Published Apr-21-2010
In 2009, there were 242 incorporated cities in Oregon. The most recent addition to the list of incorporated cities was La Pine in Deschutes County, which was added in 2006.
The total population for Oregon's incorporated cities was 2,671,032 in 2009 - an increase of 24,270 people from 2008. These 2.7 million people accounted for nearly 70 percent of Oregon's population in 2009. Over the last decade, this figure gradually increased; in 2000, city dwellers accounted for 67 percent of the state's population.
Not surprisingly, Portland was Oregon's most populous city in 2009. Its 582,130 residents represented more than 15 percent of the state's total population. Three other Portland-area cities were among the state's top 10 most populous cities: Gresham (101,015), Hillsboro (90,380), and Beaverton (86,860).
Oregon's smallest incorporated city in 2009 was Greenhorn, located on the border of Baker and Grant counties, with a population of two. Oregon's six smallest cities have seen essentially no change in population since the beginning of the decade.
A city adds population when there are more births than deaths (a natural increase), when more people move in than move out (net in-migration), or both. A city can also add population by incorporating an outlying area into the city boundaries - a process known as annexation.
From 2000 to 2009, Oregon's incorporated cities added more than 17,300 people due to annexations, accounting for 4.6 percent of the 374,100 additional city dwellers. This figure is much smaller than the last decade. From 1990 to 2000, total city population grew by nearly 531,500; annexations contributed nearly 83,000 people (+15.6%) to the total growth.
The economic landscape of the 1990s versus the 2000s likely affected the annexation-related growth in city population. In the 1990s, the state experienced one fairly moderate recession in the early part of the decade, followed by sustained growth. That growth created many job opportunities, thereby enabling people to move and causing cities to grow. Since 2000, Oregon has suffered two more severe recessions. The first one was early in the decade, and the second began in late 2007. These recessions diminished job opportunities, likely causing more people to remain in their current locations. Also, with increased levels of unemployment, cities received lower tax revenue and were less able to support the expansion of city boundaries.
By individual city, annexations contributed anywhere from zero to more than 5,200 residents from 2000 to 2009. Grants Pass (+5,217) added more population due to annexation than any other city, dwarfing the second-place city of Beaverton (+2,075). Two other Southern Oregon cities saw a large increase due to annexations: Medford (+1,544) and Redmond (+1,266).
