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Welcome to John Day ...

The city of John Day is located in Grant County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of John Day, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1879.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, John Day has a population of 1,664 people<2> (see below for details).

John Day is 3,070 feet [936 m] above sea level.<3> In other words, the altitude of John Day is about ½ mile above sea level.

Time Zone: John Day lies in the Pacific Time Zone (PST/PDT) and observes daylight saving time

Note: If you leave John Day and travel east, you will leave Pacific Time and cross into the Mountain Time Zone (MST/MDT).

Area Codes for John Day: 541 & 458<4>

The ZIP code for John Day: 97845<5>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, John Day had an population of 1,664 people. This is a decrease of 4.59% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 8.62% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, John Day had a population of 1,744 people (which is 23.37% of the total population of Grant County). This makes John Day the county's most populous community.

The population of John Day represents 0.05% of the total population of Oregon (which has 3,831,074 people), making it the state's 127th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 1,744 people, the population of John Day decreased 4.23% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 1,821 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for John Day.

Communities near John Day ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near John Day.

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around John Day. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for John Day.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of John Day. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around John Day.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around John Day. Our list includes 4 papers. See our Newspapers Page for John Day.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for John Day ...

Looking for more information about John Day? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for John Day, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for John Day.

Adding John Day to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of John Day in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for John Day was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<8>

X2X - From that list, the John Day post office opened in 1879.

We also found John Day in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

For more details, see References and Mentions for John Day.

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for John Day. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of Oregon: https://www.oregon.gov/

Footnotes ...

<1>If you're interested in how the shape of Oregon's counties, including Grant, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for John Day.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around John Day - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 541 code has been Overlayed with the 458 area code. New phone numbers in the John Day area will be assigned with one of these codes: 541 or 458. As a result, placing a call in the John Day area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number).
<5>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as John Day). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether John Day or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<6>The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required.
<7>While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program.
<8>A copy of their list with background information can be found at:

      https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/




 

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This page was last modified/updated: 29 Apr 2025