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 2019, at 5,094. Tualatin, OR had the lowest, at 1. The median was 111 and the figure for Oregon was 22,037. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest5,094Portland, OR
Lowest1Tualatin, OR
Median11150 cities
Oregon22,037History

All cities, 2019

Portland, OR: 5,094 countPortland, OR5,094Hillsboro, OR: 1,304 countHillsboro, OR1,304Salem, OR: 1,034 countSalem, OR1,034Gresham, OR: 817 countGresham, OR817Redmond, OR: 768 countRedmond, OR768Bend, OR: 756 countBend, OR756Eugene, OR: 640 countEugene, OR640Tigard, OR: 567 countTigard, OR567Albany, OR: 430 countAlbany, OR430Happy Valley, OR: 425 countHappy Valley, OR425Corvallis, OR: 416 countCorvallis, OR416Beaverton, OR: 392 countBeaverton, OR392Medford, OR: 335 countMedford, OR335Oregon City, OR: 320 countOregon City, OR320McMinnville, OR: 290 countMcMinnville, OR290Prineville, OR: 289 countPrineville, OR289Independence, OR: 205 countIndependence, OR205Troutdale, OR: 165 countTroutdale, OR165Central Point, OR: 151 countCentral Point, OR151Cornelius, OR: 129 countCornelius, OR129St. Helens, OR: 129 countSt. Helens, OR129Newport, OR: 126 countNewport, OR126Dallas, OR: 119 countDallas, OR119Grants Pass, OR: 114 countGrants Pass, OR114Wilsonville, OR: 111 countWilsonville, OR111Hermiston, OR: 110 countHermiston, OR110Ashland, OR: 102 countAshland, OR102Newberg, OR: 100 countNewberg, OR100Forest Grove, OR: 96 countForest Grove, OR96Lincoln City, OR: 88 countLincoln City, OR88Lake Oswego, OR: 80 countLake Oswego, OR80Lebanon, OR: 78 countLebanon, OR78Springfield, OR: 61 countSpringfield, OR61Sandy, OR: 59 countSandy, OR59Cottage Grove, OR: 44 countCottage Grove, OR44Keizer, OR: 42 countKeizer, OR42Milwaukie, OR: 37 countMilwaukie, OR37Silverton, OR: 33 countSilverton, OR33Sweet Home, OR: 33 countSweet Home, OR33West Linn, OR: 28 countWest Linn, OR28Sherwood, OR: 26 countSherwood, OR26Baker City, OR: 23 countBaker City, OR23Monmouth, OR: 18 countMonmouth, OR18Pendleton, OR: 18 countPendleton, OR18Coos Bay, OR: 17 countCoos Bay, OR17Woodburn, OR: 17 countWoodburn, OR17La Grande, OR: 15 countLa Grande, OR15Fairview, OR: 4 countFairview, OR4Ontario, OR: 1 countOntario, OR1Tualatin, OR: 1 countTualatin, OR1Portland, OR: 5,094 countPortland, OR5,094Hillsboro, OR: 1,304 countHillsboro, OR1,304Salem, OR: 1,034 countSalem, OR1,034Gresham, OR: 817 countGresham, OR817Redmond, OR: 768 countRedmond, OR768Bend, OR: 756 countBend, OR756Eugene, OR: 640 countEugene, OR640Tigard, OR: 567 countTigard, OR567Albany, OR: 430 countAlbany, OR430Happy Valley, OR: 425 countHappy Valley, OR425Corvallis, OR: 416 countCorvallis, OR416Beaverton, OR: 392 countBeaverton, OR392Medford, OR: 335 countMedford, OR335Oregon City, OR: 320 countOregon City, OR320McMinnville, OR: 290 countMcMinnville, OR290Prineville, OR: 289 countPrineville, OR289Independence, OR: 205 countIndependence, OR205Troutdale, OR: 165 countTroutdale, OR165Central Point, OR: 151 countCentral Point, OR151Cornelius, OR: 129 countCornelius, OR129St. Helens, OR: 129 countSt. Helens, OR129Newport, OR: 126 countNewport, OR126Dallas, OR: 119 countDallas, OR119Grants Pass, OR: 114 countGrants Pass, OR114Wilsonville, OR: 111 countWilsonville, OR111Hermiston, OR: 110 countHermiston, OR110Ashland, OR: 102 countAshland, OR102Newberg, OR: 100 countNewberg, OR100Forest Grove, OR: 96 countForest Grove, OR96Lincoln City, OR: 88 countLincoln City, OR88Lake Oswego, OR: 80 countLake Oswego, OR80Lebanon, OR: 78 countLebanon, OR78Springfield, OR: 61 countSpringfield, OR61Sandy, OR: 59 countSandy, OR59Cottage Grove, OR: 44 countCottage Grove, OR44Keizer, OR: 42 countKeizer, OR42Milwaukie, OR: 37 countMilwaukie, OR37Silverton, OR: 33 countSilverton, OR33Sweet Home, OR: 33 countSweet Home, OR33West Linn, OR: 28 countWest Linn, OR28Sherwood, OR: 26 countSherwood, OR26Baker City, OR: 23 countBaker City, OR23Monmouth, OR: 18 countMonmouth, OR18Pendleton, OR: 18 countPendleton, OR18Coos Bay, OR: 17 countCoos Bay, OR17Woodburn, OR: 17 countWoodburn, OR17La Grande, OR: 15 countLa Grande, OR15Fairview, OR: 4 countFairview, OR4Ontario, OR: 1 countOntario, OR1Tualatin, OR: 1 countTualatin, OR1
count. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2019
count		Change on 2018
1Portland, OR Estimated5,094-9.8%
2Hillsboro, OR Estimated1,304+252.4%
3Salem, OR Estimated1,034+20.1%
4Gresham, OR Estimated817+134.8%
5Redmond, OR Estimated768+50%
6Bend, OR Estimated756-17.6%
7Eugene, OR Estimated640-23.3%
8Tigard, OR Estimated567+54.1%
9Albany, OR Estimated430+92%
10Happy Valley, OR Estimated425+160.7%
11Corvallis, OR Estimated416+91.7%
12Beaverton, OR Estimated392+213.6%
13Medford, OR Estimated335-25.6%
14Oregon City, OR Estimated320+119.2%
15McMinnville, OR Estimated290+42.2%
16Prineville, OR Estimated289+42.4%
17Independence, OR Estimated205+230.6%
18Troutdale, OR Estimated165+1,733.3%
19Central Point, OR Estimated151+11%
20Cornelius, OR Estimated129+258.3%
20St. Helens, OR Estimated129+377.8%
22Newport, OR Estimated126+147.1%
23Dallas, OR Estimated119-17.4%
24Grants Pass, OR Estimated114-9.5%
25Wilsonville, OR Estimated111-36.2%
26Hermiston, OR Estimated110+34.1%
27Ashland, OR Estimated102+108.2%
28Newberg, OR Estimated100-5.7%
29Forest Grove, OR Estimated96-61.8%
30Lincoln City, OR Estimated88-1.1%
31Lake Oswego, OR Estimated80-64%
32Lebanon, OR Estimated78+21.9%
33Springfield, OR Estimated61-58.5%
34Sandy, OR Estimated59+25.5%
35Cottage Grove, OR Estimated44+18.9%
36Keizer, OR Estimated420%
37Milwaukie, OR Estimated37+60.9%
38Silverton, OR Estimated33+50%
38Sweet Home, OR Estimated33+17.9%
40West Linn, OR Estimated28-9.7%
41Sherwood, OR Estimated26-39.5%
42Baker City, OR Estimated230%
43Monmouth, OR Estimated18-64%
43Pendleton, OR Estimated18-33.3%
45Coos Bay, OR Estimated17-15%
45Woodburn, OR Estimated17-84.8%
47La Grande, OR Estimated15-40%
48Fairview, OR Estimated4-97.7%
49Ontario, OR Estimated1-50%
49Tualatin, OR Estimated1-99%

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 2019 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/we2019a.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. (2020). 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, 2019) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2019a.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, 2019. U.S. Census Bureau, 1 May 2020, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2019a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2019. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2020. 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, 2019. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2019a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2019.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2020) 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, 2019 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2019a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2019 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_oregon_by_2019,
  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, 2019}},
  year = {2020},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2019a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2019. 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/we2019a.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, 2019
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020/05/01
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2019a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2019
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2019.
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/we2019a.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 5,094 in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Tualatin, OR, with 1 in 2019.

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 2019 and are not ranked.

Housing units authorized by building permits: other rankings

Cities in Oregon: more rankings