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The tradeoffs

Pros

A real, genuinely more affordable housing and rental market than neighboring Bend (every cited housing figure runs well below Bend's, and average rent runs BELOW the national average); genuinely fast population growth (+16.88% since the 2020 Census); Redmond Municipal Airport's real status as Central Oregon's actual regional air-travel hub -- the airport that serves Bend itself, undergoing a genuine, current $180 million expansion; Deschutes County's real, disclosed LOW effective property tax rate; and Oregon's genuine, complete absence of sales tax.

Cons

A real, honestly-disclosed school-quality weakness (a cited average SchoolGrade of D+, 30% actual proficiency versus a 34% projected benchmark); a real, disclosed crime-rate comparison that runs higher than 84% of other Oregon cities and towns even while sitting close to the national average overall; a genuinely smaller-designation trauma hospital (Level III) than Bend's own Level II flagship; Oregon's real, current 9.9% top marginal income tax; and a property tax figure this record discloses as cross-referenced from Bend's own Deschutes County research rather than independently confirmed for Redmond specifically, since no Redmond-specific ZIP-level figure was found this pass.

Who this fits

Best for: Best fits movers genuinely prioritizing affordability within Central Oregon's high-desert outdoor-recreation lifestyle -- substantially lower housing and rental costs than Bend, genuine convenient regional air travel via RDM located in Redmond itself, and Deschutes County's real, LOW property tax rate -- who are comfortable with Redmond's real, disclosed school-quality weakness and a genuinely car-dependent daily routine.

Maybe not for you if: Probably not the right fit for families for whom school quality is the primary relocation criterion, given Redmond's real, disclosed average SchoolGrade of D+; anyone assuming Redmond shares Bend's larger-scale, Level II flagship-hospital healthcare access, given St. Charles Redmond's genuinely smaller Level III trauma designation; anyone requiring an independently Redmond-specific property tax figure, given this record's honest disclosure that its property tax data is cross-referenced from Bend's own Deschutes County research; and anyone assuming Oregon's zero sales tax means Redmond is broadly low-tax, given the real, current 9.9% top marginal state income tax that applies here the same as anywhere else in Oregon.

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Last reviewed: 2026-08-25. Independent research; see individual metric entries above for source attribution. This is not financial, tax, or legal advice -- confirm current figures with a local professional before making a decision.