New Census county population estimates for Oregon [released March 2015] (Portland: condo, vs.)

[tablemtn]

The Census released its county population estimates again, and by their reckoning, Oregon is growing fairly quickly compared to the national average.

The US as a whole had an estimated population of 318,857,056 on July 1, 2014 - an 0.75% increase over 2013.

As for Oregon...



Of Oregon's 36 counties, the Census estimates that 24 grew, 10 shrank, and 2 were basically flat.

By county:

Rank - County (County seat) - Estimated population (percentage gain or loss). Numerical gain or loss


Totals: 3,970,239 (+1.1%). +42,171

1. Multnomah (Portland) - 776,712 (+1.4%). +10,630
2. Washington (Hillsboro) - 562,998 (+1.3%). +7,451
3. Clackamas (Oregon City) - 394,972 (+1.7%). +6,515
4. Lane (Eugene) - 358,337 (+0.8%). +2,676
5. Marion (Salem) - 326,110 (+1.2%). +3,882
6. Jackson (Medford) - 210,287 (+1.1%). +2,196
7. Deschutes (Bend) - 170,388 (+2.7%). +4,433
8. Linn (Albany) - 119,356 (+0.6%). +712
9. Douglas (Roseburg) - 106,972 (+0.2%). +162
10. Yamhill (McMinville) - 101,758 (+0.9%). +921
11. Benton (Corvallis) - 86,316 (+0.4%). +356
12. Josephine (Grants Pass) - 83,599 (+0.4%). +328
13. Polk (Dallas) - 77,916 (+1.7%). +1,298
14. Umatilla (Pendleton) - 76,705 (-0.2%). -163
15. Klamath (Klamath Falls) - 65,455 (-0.6%). -393
16. Coos (Coquille) - 62,475 (+0.1%). +42
17. Columbia (Saint Helens) - 49,459 (+0.4%). +202
18. Lincoln (Newport) - 46,406 (+0.2%). +106
19. Clatsop (Astoria) - 37,474 (+1.0%). +353
20. Malheur (Vale) - 30,359 (-0.9%). -265
21. Union (La Grande) - 25,691 (+0.6%). +152
22. Wasco (The Dalles) - 25,515 (+0.2%). +40
23. Tillamook (Tillamook) - 25,342 (+0.0%). +9
24. Hood River (Hood River) - 22,885 (+0.8%). +174
25. Curry (Gold Beach) - 22,335 (+0.2%). +36
26. Jefferson (Madras) - 22,192 (+1.7%). +365
27. Crook (Prineville) - 20,998 (+1.0%). +208
28. Baker (Baker City) - 16,059 (-0.2%). -37
29. Morrow (Heppner) - 11,187 (-0.7%). -79
30. Lake (Lakeview) - 7,838 (+0.0%). +1
31. Grant (Canyon City) - 7,180 (-1.3%). -93
32. Harney (Burns) - 7,126 (-0.4%). -26
33. Wallowa (Enterprise) - 6,820 (+0.2%). +15
34. Gilliam (Condon) - 1,932 (-0.3%). -6
35. Sherman (Moro) - 1,710 (-0.5%). -8
36. Wheeler (Fossil) - 1,375 (-1.6%). -22

Surrounding states and their counties which border Oregon:

Washington: 7,061,530 (+1.3%). +87,788

Clark (Vancouver) - 451,008 (+1.7%). +7,696
Benton (Prosser) - 186,486 (+1.1%). +2,033
Cowlitz (Kelso) - 102,133 (+0.4%). +404
Walla Walla (Walla Walla) - 59,844 (+0.3%). +207
Asotin (Asotin) - 22,189 (+0.4%). +85
Klickitat (Goldendale) - 20,861 (+0.1%). +18
Pacific (South Bend) - 20,561 (+0.6%). +127
Skamania (Stevenson) - 11,340 (+0.8%). +85
Wahkiakum (Cathlamet) - 4,067 (+0.6%). +23
Columbia (Dayton) - 3,985 (-1.3%). -51
Garfield (Pomeroy) - 2,215 (-1.5%). -33

Idaho: 1,634,464 (+1.3%). +21,621

Canyon (Caldwell) - 203,143 (+2.1%). +4,103
Nez Perce (Lewiston) - 40,007 (+0.2%). +69
Payette (Payette) - 22,836 (+1.1%). +245
Idaho (Grangeville) - 16,215 (+0.1%). +14
Owyhee (Murphy) - 11,353 (-0.6%). -70
Washington (Weiser) - 10,021 (+0.7%). +67
Adams (Council) - 3,861 (+0.8%). +30

California: 38,802,500 (+1.0%). +371,107

Siskiyou (Yreka) - 43,628 (-0.3%). -145
Del Norte (Crescent City) - 27,212 (-2.2%). -615
Modoc (Alturas) - 9,023 (-1.0%). -89

Nevada: 2,839,099 (+1.7%). +47,605

Washoe (Reno) - 440,078 (+1.4%). +6,254
Elko (Elko) - 52,766 (+0.4%). +235
Humboldt (Winnemucca) - 17,279 (-0.5%). -90

[seashelly]

I'm on the South Coast so I'm wondering......Why is Tillamook County showing no change? What would be the problem up there?

[Irish Eyes_Mrs. Z]

Originally Posted by seashelly

I'm on the South Coast so I'm wondering......Why is Tillamook County showing no change? What would be the problem up there?

Flooding? The smell of thousands of dairy cows?

[V8 Vega]

I think it rains near constantly in Tillamook. We took a tour of Tillamook Cheese and I remember seeing that.

[Irish Eyes_Mrs. Z]

Originally Posted by V8 Vega

I think it rains near constantly in Tillamook. We took a tour of Tillamook Cheese and I remember seeing that.

It doesn't rain any more in Tillamook than the rest of the central coast--but what it gets falls on a lot of flat land that's low enough that it floods easily. If Tillamook get's close to what Lincoln City gets (it's about 45 miles north of us, and I believe it does), it will be approximately 163" a year. That's not quite twice what the PDX metro area gets, and many, many more times the amount of almost anywhere on the east side of the Cascades. It is, however, enough to flood the area if it comes down heavily and for several days at a time.

I still think it's the smell of cows, though .

[ramonagreen]

Tillamook is a lot more sketchy than it used to be. Had a lot more jobs and that blimp hangar used to be more than a rust pile. The Thriftway that always flooded is a field now. The downtown is a right mess, no stores there anymore. But the farmers market has gotten much better with age.

[bler144]

Like ramona I'd wager the flooding is an issue. Agriculture is also a dominant part of the economy - whether or not you think cow farts are a driving force, a lot of the limited land that is available is not available for development. Not to mention the state owns 45% of the land, vs. 30% in Lincoln County, etc. Whether that land would even be buildable if it weren't state owned is another question.

Also, if you look at all the counties that are strictly "coastal" (Curry, Coos, Lincoln, Tillamook, Clatsop), they're all essentially flat other than Clatsop. The practical/statistical difference between growth in Curry and Tillamook is nil.

Not to mention, rounding to the nearest 1/10th percent as the above chart does exaggerates the difference - if you go out to 1/100th percent, it's really 0.03% for Tmk vs. 0.16% for Curry. The report treats 0.0% as some magical cutoff but for all practical purposes those are both flat. How long would it take Curry's population to double at current rate of growth?

450 years.

So the only meaningful difference is Clatsop vs. the rest of the coast, and Clatsop is the least rugged of the bunch.

[edit - though it probably doesn't help that Tillamook doesn't have any major road from the valley out to its 'major' towns either]