Lane County, Oregon covers 4,610 square miles of diversified and beautiful landscape. Slightly smaller than the size of Connecticut, Lane County stretches from Pacific Ocean beaches to the crest of the Cascade Mountains. Lane County’s mountains, forests, valleys, and beaches offer something for everyone.

Approximately 343,140 citizens called Lane County home in 2007, with 236,543 (69%) of this population living within the Eugene-Springfield metropolitan area, Oregon’s second largest urban area after Portland. Ten additional incorporated cities are found in Lane County, ranging in size from Cottage Grove (9,345) to Westfir (335). Eugene is the home of the University of Oregon with over 20,000 students, as well as the main campus of Lane Community College, which serves more than 36,000 students throughout the county. For more information on Lane County’s population and demographic see Regional Trends: A Statistical Profile of Lane County. (Continued below.)

Physiographically, the county is divided into four regions with the heavily forested and rugged Cascade Mountains in the eastern half of the county, the southern Willamette Valley in the central county, the relatively low hills of the Coast Range to the west, and the coastal strip in the far western end. Almost half of the county’s land area is under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Forest Service, with the bulk of that land in the Willamette National Forest and smaller amounts in the Umpqua and Siuslaw National Forests. The Bureau of Land Management also manages significant acreage in the county. Portions of six federal wilderness areas are contained within Lane County as are the headwaters of the Willamette, McKenzie, and Siuslaw Rivers. Elevations range from 10,358 feet at the summit of the South Sister to sea level at the coast.

Lane County’s climate is classified under the Köppen climate classification system as Mediterranean under the temperate group of climates, with characteristically wet winters, dry summers, and the warmest month averaging below 22 °C (71.6 °F). Eugene’s average annual precipitation is about 45 inches, with 80% of this falling during the months of November through April. Both the Coast Range and the Cascades receive significantly higher amounts of precipitation than the valley, with most of that falling as snow in the higher elevations of the Cascades. The mean monthly maximum temperature for Eugene ranges from 46.2 °F in December to 81.8 °F in August while the mean monthly minimums range from 35.2 °F in January to 53.2 °F in August.

While historically dominated by the wood products industry, Lane County’s economy has diversified since the late 1980’s and now includes significant numbers of jobs in the areas of health care, education, manufacturing, professional services, and government. The University of Oregon is the county’s largest employer followed by Peacehealth and Lane Community College. A small cluster of recreational vehicle manufacturing companies together employ over 3,500 people in the county. Tourism is an important component of the local economy with Lane County ranking second statewide in terms of estimated tourism spending. Lane County’s economy also includes a sizable agricultural component, ranking 11th our of Oregon’s 36 counties in terms of total farm and ranch sales in 2006.