Oregon Still Growing but at a Slower Rate, New Portland State University Numbers Show

A majority of counties showed more deaths than births, but net migration pushed the state’s population higher.

Grant Park, Northeast Portland. (Brian Burk)
By Nigel Jaquiss

Oregon is still growing but at a slower rate than for much of the past decade, according to new preliminary estimates from the Population Research Center at Portland State University.

PSU says Oregon's population grew from 4,236,400 in 2019 to 4,268,055 in 2020, a 0.7% increase.

Most of the population growth occurred in the three-county metro region, although Deschutes County showed the largest percentage increase, at 2.1%.

In 21 counties, the number of people dying exceeded the number of new births. Without new arrivals, that means the population would shrink in those counties.

Five rural counties saw population decreases, with Harney (minus 1.1%) and Grant (minus 0.6%) counties showing the largest percentage decreases.

The net migration into Oregon—the difference between the number of people moving here and the number of people leaving—totaled more than 28,000. That number has decreased steadily since the recent high of 57,000 newcomers in 2017.

Oregon added 435,000 new residents over the past decade.

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