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 2017, at 6,789. Ontario, OR had the lowest, at 5. The median was 68 and the figure for Oregon was 20,053. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest6,789Portland, OR
Lowest5Ontario, OR
Median6850 cities
Oregon20,053History

All cities, 2017

Portland, OR: 6,789 countPortland, OR6,789Bend, OR: 1,212 countBend, OR1,212Salem, OR: 974 countSalem, OR974Tigard, OR: 613 countTigard, OR613Beaverton, OR: 566 countBeaverton, OR566Hillsboro, OR: 422 countHillsboro, OR422Medford, OR: 398 countMedford, OR398Eugene, OR: 379 countEugene, OR379Oregon City, OR: 342 countOregon City, OR342Redmond, OR: 323 countRedmond, OR323Wilsonville, OR: 267 countWilsonville, OR267Albany, OR: 241 countAlbany, OR241Happy Valley, OR: 225 countHappy Valley, OR225Lake Oswego, OR: 194 countLake Oswego, OR194Gresham, OR: 193 countGresham, OR193Forest Grove, OR: 174 countForest Grove, OR174Grants Pass, OR: 156 countGrants Pass, OR156Dallas, OR: 111 countDallas, OR111Silverton, OR: 92 countSilverton, OR92Newberg, OR: 88 countNewberg, OR88Springfield, OR: 88 countSpringfield, OR88Hermiston, OR: 77 countHermiston, OR77McMinnville, OR: 77 countMcMinnville, OR77Sandy, OR: 75 countSandy, OR75Corvallis, OR: 70 countCorvallis, OR70Lincoln City, OR: 66 countLincoln City, OR66Ashland, OR: 54 countAshland, OR54Fairview, OR: 52 countFairview, OR52Central Point, OR: 48 countCentral Point, OR48Cornelius, OR: 47 countCornelius, OR47Cottage Grove, OR: 47 countCottage Grove, OR47Lebanon, OR: 46 countLebanon, OR46Sherwood, OR: 46 countSherwood, OR46Keizer, OR: 45 countKeizer, OR45Pendleton, OR: 44 countPendleton, OR44Sweet Home, OR: 44 countSweet Home, OR44Monmouth, OR: 43 countMonmouth, OR43West Linn, OR: 40 countWest Linn, OR40Prineville, OR: 32 countPrineville, OR32St. Helens, OR: 27 countSt. Helens, OR27Baker City, OR: 22 countBaker City, OR22Tualatin, OR: 22 countTualatin, OR22Woodburn, OR: 19 countWoodburn, OR19Coos Bay, OR: 15 countCoos Bay, OR15Newport, OR: 15 countNewport, OR15Troutdale, OR: 12 countTroutdale, OR12Independence, OR: 10 countIndependence, OR10La Grande, OR: 10 countLa Grande, OR10Milwaukie, OR: 10 countMilwaukie, OR10Ontario, OR: 5 countOntario, OR5Portland, OR: 6,789 countPortland, OR6,789Bend, OR: 1,212 countBend, OR1,212Salem, OR: 974 countSalem, OR974Tigard, OR: 613 countTigard, OR613Beaverton, OR: 566 countBeaverton, OR566Hillsboro, OR: 422 countHillsboro, OR422Medford, OR: 398 countMedford, OR398Eugene, OR: 379 countEugene, OR379Oregon City, OR: 342 countOregon City, OR342Redmond, OR: 323 countRedmond, OR323Wilsonville, OR: 267 countWilsonville, OR267Albany, OR: 241 countAlbany, OR241Happy Valley, OR: 225 countHappy Valley, OR225Lake Oswego, OR: 194 countLake Oswego, OR194Gresham, OR: 193 countGresham, OR193Forest Grove, OR: 174 countForest Grove, OR174Grants Pass, OR: 156 countGrants Pass, OR156Dallas, OR: 111 countDallas, OR111Silverton, OR: 92 countSilverton, OR92Newberg, OR: 88 countNewberg, OR88Springfield, OR: 88 countSpringfield, OR88Hermiston, OR: 77 countHermiston, OR77McMinnville, OR: 77 countMcMinnville, OR77Sandy, OR: 75 countSandy, OR75Corvallis, OR: 70 countCorvallis, OR70Lincoln City, OR: 66 countLincoln City, OR66Ashland, OR: 54 countAshland, OR54Fairview, OR: 52 countFairview, OR52Central Point, OR: 48 countCentral Point, OR48Cornelius, OR: 47 countCornelius, OR47Cottage Grove, OR: 47 countCottage Grove, OR47Lebanon, OR: 46 countLebanon, OR46Sherwood, OR: 46 countSherwood, OR46Keizer, OR: 45 countKeizer, OR45Pendleton, OR: 44 countPendleton, OR44Sweet Home, OR: 44 countSweet Home, OR44Monmouth, OR: 43 countMonmouth, OR43West Linn, OR: 40 countWest Linn, OR40Prineville, OR: 32 countPrineville, OR32St. Helens, OR: 27 countSt. Helens, OR27Baker City, OR: 22 countBaker City, OR22Tualatin, OR: 22 countTualatin, OR22Woodburn, OR: 19 countWoodburn, OR19Coos Bay, OR: 15 countCoos Bay, OR15Newport, OR: 15 countNewport, OR15Troutdale, OR: 12 countTroutdale, OR12Independence, OR: 10 countIndependence, OR10La Grande, OR: 10 countLa Grande, OR10Milwaukie, OR: 10 countMilwaukie, OR10Ontario, OR: 5 countOntario, OR5
count. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2017
count		Change on 2016
1Portland, OR Estimated6,789+37.7%
2Bend, OR Estimated1,212-17.6%
3Salem, OR Estimated974+23%
4Tigard, OR Estimated613-6.6%
5Beaverton, OR Estimated566+177.5%
6Hillsboro, OR Estimated422-54.6%
7Medford, OR Estimated398-9.5%
8Eugene, OR Estimated379-49.3%
9Oregon City, OR Estimated342+126.5%
10Redmond, OR Estimated323+15.8%
11Wilsonville, OR Estimated267+42.8%
12Albany, OR Estimated241+125.2%
13Happy Valley, OR Estimated225-61.8%
14Lake Oswego, OR Estimated194-34%
15Gresham, OR Estimated193+44%
16Forest Grove, OR Estimated174+138.4%
17Grants Pass, OR Estimated156+20.9%
18Dallas, OR Estimated111+7.8%
19Silverton, OR Estimated92-8%
20Newberg, OR Estimated88+29.4%
20Springfield, OR Estimated88-26.1%
22Hermiston, OR Estimated77+16.7%
22McMinnville, OR Estimated77-46.5%
24Sandy, OR Estimated75-12.8%
25Corvallis, OR Estimated70-49.3%
26Lincoln City, OR Estimated66-20.5%
27Ashland, OR Estimated54-39.3%
28Fairview, OR Estimated52+333.3%
29Central Point, OR Estimated48-20%
30Cornelius, OR Estimated47+1,466.7%
30Cottage Grove, OR Estimated47+235.7%
32Lebanon, OR Estimated46+7%
32Sherwood, OR Estimated46-41%
34Keizer, OR Estimated45-32.8%
35Pendleton, OR Estimated44+340%
35Sweet Home, OR Estimated44+10%
37Monmouth, OR Estimated43+43.3%
38West Linn, OR Estimated40-7%
39Prineville, OR Estimated32+14.3%
40St. Helens, OR Estimated27+17.4%
41Baker City, OR Estimated22-40.5%
41Tualatin, OR Estimated22-51.1%
43Woodburn, OR Estimated19+72.7%
44Coos Bay, OR Estimated15-6.3%
44Newport, OR Estimated15+15.4%
46Troutdale, OR Estimated12+33.3%
47Independence, OR Estimated10-90.2%
47La Grande, OR Estimated10-54.5%
47Milwaukie, OR Estimated10-47.4%
50Ontario, OR Estimated5+66.7%

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 2017 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/we2017a.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. (2018). 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, 2017) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2017a.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, 2017. U.S. Census Bureau, 1 May 2018, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2017a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2017. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2018. 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, 2017. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2017a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2017.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2018) 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, 2017 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2017a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2017 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_oregon_by_2017,
  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, 2017}},
  year = {2018},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2017a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2017. 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/we2017a.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, 2017
PY  - 2018
DA  - 2018/05/01
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2017a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2017
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2017.
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/we2017a.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 6,789 in 2017, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Ontario, OR, with 5 in 2017.

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 2017 and are not ranked.

Housing units authorized by building permits: other rankings

Cities in Oregon: more rankings