Cities in Oregon by single-family housing units authorized by building permits

Portland, OR had the highest single-family housing units authorized by building permits of 50 cities in 2019, at 703. Tualatin, OR had the lowest, at 1. The median was 57. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

Highest703Portland, OR

Lowest1Tualatin, OR

Median5750 cities

All cities, 2019

count. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

Rank	Cities	2019 count	Change on 2018
1	Portland, OR Estimated	703	-9.3%
2	Bend, OR Estimated	642	-25.8%
3	Hillsboro, OR Estimated	476	+116.4%
4	Salem, OR Estimated	432	-11.7%
5	Redmond, OR Estimated	361	-14.5%
6	Eugene, OR Estimated	312	-18.3%
7	Medford, OR Estimated	303	-4.1%
8	Happy Valley, OR Estimated	259	+58.9%
9	Tigard, OR Estimated	255	+33.5%
10	Albany, OR Estimated	220	+41.9%
11	Gresham, OR Estimated	205	+7.9%
12	Prineville, OR Estimated	190	-6.4%
13	Beaverton, OR Estimated	176	+40.8%
14	McMinnville, OR Estimated	157	+67%
15	Cornelius, OR Estimated	121	+255.9%
16	Oregon City, OR Estimated	118	+18%
17	Dallas, OR Estimated	117	-18.8%
18	Wilsonville, OR Estimated	111	-5.9%
19	Corvallis, OR Estimated	92	+104.4%
20	Forest Grove, OR Estimated	84	-49.7%
21	Grants Pass, OR Estimated	80	-22.3%
21	Newberg, OR Estimated	80	-24.5%
23	Lake Oswego, OR Estimated	65	-42%
24	Hermiston, OR Estimated	62	-24.4%
25	Sandy, OR Estimated	57	+35.7%
25	Springfield, OR Estimated	57	+11.8%
27	Lincoln City, OR Estimated	54	-1.8%
28	Ashland, OR Estimated	44	-10.2%
28	Cottage Grove, OR Estimated	44	+100%
30	Independence, OR Estimated	41	-18%
31	Lebanon, OR Estimated	38	-2.6%
32	Milwaukie, OR Estimated	37	+85%
33	Keizer, OR Estimated	36	+71.4%
34	Sweet Home, OR Estimated	33	+17.9%
35	Silverton, OR Estimated	31	+40.9%
36	West Linn, OR Estimated	28	-9.7%
37	Central Point, OR Estimated	27	-25%
38	Sherwood, OR Estimated	26	-29.7%
39	Baker City, OR Estimated	23	0%
40	St. Helens, OR Estimated	22	+100%
41	Newport, OR Estimated	16	-20%
41	Pendleton, OR Estimated	16	-40.7%
43	Coos Bay, OR Estimated	15	-16.7%
43	Woodburn, OR Estimated	15	-70.6%
45	La Grande, OR Estimated	11	-31.3%
46	Monmouth, OR Estimated	8	-60%
47	Troutdale, OR Estimated	5	-44.4%
48	Fairview, OR Estimated	2	-33.3%
49	Ontario, OR Estimated	1	-50%
49	Tualatin, OR Estimated	1	-99%

Other periods

About this ranking

Annual number of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures (detached and attached single-family homes) authorized by building permits, from the US Census Bureau Building Permits Survey.

Part of building_permit_units, which also counts units in buildings with two or more units. Counts housing units, not starts, completions or sales.

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 in 1-unit structures 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 in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation (Cities in Oregon by single-family 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 in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Oregon by single-family 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/single-family-building-permits/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 in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Cities in Oregon by single-family 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/single-family-building-permits/oregon-cities?period=2019.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2020) Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation, Cities in Oregon by single-family 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/single-family-building-permits/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 in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation: Cities in Oregon by single-family 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/single-family-building-permits/oregon-cities?period=2019. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures 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 in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation: Cities in Oregon by single-family 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/single-family-building-permits/oregon-cities?period=2019
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/single-family-building-permits/oregon-cities?period=2019.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Building Permits Survey: final annual estimates of new privately owned housing units in 1-unit structures 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 single-family housing units authorized by building permits?

Portland, OR, with 703 in 2019, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which city has the lowest single-family 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 in 1-unit structures authorized by permit-issuing place, including imputation. Retrieved 2026-10-12. 3 cities have no value for 2019 and are not ranked.