Talent is in Oregon’s beautiful Rogue River Valley, just off of Interstate 5, seven miles south of Medford and four miles north of Ashland, in Jackson County. The current population is 4,205. Its elevation is 1,635’. Temperatures range from 20 to 65 degrees in the winter, with occasional fog and snow. Summer temperatures are warm, running from 64 to 100+ degrees, with cool nights. Unlike much of Oregon, the area receives very little rainfall in the summer months.
Talent has a grocery store, pharmacy, two banks, a public library and park, post office, laundromat, several restaurants, veterinarian, gas stations, medical/dental offices, theater, coffee shops and a variety of other businesses. The city has a Mayor/City Council form of government, with a City Administrator conducting day-to-day activities. There is a Planning Commission, Parks Commission, City Planner, and Building Official. The city is served by its own police, fire, building, water, street, and park maintenance departments.
Talent is served by 3 newspapers – the Talent News and Review, the Ashland Daily Tidings, and the daily Medford Mail Tribune.
Rogue Valley Rapid Transit serves the Talent area with bus service Monday through Saturday.
Talent is part of the combined Phoenix-Talent School District which serves nearly the entire central Rogue Valley between the cities of Medford and Ashland. Of the district’s three elementary schools, one is in Talent. The district’s middle school also is in Talent, and its high school is located in Phoenix, three miles to the north of Talent.