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 52 cities in 2020, at 1,779. Tualatin, OR had the lowest, at 0. The median was 86 and the figure for Oregon was 18,665. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest1,779Portland, OR
Lowest0Tualatin, OR
Median8652 cities
Oregon18,665History

All cities, 2020

Portland, OR: 1,779 countPortland, OR1,779Salem, OR: 1,254 countSalem, OR1,254Bend, OR: 1,076 countBend, OR1,076Beaverton, OR: 890 countBeaverton, OR890Eugene, OR: 722 countEugene, OR722Redmond, OR: 703 countRedmond, OR703Happy Valley, OR: 659 countHappy Valley, OR659Tigard, OR: 632 countTigard, OR632Hillsboro, OR: 427 countHillsboro, OR427Gresham, OR: 425 countGresham, OR425Fairview, OR: 305 countFairview, OR305Medford, OR: 285 countMedford, OR285Lebanon, OR: 269 countLebanon, OR269Albany, OR: 246 countAlbany, OR246Cornelius, OR: 246 countCornelius, OR246Grants Pass, OR: 174 countGrants Pass, OR174Springfield, OR: 166 countSpringfield, OR166McMinnville, OR: 160 countMcMinnville, OR160Dallas, OR: 131 countDallas, OR131Central Point, OR: 120 countCentral Point, OR120St. Helens, OR: 118 countSt. Helens, OR118Ashland, OR: 102 countAshland, OR102Woodburn, OR: 92 countWoodburn, OR92Forest Grove, OR: 89 countForest Grove, OR89Hermiston, OR: 88 countHermiston, OR88Oregon City, OR: 86 countOregon City, OR86Sandy, OR: 85 countSandy, OR85Newport, OR: 82 countNewport, OR82Wilsonville, OR: 82 countWilsonville, OR82Lincoln City, OR: 81 countLincoln City, OR81Corvallis, OR: 71 countCorvallis, OR71Sweet Home, OR: 70 countSweet Home, OR70Pendleton, OR: 68 countPendleton, OR68Lake Oswego, OR: 64 countLake Oswego, OR64Silverton, OR: 63 countSilverton, OR63Newberg, OR: 60 countNewberg, OR60Independence, OR: 59 countIndependence, OR59Keizer, OR: 51 countKeizer, OR51Milwaukie, OR: 39 countMilwaukie, OR39Monmouth, OR: 37 countMonmouth, OR37Sherwood, OR: 36 countSherwood, OR36Baker City, OR: 27 countBaker City, OR27Coos Bay, OR: 26 countCoos Bay, OR26Cottage Grove, OR: 26 countCottage Grove, OR26La Grande, OR: 23 countLa Grande, OR23West Linn, OR: 22 countWest Linn, OR22Troutdale, OR: 9 countTroutdale, OR9Ontario, OR: 3 countOntario, OR3Canby, OR: 0 countCanby, OR0Molalla, OR: 0 countMolalla, OR0Prineville, OR: 0 countPrineville, OR0Tualatin, OR: 0 countTualatin, OR0Portland, OR: 1,779 countPortland, OR1,779Salem, OR: 1,254 countSalem, OR1,254Bend, OR: 1,076 countBend, OR1,076Beaverton, OR: 890 countBeaverton, OR890Eugene, OR: 722 countEugene, OR722Redmond, OR: 703 countRedmond, OR703Happy Valley, OR: 659 countHappy Valley, OR659Tigard, OR: 632 countTigard, OR632Hillsboro, OR: 427 countHillsboro, OR427Gresham, OR: 425 countGresham, OR425Fairview, OR: 305 countFairview, OR305Medford, OR: 285 countMedford, OR285Lebanon, OR: 269 countLebanon, OR269Albany, OR: 246 countAlbany, OR246Cornelius, OR: 246 countCornelius, OR246Grants Pass, OR: 174 countGrants Pass, OR174Springfield, OR: 166 countSpringfield, OR166McMinnville, OR: 160 countMcMinnville, OR160Dallas, OR: 131 countDallas, OR131Central Point, OR: 120 countCentral Point, OR120St. Helens, OR: 118 countSt. Helens, OR118Ashland, OR: 102 countAshland, OR102Woodburn, OR: 92 countWoodburn, OR92Forest Grove, OR: 89 countForest Grove, OR89Hermiston, OR: 88 countHermiston, OR88Oregon City, OR: 86 countOregon City, OR86Sandy, OR: 85 countSandy, OR85Newport, OR: 82 countNewport, OR82Wilsonville, OR: 82 countWilsonville, OR82Lincoln City, OR: 81 countLincoln City, OR81Corvallis, OR: 71 countCorvallis, OR71Sweet Home, OR: 70 countSweet Home, OR70Pendleton, OR: 68 countPendleton, OR68Lake Oswego, OR: 64 countLake Oswego, OR64Silverton, OR: 63 countSilverton, OR63Newberg, OR: 60 countNewberg, OR60Independence, OR: 59 countIndependence, OR59Keizer, OR: 51 countKeizer, OR51Milwaukie, OR: 39 countMilwaukie, OR39Monmouth, OR: 37 countMonmouth, OR37Sherwood, OR: 36 countSherwood, OR36Baker City, OR: 27 countBaker City, OR27Coos Bay, OR: 26 countCoos Bay, OR26Cottage Grove, OR: 26 countCottage Grove, OR26La Grande, OR: 23 countLa Grande, OR23West Linn, OR: 22 countWest Linn, OR22Troutdale, OR: 9 countTroutdale, OR9Ontario, OR: 3 countOntario, OR3Canby, OR: 0 countCanby, OR0Molalla, OR: 0 countMolalla, OR0Prineville, OR: 0 countPrineville, OR0Tualatin, OR: 0 countTualatin, OR0
count. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2020
count		Change on 2019
1Portland, OR Estimated1,779-65.1%
2Salem, OR Estimated1,254+21.3%
3Bend, OR Estimated1,076+42.3%
4Beaverton, OR Estimated890+127%
5Eugene, OR Estimated722+12.8%
6Redmond, OR Estimated703-8.5%
7Happy Valley, OR Estimated659+55.1%
8Tigard, OR Estimated632+11.5%
9Hillsboro, OR Estimated427-67.3%
10Gresham, OR Estimated425-48%
11Fairview, OR Estimated305+7,525%
12Medford, OR Estimated285-14.9%
13Lebanon, OR Estimated269+244.9%
14Albany, OR Estimated246-42.8%
14Cornelius, OR Estimated246+90.7%
16Grants Pass, OR Estimated174+52.6%
17Springfield, OR Estimated166+172.1%
18McMinnville, OR Estimated160-44.8%
19Dallas, OR Estimated131+10.1%
20Central Point, OR Estimated120-20.5%
21St. Helens, OR Estimated118-8.5%
22Ashland, OR Estimated1020%
23Woodburn, OR Estimated92+441.2%
24Forest Grove, OR Estimated89-7.3%
25Hermiston, OR Estimated88-20%
26Oregon City, OR Estimated86-73.1%
27Sandy, OR Estimated85+44.1%
28Newport, OR Estimated82-34.9%
28Wilsonville, OR Estimated82-26.1%
30Lincoln City, OR Estimated81-8%
31Corvallis, OR Estimated71-82.9%
32Sweet Home, OR Estimated70+112.1%
33Pendleton, OR Estimated68+277.8%
34Lake Oswego, OR Estimated64-20%
35Silverton, OR Estimated63+90.9%
36Newberg, OR Estimated60-40%
37Independence, OR Estimated59-71.2%
38Keizer, OR Estimated51+21.4%
39Milwaukie, OR Estimated39+5.4%
40Monmouth, OR Estimated37+105.6%
41Sherwood, OR Estimated36+38.5%
42Baker City, OR Estimated27+17.4%
43Coos Bay, OR Estimated26+52.9%
43Cottage Grove, OR Estimated26-40.9%
45La Grande, OR Estimated23+53.3%
46West Linn, OR Estimated22-21.4%
47Troutdale, OR Estimated9-94.5%
48Ontario, OR Estimated3+200%
49Canby, OR Estimated0n/a
49Molalla, OR Estimated0n/a
49Prineville, OR Estimated0-100%
49Tualatin, OR Estimated0-100%

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. 1 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2020 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/we2020a.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. (2021). 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, 2020) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2020a.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, 2020. U.S. Census Bureau, 3 May 2021, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2020a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2020. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2021. 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, 2020. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2020a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2020.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2021) 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, 2020 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2020a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2020 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_oregon_by_2020,
  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, 2020}},
  year = {2021},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2020a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2020. 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/we2020a.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, 2020
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/05/03
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2020a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2020
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2020.
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/we2020a.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 1,779 in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

Tualatin, OR, with 0 in 2020.

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. 1 cities have no value for 2020 and are not ranked.

Housing units authorized by building permits: other rankings

Cities in Oregon: more rankings