Portland, OR population, income and ZIP codes

Portland city is a major city in Oregon, with 642,715 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it first of 426 ranked by population. The median age here is 38.6 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly younger profile than the country as a whole. At this size the Census also publishes one-year estimates; the five-year values used here are steadier and let you compare against smaller neighbours on the same basis.

Households in Portland city earn a median of $88,792 a year, 13.1% above the national figure of $78,538 and 20% above the $74,006 median for the 228 Oregon cities we cover. Median household income counts every pre-tax dollar arriving at an address — wages, self-employment, Social Security, pensions, interest and public assistance — for everyone living there, so multi-earner households pull the figure up even where individual pay is modest. Poverty reaches 12.8% of residents here, above the 12.4% national rate.

The typical owner-occupied home in Portland city is valued at $557,600, 83.8% above the national figure and 48% above the $377,700 peer median, while median gross rent runs $1,596 a month, 13.5% above the national figure, or roughly $19,152 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 21.6% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 6.3×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is out of reach on local earnings alone and the ownership market leans on outside income, equity or dual high earners. 52.8% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, so the market leans more heavily on renters. Gross rent folds in the utilities a tenant pays separately, so it is closer to the real monthly outlay than a headline rent figure.

Home values sit at 6.3× median household income, far past the 3.9× national mark, so ownership costs here are set by something other than local wages — second homes, retirees with equity, or commuters earning elsewhere. Median income runs above the national figure while poverty also runs above it — a split distribution, not a uniformly comfortable place. Averages hide that; the two numbers together do not.

All values below were released by the Census for this exact geography, with no gap-filling on our side. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.