Data / Rankings / Housing units authorized by building permits / Cities in Oregon

Cities in Oregon by housing units authorized by building permits

Portland, OR had the highest housing units authorized by building permits of 50 cities in 2015, at 4,411. Cornelius, OR had the lowest, at 2. The median was 89 and the figure for Oregon was 17,510. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest4,411Portland, OR
Lowest2Cornelius, OR
Median8950 cities
Oregon17,510History

All cities, 2015

Portland, OR: 4,411 countPortland, OR4,411Bend, OR: 1,569 countBend, OR1,569Hillsboro, OR: 807 countHillsboro, OR807Beaverton, OR: 539 countBeaverton, OR539Salem, OR: 440 countSalem, OR440Gresham, OR: 398 countGresham, OR398Happy Valley, OR: 356 countHappy Valley, OR356Wilsonville, OR: 352 countWilsonville, OR352Medford, OR: 329 countMedford, OR329Eugene, OR: 316 countEugene, OR316Keizer, OR: 287 countKeizer, OR287Tigard, OR: 249 countTigard, OR249Redmond, OR: 198 countRedmond, OR198Grants Pass, OR: 173 countGrants Pass, OR173Albany, OR: 155 countAlbany, OR155Dallas, OR: 141 countDallas, OR141Oregon City, OR: 130 countOregon City, OR130Forest Grove, OR: 124 countForest Grove, OR124Tualatin, OR: 121 countTualatin, OR121Sandy, OR: 118 countSandy, OR118McMinnville, OR: 113 countMcMinnville, OR113Central Point, OR: 97 countCentral Point, OR97Springfield, OR: 96 countSpringfield, OR96Lake Oswego, OR: 95 countLake Oswego, OR95Independence, OR: 90 countIndependence, OR90Corvallis, OR: 88 countCorvallis, OR88Silverton, OR: 61 countSilverton, OR61Newberg, OR: 59 countNewberg, OR59Hermiston, OR: 54 countHermiston, OR54Woodburn, OR: 52 countWoodburn, OR52West Linn, OR: 50 countWest Linn, OR50Lincoln City, OR: 48 countLincoln City, OR48Lebanon, OR: 45 countLebanon, OR45Ashland, OR: 37 countAshland, OR37Sherwood, OR: 34 countSherwood, OR34Sweet Home, OR: 33 countSweet Home, OR33St. Helens, OR: 27 countSt. Helens, OR27Monmouth, OR: 26 countMonmouth, OR26Newport, OR: 26 countNewport, OR26Prineville, OR: 23 countPrineville, OR23Pendleton, OR: 22 countPendleton, OR22Baker City, OR: 21 countBaker City, OR21La Grande, OR: 12 countLa Grande, OR12Coos Bay, OR: 11 countCoos Bay, OR11Milwaukie, OR: 11 countMilwaukie, OR11Fairview, OR: 10 countFairview, OR10Cottage Grove, OR: 8 countCottage Grove, OR8Ontario, OR: 8 countOntario, OR8Troutdale, OR: 4 countTroutdale, OR4Cornelius, OR: 2 countCornelius, OR2Portland, OR: 4,411 countPortland, OR4,411Bend, OR: 1,569 countBend, OR1,569Hillsboro, OR: 807 countHillsboro, OR807Beaverton, OR: 539 countBeaverton, OR539Salem, OR: 440 countSalem, OR440Gresham, OR: 398 countGresham, OR398Happy Valley, OR: 356 countHappy Valley, OR356Wilsonville, OR: 352 countWilsonville, OR352Medford, OR: 329 countMedford, OR329Eugene, OR: 316 countEugene, OR316Keizer, OR: 287 countKeizer, OR287Tigard, OR: 249 countTigard, OR249Redmond, OR: 198 countRedmond, OR198Grants Pass, OR: 173 countGrants Pass, OR173Albany, OR: 155 countAlbany, OR155Dallas, OR: 141 countDallas, OR141Oregon City, OR: 130 countOregon City, OR130Forest Grove, OR: 124 countForest Grove, OR124Tualatin, OR: 121 countTualatin, OR121Sandy, OR: 118 countSandy, OR118McMinnville, OR: 113 countMcMinnville, OR113Central Point, OR: 97 countCentral Point, OR97Springfield, OR: 96 countSpringfield, OR96Lake Oswego, OR: 95 countLake Oswego, OR95Independence, OR: 90 countIndependence, OR90Corvallis, OR: 88 countCorvallis, OR88Silverton, OR: 61 countSilverton, OR61Newberg, OR: 59 countNewberg, OR59Hermiston, OR: 54 countHermiston, OR54Woodburn, OR: 52 countWoodburn, OR52West Linn, OR: 50 countWest Linn, OR50Lincoln City, OR: 48 countLincoln City, OR48Lebanon, OR: 45 countLebanon, OR45Ashland, OR: 37 countAshland, OR37Sherwood, OR: 34 countSherwood, OR34Sweet Home, OR: 33 countSweet Home, OR33St. Helens, OR: 27 countSt. Helens, OR27Monmouth, OR: 26 countMonmouth, OR26Newport, OR: 26 countNewport, OR26Prineville, OR: 23 countPrineville, OR23Pendleton, OR: 22 countPendleton, OR22Baker City, OR: 21 countBaker City, OR21La Grande, OR: 12 countLa Grande, OR12Coos Bay, OR: 11 countCoos Bay, OR11Milwaukie, OR: 11 countMilwaukie, OR11Fairview, OR: 10 countFairview, OR10Cottage Grove, OR: 8 countCottage Grove, OR8Ontario, OR: 8 countOntario, OR8Troutdale, OR: 4 countTroutdale, OR4Cornelius, OR: 2 countCornelius, OR2
count. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2015
count		Change on 2014
1Portland, OR Estimated4,411-12.1%
2Bend, OR Estimated1,569+85.2%
3Hillsboro, OR Estimated807-8.9%
4Beaverton, OR Estimated539+75%
5Salem, OR Estimated440+51.2%
6Gresham, OR Estimated398+531.7%
7Happy Valley, OR Estimated356+0.6%
8Wilsonville, OR Estimated352+45.5%
9Medford, OR Estimated329-19.2%
10Eugene, OR Estimated316-69.4%
11Keizer, OR Estimated287+129.6%
12Tigard, OR Estimated249+295.2%
13Redmond, OR Estimated198+33.8%
14Grants Pass, OR Estimated173+130.7%
15Albany, OR Estimated155-30.8%
16Dallas, OR Estimated141+243.9%
17Oregon City, OR Estimated130+56.6%
18Forest Grove, OR Estimated124-8.8%
19Tualatin, OR Estimated121+656.3%
20Sandy, OR Estimated118+42.2%
21McMinnville, OR Estimated113-33.5%
22Central Point, OR Estimated97+36.6%
23Springfield, OR Estimated96+159.5%
24Lake Oswego, OR Estimated95-9.5%
25Independence, OR Estimated90-43%
26Corvallis, OR Estimated88-78.3%
27Silverton, OR Estimated61+1.7%
28Newberg, OR Estimated59+43.9%
29Hermiston, OR Estimated54+14.9%
30Woodburn, OR Estimated52-29.7%
31West Linn, OR Estimated50+31.6%
32Lincoln City, OR Estimated48-21.3%
33Lebanon, OR Estimated450%
34Ashland, OR Estimated37-33.9%
35Sherwood, OR Estimated34-47.7%
36Sweet Home, OR Estimated33+50%
37St. Helens, OR Estimated27-15.6%
38Monmouth, OR Estimated26+23.8%
38Newport, OR Estimated26+18.2%
40Prineville, OR Estimated23+9.5%
41Pendleton, OR Estimated22-42.1%
42Baker City, OR Estimated21+16.7%
43La Grande, OR Estimated12-47.8%
44Coos Bay, OR Estimated11+83.3%
44Milwaukie, OR Estimated11+83.3%
46Fairview, OR Estimated10+900%
47Cottage Grove, OR Estimated8-50%
47Ontario, OR Estimated8-20%
49Troutdale, OR Estimated4+300%
50Cornelius, OR Estimated20%

Other periods

About this ranking

Number of new privately owned housing units authorized by building permits in the year or month, from the US Census Bureau Building Permits Survey. Annual totals for the nation, states and counties; monthly counts for the nation and states.

Counts housing units, not buildings, starts, completions or sales. Monthly counts are not seasonally adjusted and do not add up exactly to the annual total, which includes later corrections; the national seasonally adjusted annual rate in the monthly New Residential Construction release is a different measure.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. 3 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2015 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2015a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Census Bureau. (2016). Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation (Cities in Oregon by housing units authorized by building permits, 2015) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2015a.txt

MLA 9

Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Oregon by housing units authorized by building permits, 2015. U.S. Census Bureau, 30 Sept. 2016, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2015a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2015. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2016. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Cities in Oregon by housing units authorized by building permits, 2015. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2015a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2015.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2016) Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Oregon by housing units authorized by building permits, 2015 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2015a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2015 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_oregon_by_2015,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation: Cities in Oregon by housing units authorized by building permits, 2015}},
  year = {2016},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2015a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2015. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West\%20Region/we2015a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation: Cities in Oregon by housing units authorized by building permits, 2015
PY  - 2016
DA  - 2016/09/30
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2015a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2015.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2015a.txt. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which city has the highest housing units authorized by building permits?

Portland, OR, with 4,411 in 2015, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which city has the lowest housing units authorized by building permits?

Cornelius, OR, with 2 in 2015.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Retrieved 2026-10-12. 3 cities have no value for 2015 and are not ranked.

Housing units authorized by building permits: other rankings

Cities in Oregon: more rankings