Welcome to Ontario ...
The city of Ontario is located in Malheur County<1>.
Ontario was established in 1883.
When the people of Ontario refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Ontarian<2>
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Ontario has a population of 11,054 people<3> (see below for details).
The community of Ontario is 2,150 feet [655 m] above sea level.<4> In other words, the elevation of Ontario is about ½ mile above sea level.
Time Zone: Ontario lies in the Mountain Time Zone (MST/MDT) and observes daylight saving time
Area Codes for Ontario: 541 & 458<5>
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Ontario had an population of 11,054 people. This is a decrease of 2.75% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 0.63% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Ontario had a population of 11,366 people (or 36.26% of the total population of Malheur County). This makes Ontario the county's most populous community.
The population of Ontario represents 0.3% of the total population of Oregon (which has 3,831,074 people), making it the state's 44th most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 11,366 people, the population of Ontario increased 3.47% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 10,985 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Ontario.
Communities Also Named Ontario ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 13 communities that are also named Ontario - they are located in California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Ontario.
Websites for Ontario ...
Official Website: www.ontariooregon.org/
Communities near Ontario ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Ontario.
- Weiser
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Weiser
- Weiser is located in Washington County (ID)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,463 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Weiser <6>
- Nyssa
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nyssa have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nyssa
- Nyssa is located in Malheur County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,231 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nyssa <6>
- Parma
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Parma have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Parma
- Parma is located in Canyon County (ID)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,129 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Parma <6>
- Vale
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Vale
- Vale is located in Malheur County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,806 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Vale <6>
- New Plymouth
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for New Plymouth have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Plymouth
- New Plymouth is located in Payette County (ID)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,609 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Plymouth <6>
- Buckingham
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Buckingham
- Buckingham is located in Payette County (ID)
- Payette
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Payette
- Payette is located in Payette County (ID)
- Population from the 2020 Census: 8,012 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Payette <6>
- Apple Valley
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Apple Valley
- Apple Valley is located in Canyon County (ID)
- Owyhee
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south) - Eaton
(18 miles [29 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Eaton
- Eaton is located in Washington County (ID)
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 Ontario. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Ontario.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Ontario. 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 Ontario.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Ontario. Our list includes 7 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Ontario.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Ontario ...
Looking for more information about Ontario? 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 Ontario, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Ontario.
Adding Ontario to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Ontario 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 Ontario was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<9>
X2X - From that list, the Ontario post office opened in 1884.
We also found Ontario in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Ontario.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Ontario: www.ontariooregon.org/
The official website for Malheur County: www.malheurco.org/
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 Malheur, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Ontario refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a city's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Ontario may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different. |
| <3> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Ontario. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Ontario - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <5> | 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 Ontario area will be assigned with one of these codes: 541 or 458. As a result, placing a call in the Ontario area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number). |
| <6> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <7> | 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. |
| <8> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <9> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |