Hood River County

Hood River County, Oregon — key demographics (latest available):

Population size

• Total population: ~24,300 (2023 estimate, U.S. Census Bureau)

Age

• Median age: ~38–39 years
• Under 5 years: ~6%
• Under 18 years: ~23–24%
• 65 years and over: ~16–17%

Gender

• Female: ~49%
• Male: ~51%

Race and Hispanic/Latino origin

• White alone: ~85–87%
• Black or African American alone: ~0.5–1%
• American Indian and Alaska Native alone: ~1–2%
• Asian alone: ~1–2%
• Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone: <0.5%
• Two or more races: ~8–10%
• Hispanic or Latino (of any race): ~31–33%
• White alone, not Hispanic or Latino: ~57–60%

Households

• Number of households: ~9,000–9,300
• Average household size: ~2.6–2.7
• Family households: ~60–65% of households
• Owner-occupied housing rate: ~63–66%
• Language other than English spoken at home (age 5+): ~23–26%

Insights

• The county has a comparatively large Hispanic/Latino community (around one-third of residents).
• Age structure skews slightly younger than Oregon overall, with a solid share of families and moderate household sizes.
• Homeownership is in the mid-60% range, with a sizable renter share reflecting a mixed agricultural, outdoor-recreation, and services economy.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Population Estimates and 2019–2023 American Community Survey 5-year estimates (QuickFacts/ACS).

Hood River County, OR (pop. ~24,700; ~47 people/sq mi) email adoption snapshot

Estimated email users: 20,500 residents use email at least monthly (83% of the population), reflecting high local internet adoption.

Age distribution (share of email users; adoption within each group):

• Under 18: ~14% of users; adoption ~70–80% among teens
• 18–34: ~25%; adoption ~96%
• 35–54: ~32%; adoption ~97%
• 55–64: ~13–14%; adoption ~93%
• 65+: ~15–16%; adoption ~85–87%

Gender split:

• Population is roughly even (≈50% female, 50% male)
• Email usage is near-parity (women ~94%, men ~92% of adults), yielding ~51% of users female, ~49% male

Digital access and connectivity:

• ~90% of households have a broadband subscription; ~8% are smartphone‑only internet households
• Fiber and 100+ Mbps cable are widely available in the City of Hood River and along the I‑84 corridor; rural/upper valley areas rely more on DSL and fixed wireless, creating a modest urban–rural speed gap
• Public Wi‑Fi (schools, libraries) supplements access for households without reliable home broadband

Trend: Continued fiber buildout and remote‑work demand are sustaining high email reliance across working‑age adults while seniors’ email use is steadily rising.

Hood River County, Oregon — mobile usage snapshot (2025)

Estimated users

• Population: ~24,700 residents
• Mobile phone users (any cellphone): ~19,500 (about 88% of residents)
• Smartphone users: ~18,000 (about 73% of residents) Method, to be explicit: estimates apply national smartphone ownership rates by age (Pew Research, 2023–2024) to Hood River’s age mix (ACS 5‑year). Assumptions used: 13–17 at ~95%, 18–64 at ~86%, 65+ at ~76%, ages 0–12 at ~15% with phones; remaining non‑smartphone users account for the gap to total cellphone users.

Demographic patterns that shape mobile behavior

• Age-driven adoption: High smartphone penetration among teens and working-age adults; a meaningful 65+ segment with smartphones (roughly three in four), leaving a small feature‑phone cohort countywide.
• Language and culture: Hispanic/Latino residents are a large share of the county (roughly double the statewide share), which correlates with heavier use of app‑based messaging (e.g., WhatsApp), family plans, and prepaid lines compared with Oregon overall.
• Work and seasonality: Agriculture and recreation/tourism create seasonal population spikes and dispersed work sites, pushing heavier use of mobile hotspots and messaging during harvest and peak visitor months.
• Home internet fallback: Outside the City of Hood River and Cascade Locks, more households lean on cellular data as their primary or backup home internet due to patchy wired options; this raises mobile data dependence compared with the state average.

Digital infrastructure and coverage notes

• 5G corridors: Continuous 5G from the major national carriers along I‑84 through Hood River and Cascade Locks, with mid‑band 5G performing best inside city limits and near the river.
• Terrain effects: Steep topography and forested canyons create dead zones and indoor attenuation in the Upper Valley (Odell, Dee, Parkdale) and around recreation areas (e.g., Post Canyon, Lost Lake corridor, high-elevation roads). Expect LTE fallback or no service in pockets away from main roads.
• Highway coverage: US‑26/I‑84 trunk routes and OR‑35 to Mt. Hood are prioritized; coverage thins quickly off-corridor.
• Fixed broadband interplay: Fiber and cable are strongest in Hood River and Cascade Locks; DSL and fixed wireless are common beyond. This uneven fixed footprint increases reliance on mobile hotspots for schoolwork, farm operations, and small businesses in outlying areas.
• Public safety: Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) and E‑911 are supported; gaps can appear in the same terrain-limited pockets where consumer coverage is weak.

How Hood River County differs from Oregon overall

• Higher mobile reliance outside cities: A larger share of households in rural parts of the county rely on cellular data as their primary or backup home connection than the statewide average, driven by terrain-limited wired buildout.
• More pronounced peak-demand swings: Tourism and harvest seasons create sharper, predictable mobile capacity spikes than typical for Oregon, especially weekends and summer afternoons along the waterfront and trailheads.
• Coverage variability: Despite strong 5G on the interstate corridor, the county’s mountainous topography causes greater service variability than the Oregon average, with more micro‑dead‑zones and frequent band/cell handoffs.
• Demographic usage patterns: With a substantially larger Hispanic/Latino community than the state average, there’s comparatively higher adoption of prepaid lines and over-the-top messaging, plus heavier family-plan usage and cross‑border communications behavior.

Practical takeaways

• Plan for excellent 5G in Hood River/Cascade Locks and along I‑84; expect LTE or weaker signals off-corridor and indoors in the Upper Valley.
• Mobile hotspots are a common and effective workaround for households and crews beyond the fiber/cable footprint.
• Seasonal capacity planning matters: network performance is most strained during summer tourism and fall harvest; carriers typically optimize riverfront and highway sectors first.

Hood River County, OR social media snapshot (2025)

• Population and access

  • Residents ≈ 25,000; adults (18+) ≈ 19,200
  • Household broadband adoption ≈ 88–90% (ACS)
  • Adult social media penetration ≈ 86% → ≈ 16,500 adult users
  • Hispanic/Latino residents ≈ 30% (ACS), shaping platform mix

• Most-used platforms among adults (share of all adults; modeled local reach)

  • YouTube: 85%
  • Facebook: 70%
  • Instagram: 50%
  • Pinterest: 36%
  • TikTok: 35%
  • WhatsApp: 32% (elevated by the sizable Hispanic community)
  • Snapchat: 28%
  • LinkedIn: 28%
  • X (Twitter): 20%
  • Reddit: 20%
  • Nextdoor: 17%

• Age profile (share using any social platform)

  • 18–29: 96%
  • 30–49: 91%
  • 50–64: 78%
  • 65+: 58%
  • Teens (13–17): heavy use of YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram

• Gender breakdown

  • Women: ≈ 86% use at least one platform; higher activity on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest
  • Men: ≈ 83%; higher on YouTube, Reddit, X

• Behavioral trends

  • Community and commerce center on Facebook Groups and Marketplace; local events, buy/sell, and school or club updates draw strong engagement
  • Outdoor/tourism economy fuels visual, short-form video on Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts (wind/kite sports, skiing, MTB, orchards/harvest)
  • Bilingual engagement is material; Spanish-language posts and WhatsApp groups are common across family, farm, and food-service networks
  • Messaging-first interactions (Instagram DMs, Messenger, WhatsApp) are frequently used for customer service, bookings, and micro-commerce
  • Seasonal spikes: late spring–early fall (orchards and wind season) and winter (snow sports) drive content volume and UGC
  • Cross-river Columbia Gorge network effects extend reach beyond county lines, especially via Facebook and Instagram

Method note: Figures are 2024–2025 county-level estimates derived by applying Pew Research Center’s Social Media Use (2024) platform adoption by age/gender/ethnicity to Hood River County’s ACS 2023 demographics. Platform percentages are shares of adults and can exceed the overall “any social media” rate because individuals use multiple platforms.