Multnomah County showed seasonally adjusted nonfarm payroll employment gains during the past year of nearly two percent. Almost all industry sectors saw growth, with construction and manufacturing leading the way. Despite the year-over-year gains in these industries, their employment level is well below the pre-recession peak. Loss of government payroll employment kept overall non-farm employment lower than it would otherwise be.
The December 2011 seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 8.3 percent in Multnomah County is down 1.3 percentage points from the December 2010 level. Multnomah had a year-over-year increase of over 5,000 people to its labor force, which now stands at just over 4,000.
According to new 2010 Census data, Multnomah County has the first- and fourth-most populous Oregon cities in Portland and Gresham. Portland is the county’s largest city with a population of 583,835. Gresham, 17 miles to the east, has a population of 101,595. These two cities account for nearly 94 percent of the 730,140 residents in the county.
Here are some details from the 2005-2009 Five-year Estimates from the American Community Survey.
Age and gender: Nearly half of Multnomah’s population is under 35 years old, and 10.3 percent are 65 years or older. There are slightly more women than men in this county (50.6% versus 49.4% respectively).
Diversity: Multnomah County has just over a 20 percent minority population which adds to its cultural and economic richness. Half of the minority population is of Hispanic or Latino heritage. Adding to this diversity, just over 93,000 of Multnomah County’s residents are foreign born. The largest sources of foreign born residents are Latin America (35.2%), Asia (32.7%) and Europe (22.7%).
Education: Just over 34 percent of county residents ages 18 years and older hold a bachelor’s degree or higher. On the other hand, almost 12 percent of the same population has less than a high school diploma.
Labor force participation: In Multnomah, 70 percent of those 16 years and older were in the labor force. Nearly 40 percent worked in professional, management, and related occupations, another 25 percent work in a sales or office related occupation and about 17 percent work in service related occupations. In terms of what industries people in the labor force worked in, just over 21 percent worked in education or health care and social service sectors, 13 percent worked in professional, scientific and technical services, 11 percent worked in the retail sector; and 10 percent worked in manufacturing.
Updated 04/01/2011
Recent Population Estimates
from the Portland State University Center for Population Research and Census
from U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
United States
$
35,452
$
37,725
$
39,506
$
40,947
$
38,846
$
39,945
Oregon
$
32,557
$
34,706
$
35,950
$
37,399
$
35,571
$
36,427
Multnomah County
$
37,119
$
39,610
$
40,505
$
41,619
$
40,490
Bureau of Economic Analysis per capita income defined as all personal income from all sources,
divided by the population. Personal income figures are gathered from administrative records,
state and federal agencies, and updated on an annual basis at state and county level.
Per capita income defined as total personal income from all sources, of persons age 15 and over, divided by the population. Personal income figures are taken from answers to questions on the 2000 Census long form.
2000 U.S. Census Household Income Data
1999 Median Household Income
by County and Cities
Multnomah (County)
$
41,278
Lake Oswego (Oswego)*
$
71,597
*
Troutdale
$
56,593
Maywood Park
$
56,250
Milwaukie*
$
43,635
*
Gresham
$
43,442
Wood Village
$
43,384
Fairview
$
40,931
Portland*
$
40,146
*
*City spans more than one county. Data represent entire city.
Questions about this report or requests for additional information may be directed to the Employment Department's Workforce Analyst for Multnomah County:
