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 49 cities in 2023, at 3,089. St. Helens, OR had the lowest, at 4. The median was 91 and the figure for Oregon was 17,697. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest3,089Portland, OR
Lowest4St. Helens, OR
Median9149 cities
Oregon17,697History

All cities, 2023

Portland, OR: 3,089 countPortland, OR3,089Bend, OR: 1,614 countBend, OR1,614Medford, OR: 828 countMedford, OR828Salem, OR: 686 countSalem, OR686Hillsboro, OR: 670 countHillsboro, OR670Eugene, OR: 593 countEugene, OR593Tigard, OR: 581 countTigard, OR581Gresham, OR: 476 countGresham, OR476Woodburn, OR: 461 countWoodburn, OR461Redmond, OR: 410 countRedmond, OR410Corvallis, OR: 343 countCorvallis, OR343Beaverton, OR: 330 countBeaverton, OR330Oregon City, OR: 314 countOregon City, OR314Springfield, OR: 210 countSpringfield, OR210Happy Valley, OR: 206 countHappy Valley, OR206Tualatin, OR: 199 countTualatin, OR199Dallas, OR: 133 countDallas, OR133McMinnville, OR: 133 countMcMinnville, OR133Keizer, OR: 116 countKeizer, OR116Wilsonville, OR: 115 countWilsonville, OR115Ashland, OR: 104 countAshland, OR104Grants Pass, OR: 103 countGrants Pass, OR103Newberg, OR: 93 countNewberg, OR93Lebanon, OR: 92 countLebanon, OR92Albany, OR: 91 countAlbany, OR91Central Point, OR: 79 countCentral Point, OR79Cornelius, OR: 79 countCornelius, OR79Hermiston, OR: 77 countHermiston, OR77Sherwood, OR: 77 countSherwood, OR77Lincoln City, OR: 64 countLincoln City, OR64Forest Grove, OR: 62 countForest Grove, OR62Newport, OR: 43 countNewport, OR43Baker City, OR: 42 countBaker City, OR42Independence, OR: 35 countIndependence, OR35Monmouth, OR: 34 countMonmouth, OR34Lake Oswego, OR: 33 countLake Oswego, OR33Sandy, OR: 28 countSandy, OR28Milwaukie, OR: 23 countMilwaukie, OR23Pendleton, OR: 21 countPendleton, OR21Fairview, OR: 20 countFairview, OR20La Grande, OR: 20 countLa Grande, OR20Ontario, OR: 20 countOntario, OR20Cottage Grove, OR: 19 countCottage Grove, OR19Sweet Home, OR: 19 countSweet Home, OR19Coos Bay, OR: 16 countCoos Bay, OR16Troutdale, OR: 16 countTroutdale, OR16West Linn, OR: 16 countWest Linn, OR16Silverton, OR: 15 countSilverton, OR15St. Helens, OR: 4 countSt. Helens, OR4Portland, OR: 3,089 countPortland, OR3,089Bend, OR: 1,614 countBend, OR1,614Medford, OR: 828 countMedford, OR828Salem, OR: 686 countSalem, OR686Hillsboro, OR: 670 countHillsboro, OR670Eugene, OR: 593 countEugene, OR593Tigard, OR: 581 countTigard, OR581Gresham, OR: 476 countGresham, OR476Woodburn, OR: 461 countWoodburn, OR461Redmond, OR: 410 countRedmond, OR410Corvallis, OR: 343 countCorvallis, OR343Beaverton, OR: 330 countBeaverton, OR330Oregon City, OR: 314 countOregon City, OR314Springfield, OR: 210 countSpringfield, OR210Happy Valley, OR: 206 countHappy Valley, OR206Tualatin, OR: 199 countTualatin, OR199Dallas, OR: 133 countDallas, OR133McMinnville, OR: 133 countMcMinnville, OR133Keizer, OR: 116 countKeizer, OR116Wilsonville, OR: 115 countWilsonville, OR115Ashland, OR: 104 countAshland, OR104Grants Pass, OR: 103 countGrants Pass, OR103Newberg, OR: 93 countNewberg, OR93Lebanon, OR: 92 countLebanon, OR92Albany, OR: 91 countAlbany, OR91Central Point, OR: 79 countCentral Point, OR79Cornelius, OR: 79 countCornelius, OR79Hermiston, OR: 77 countHermiston, OR77Sherwood, OR: 77 countSherwood, OR77Lincoln City, OR: 64 countLincoln City, OR64Forest Grove, OR: 62 countForest Grove, OR62Newport, OR: 43 countNewport, OR43Baker City, OR: 42 countBaker City, OR42Independence, OR: 35 countIndependence, OR35Monmouth, OR: 34 countMonmouth, OR34Lake Oswego, OR: 33 countLake Oswego, OR33Sandy, OR: 28 countSandy, OR28Milwaukie, OR: 23 countMilwaukie, OR23Pendleton, OR: 21 countPendleton, OR21Fairview, OR: 20 countFairview, OR20La Grande, OR: 20 countLa Grande, OR20Ontario, OR: 20 countOntario, OR20Cottage Grove, OR: 19 countCottage Grove, OR19Sweet Home, OR: 19 countSweet Home, OR19Coos Bay, OR: 16 countCoos Bay, OR16Troutdale, OR: 16 countTroutdale, OR16West Linn, OR: 16 countWest Linn, OR16Silverton, OR: 15 countSilverton, OR15St. Helens, OR: 4 countSt. Helens, OR4
count. Source: Invokely calculation with data from U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2023
count		Change on 2022
1Portland, OR Estimated3,089+40.6%
2Bend, OR Estimated1,614+35.3%
3Medford, OR Estimated828+167.1%
4Salem, OR Estimated686-41.3%
5Hillsboro, OR Estimated670-21.3%
6Eugene, OR Estimated593-45.3%
7Tigard, OR Estimated581+98.3%
8Gresham, OR Estimated476+87.4%
9Woodburn, OR Estimated461-40.7%
10Redmond, OR Estimated410-5.7%
11Corvallis, OR Estimated343+51.1%
12Beaverton, OR Estimated330-45.1%
13Oregon City, OR Estimated314+45.4%
14Springfield, OR Estimated210+3.4%
15Happy Valley, OR Estimated206-75.3%
16Tualatin, OR Estimated199n/a
17Dallas, OR Estimated1330%
17McMinnville, OR Estimated133+51.1%
19Keizer, OR Estimated116-47.7%
20Wilsonville, OR Estimated115+144.7%
21Ashland, OR Estimated104+126.1%
22Grants Pass, OR Estimated103-41.8%
23Newberg, OR Estimated93-59.7%
24Lebanon, OR Estimated92-21.4%
25Albany, OR Estimated91+42.2%
26Central Point, OR Estimated79-19.4%
26Cornelius, OR Estimated79-66.5%
28Hermiston, OR Estimated77-60.9%
28Sherwood, OR Estimated77-3.8%
30Lincoln City, OR Estimated64-37.9%
31Forest Grove, OR Estimated62-60%
32Newport, OR Estimated43-57.4%
33Baker City, OR Estimated42-36.4%
34Independence, OR Estimated35-14.6%
35Monmouth, OR Estimated34-12.8%
36Lake Oswego, OR Estimated33-81.1%
37Sandy, OR Estimated28-58.2%
38Milwaukie, OR Estimated23-90.8%
39Pendleton, OR Estimated21-92.6%
40Fairview, OR Estimated20-72.6%
40La Grande, OR Estimated20+33.3%
40Ontario, OR Estimated20+42.9%
43Cottage Grove, OR Estimated190%
43Sweet Home, OR Estimated19-52.5%
45Coos Bay, OR Estimated16+23.1%
45Troutdale, OR Estimated16-92.3%
45West Linn, OR Estimated16-40.7%
48Silverton, OR Estimated15-59.5%
49St. Helens, OR Estimated4-81.8%

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. 4 cities with data in other periods have no value for 2023 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/we2023a.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. (2024). 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, 2023) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2023a.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, 2023. U.S. Census Bureau, 24 Apr. 2024, https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2023a.txt. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2023. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2024. 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, 2023. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2023a.txt. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2023.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2024) 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, 2023 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2023a.txt, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2023 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_oregon_by_2023,
  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, 2023}},
  year = {2024},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2023a.txt},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2023. 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/we2023a.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, 2023
PY  - 2024
DA  - 2024/04/24
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/econ/bps/Place/West%20Region/we2023a.txt
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2023
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/building-permit-housing-units/oregon-cities?period=2023.
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/we2023a.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 3,089 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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

St. Helens, OR, with 4 in 2023.

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. 4 cities have no value for 2023 and are not ranked.

Housing units authorized by building permits: other rankings

Cities in Oregon: more rankings