Corvallis is a city in and the county seat of Benton County in central western Oregon, United States. It serves as the principal city of the Corvallis Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Benton County. The city lies at river mile 131–32 of the Willamette River, bordered on the northwest by the foothills of the Oregon Coast Range. Notably, it is the westernmost city in the contiguous forty-eight states with a population larger than fifty thousand.

The area was first settled in October 1845 when Joseph C. Avery arrived and took a land claim at the mouth of Marys River. He platted the land in 1849, naming the community Marysville to serve miners traveling to California. In December 1853, the name was changed to Corvallis to avoid confusion with another town, an act passed on December twentieth. The city was incorporated on January twenty-nine, 1857, after serving briefly as the territorial capital in 1855.

The city features the main campus of Oregon State University, which spans 420 acres and includes sixteen residence halls. Key landmarks include the Benton County Courthouse, marking the historical line between Avery and Dixon land parcels, and the Julian Hotel, formerly the Hotel Corvallis. The Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center occupies an eighty-four-acre campus, while a Hewlett Packard research facility covers 197 acres. The city is also part of the Silicon Forest technology corridor.

As a university town, Corvallis hosts twenty-four thousand nine hundred Oregon State University students, significantly influencing its cultural landscape. The community celebrates its heritage through sites like the courthouse and historical plaques commemorating the former territorial capital. The presence of major employers like Samaritan Health Services and Hewlett Packard contributes to a diverse economic environment. Visitors are drawn to the blend of academic atmosphere and historic architecture found throughout the city limits.

The population was 59,922 as of 2020, with estimates reaching 61,087 in 2023. The climate is warm-summer Mediterranean, characterized by mild winters and dry summers, though fog can reduce visibility significantly in midwinter. Rainfall varies from forty-three inches at the university to sixty-six inches in the northwest hills. The city has a total area of fourteen point thirty square miles, with the vast majority being land.