Bend Metropolitan Statistical Area Changes to Include Three Counties

Bend, Oregon- The Bend Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), previously known as the Bend-Redmond MSA and comprised solely of Deschutes County, now includes Crook and Jefferson counties. The update follows new federal guidelines from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which redefined the area based on recent population and commuting data.

The OMB announced the change on July 21, 2023, in OMB Bulletin 23-01. According to the OMB, “Metropolitan Statistical Areas have at least one urban area of 50,000 or more population, plus adjacent territory that has a high degree of social and economic integration with the core as measured by commuting ties.”

For comparison: The Eugene MSA consists of only Lane County, along with the Medford MSA being only Jackson County.

This reclassification affects labor market data reporting for the Bend MSA. Beginning with the release of January 2025 data, the Current Employment Statistics (CES) reports will reflect combined job totals from all three counties. Previously, CES data for the Bend-Redmond MSA included only Deschutes County employment figures.

The change will also impact other labor market data published on Oregon’s QualityInfo.org and the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics website, BLS.gov.

While the scope of the MSA has expanded, the CES reports will continue to list the same industries as before. The new total nonfarm payroll employment for the Bend MSA is estimated at approximately 112,000 jobs. Deschutes County will make up the majority, with about 98,000 jobs, or 87% of the total. Crook County will contribute around 7,500 jobs (7%), and Jefferson County about 6,700 jobs (6%).

CES data will remain available for each individual county, as well as for the Bend MSA overall. Users can access these figures by selecting a county or the MSA from the geographic dropdown list on QualityInfo.org.

The new three-county MSA definition will also be applied retroactively to CES data back to 2001. No other metropolitan statistical areas in Oregon experienced changes to their geographic definitions during this OMB review cycle.