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 2018, at 5,648. Ontario, OR had the lowest, at 2. The median was 109 and the figure for Oregon was 20,132. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest5,648Portland, OR
Lowest2Ontario, OR
Median10950 cities
Oregon20,132History

All cities, 2018

Portland, OR: 5,648 countPortland, OR5,648Bend, OR: 918 countBend, OR918Salem, OR: 861 countSalem, OR861Eugene, OR: 834 countEugene, OR834Redmond, OR: 512 countRedmond, OR512Medford, OR: 450 countMedford, OR450Hillsboro, OR: 370 countHillsboro, OR370Tigard, OR: 368 countTigard, OR368Gresham, OR: 348 countGresham, OR348Forest Grove, OR: 251 countForest Grove, OR251Albany, OR: 224 countAlbany, OR224Lake Oswego, OR: 222 countLake Oswego, OR222Corvallis, OR: 217 countCorvallis, OR217McMinnville, OR: 204 countMcMinnville, OR204Prineville, OR: 203 countPrineville, OR203Fairview, OR: 175 countFairview, OR175Wilsonville, OR: 174 countWilsonville, OR174Happy Valley, OR: 163 countHappy Valley, OR163Springfield, OR: 147 countSpringfield, OR147Oregon City, OR: 146 countOregon City, OR146Dallas, OR: 144 countDallas, OR144Central Point, OR: 136 countCentral Point, OR136Grants Pass, OR: 126 countGrants Pass, OR126Beaverton, OR: 125 countBeaverton, OR125Woodburn, OR: 112 countWoodburn, OR112Newberg, OR: 106 countNewberg, OR106Tualatin, OR: 99 countTualatin, OR99Lincoln City, OR: 89 countLincoln City, OR89Hermiston, OR: 82 countHermiston, OR82Lebanon, OR: 64 countLebanon, OR64Independence, OR: 62 countIndependence, OR62Newport, OR: 51 countNewport, OR51Monmouth, OR: 50 countMonmouth, OR50Ashland, OR: 49 countAshland, OR49Sandy, OR: 47 countSandy, OR47Sherwood, OR: 43 countSherwood, OR43Keizer, OR: 42 countKeizer, OR42Cottage Grove, OR: 37 countCottage Grove, OR37Cornelius, OR: 36 countCornelius, OR36West Linn, OR: 31 countWest Linn, OR31Sweet Home, OR: 28 countSweet Home, OR28Pendleton, OR: 27 countPendleton, OR27St. Helens, OR: 27 countSt. Helens, OR27La Grande, OR: 25 countLa Grande, OR25Baker City, OR: 23 countBaker City, OR23Milwaukie, OR: 23 countMilwaukie, OR23Silverton, OR: 22 countSilverton, OR22Coos Bay, OR: 20 countCoos Bay, OR20Troutdale, OR: 9 countTroutdale, OR9Ontario, OR: 2 countOntario, OR2Portland, OR: 5,648 countPortland, OR5,648Bend, OR: 918 countBend, OR918Salem, OR: 861 countSalem, OR861Eugene, OR: 834 countEugene, OR834Redmond, OR: 512 countRedmond, OR512Medford, OR: 450 countMedford, OR450Hillsboro, OR: 370 countHillsboro, OR370Tigard, OR: 368 countTigard, OR368Gresham, OR: 348 countGresham, OR348Forest Grove, OR: 251 countForest Grove, OR251Albany, OR: 224 countAlbany, OR224Lake Oswego, OR: 222 countLake Oswego, OR222Corvallis, OR: 217 countCorvallis, OR217McMinnville, OR: 204 countMcMinnville, OR204Prineville, OR: 203 countPrineville, OR203Fairview, OR: 175 countFairview, OR175Wilsonville, OR: 174 countWilsonville, OR174Happy Valley, OR: 163 countHappy Valley, OR163Springfield, OR: 147 countSpringfield, OR147Oregon City, OR: 146 countOregon City, OR146Dallas, OR: 144 countDallas, OR144Central Point, OR: 136 countCentral Point, OR136Grants Pass, OR: 126 countGrants Pass, OR126Beaverton, OR: 125 countBeaverton, OR125Woodburn, OR: 112 countWoodburn, OR112Newberg, OR: 106 countNewberg, OR106Tualatin, OR: 99 countTualatin, OR99Lincoln City, OR: 89 countLincoln City, OR89Hermiston, OR: 82 countHermiston, OR82Lebanon, OR: 64 countLebanon, OR64Independence, OR: 62 countIndependence, OR62Newport, OR: 51 countNewport, OR51Monmouth, OR: 50 countMonmouth, OR50Ashland, OR: 49 countAshland, OR49Sandy, OR: 47 countSandy, OR47Sherwood, OR: 43 countSherwood, OR43Keizer, OR: 42 countKeizer, OR42Cottage Grove, OR: 37 countCottage Grove, OR37Cornelius, OR: 36 countCornelius, OR36West Linn, OR: 31 countWest Linn, OR31Sweet Home, OR: 28 countSweet Home, OR28Pendleton, OR: 27 countPendleton, OR27St. Helens, OR: 27 countSt. Helens, OR27La Grande, OR: 25 countLa Grande, OR25Baker City, OR: 23 countBaker City, OR23Milwaukie, OR: 23 countMilwaukie, OR23Silverton, OR: 22 countSilverton, OR22Coos Bay, OR: 20 countCoos Bay, OR20Troutdale, OR: 9 countTroutdale, OR9Ontario, OR: 2 countOntario, OR2
count. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2018
count		Change on 2017
1Portland, OR Estimated5,648-16.8%
2Bend, OR Estimated918-24.3%
3Salem, OR Estimated861-11.6%
4Eugene, OR Estimated834+120.1%
5Redmond, OR Estimated512+58.5%
6Medford, OR Estimated450+13.1%
7Hillsboro, OR Estimated370-12.3%
8Tigard, OR Estimated368-40%
9Gresham, OR Estimated348+80.3%
10Forest Grove, OR Estimated251+44.3%
11Albany, OR Estimated224-7.1%
12Lake Oswego, OR Estimated222+14.4%
13Corvallis, OR Estimated217+210%
14McMinnville, OR Estimated204+164.9%
15Prineville, OR Estimated203+534.4%
16Fairview, OR Estimated175+236.5%
17Wilsonville, OR Estimated174-34.8%
18Happy Valley, OR Estimated163-27.6%
19Springfield, OR Estimated147+67%
20Oregon City, OR Estimated146-57.3%
21Dallas, OR Estimated144+29.7%
22Central Point, OR Estimated136+183.3%
23Grants Pass, OR Estimated126-19.2%
24Beaverton, OR Estimated125-77.9%
25Woodburn, OR Estimated112+489.5%
26Newberg, OR Estimated106+20.5%
27Tualatin, OR Estimated99+350%
28Lincoln City, OR Estimated89+34.8%
29Hermiston, OR Estimated82+6.5%
30Lebanon, OR Estimated64+39.1%
31Independence, OR Estimated62+520%
32Newport, OR Estimated51+240%
33Monmouth, OR Estimated50+16.3%
34Ashland, OR Estimated49-9.3%
35Sandy, OR Estimated47-37.3%
36Sherwood, OR Estimated43-6.5%
37Keizer, OR Estimated42-6.7%
38Cottage Grove, OR Estimated37-21.3%
39Cornelius, OR Estimated36-23.4%
40West Linn, OR Estimated31-22.5%
41Sweet Home, OR Estimated28-36.4%
42Pendleton, OR Estimated27-38.6%
42St. Helens, OR Estimated270%
44La Grande, OR Estimated25+150%
45Baker City, OR Estimated23+4.5%
45Milwaukie, OR Estimated23+130%
47Silverton, OR Estimated22-76.1%
48Coos Bay, OR Estimated20+33.3%
49Troutdale, OR Estimated9-25%
50Ontario, OR Estimated2-60%

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 2018 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/we2018a.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. (2019). 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, 2018) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2018a.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, 2018. U.S. Census Bureau, 20 June 2019, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2018a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2018. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2019. 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, 2018. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2018a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2018.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2019) 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, 2018 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2018a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2018 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_oregon_by_2018,
  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, 2018}},
  year = {2019},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2018a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2018. 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/we2018a.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, 2018
PY  - 2019
DA  - 2019/06/20
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2018a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2018
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2018.
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/we2018a.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 5,648 in 2018, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Ontario, OR, with 2 in 2018.

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 2018 and are not ranked.

Housing units authorized by building permits: other rankings

Cities in Oregon: more rankings