Happy Valley, OR — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

All states·Oregon·Happy Valley

Clackamas County · Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro · population 28,969

Growing fast
Happy Valley, OR
Image: Wikipedia · Happy Valley, Oregon
OverviewCost of livingMoving guide
View watchlist →
61
Stable
Momentum score · 0–100

Where Happy Valley stands

Population growing 5.1% per year.

Median home $689,199
1-year -1.2%
5-yr CAGR +3.1%
vs 5-yr peak -3.6%
Population +5.1%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2022-06$689k$401k$515k$629k$744k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
32/100
Very car-dependent
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
15/100
Transit limited
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
74/100
Strong remote-work fit
Composite of city size, housing cost, state tax structure, and region's remote-work track record.

Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.

Rent trajectory · last 5 years

Zillow ZORI · monthly
$1,853/mo$1,485$1,740$1,995202220242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent117117100120202220242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 31.0
Rent

At a 31.0 price-to-rent ratio, renting beats buying in Happy Valley for most shorter holds. The premium you pay to own would take many years of rent savings to recoup, and that's before maintenance, taxes, and opportunity cost on the down payment.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
44 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
54 · w22%
Distance from peak
68 · w18%
Population growth
90 · w16%
Rent YoY
54 · w12%
Home 10-yr CAGR
60 · w10%
Long thesis

Happy Valley has held up across the cycle: home values at $689,199 with +3.1% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.

Short thesis

Happy Valley's bear case is the boring one: the cycle is real and any market that's run hard can stall. Watch for slowing population growth, rising days-on-market, or builder discounts as the early warning signals.

About Happy Valley

Happy Valley is a city in Clackamas County, Oregon, with an estimated population of 28,969. It anchors the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro metro area. The population has grown 5.1% per year on average between 2020 and 2024 — among the faster-growing communities in the state. The median home value in Happy Valley is $689,199 as of 2026-04, down 1.2% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +3.1% annual growth (-3.6% from the 5-year peak). Rents in Happy Valley average $1,853 per month, roughly flat year-over-year (+1.3%). The composite momentum score is 61 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.

▲ Bull case

●People are voting with their feet: population growing 5.1% per year since 2020 — that’s faster than ~80% of US cities.
○The data is the data: Happy Valley has at least 5 years of Zillow tracking, full Census identification, and is included in the 2-criteria momentum score on this page.

▼ Bear case

○Local nuance: city-level data smooths over neighborhood differences. School zones, HOA rules, and street-level character matter — visit before deciding.

About Happy Valley (Wikipedia)

Happy Valley is a suburban city in the Portland metropolitan area. Happy Valley is near the northwest edge of Clackamas County, Oregon, United States approximately 13 miles to the southeast of downtown Portland. The population was 23,733 at the 2020 census, According to 2023 census estimates, the city is estimated to have a population of 28,409.

Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.

Playbook

Buyer

Lifestyle fit matters more than market timing in a Stable market. Take your time on the home and neighborhood; the macro trend isn't urgent. Negotiate normally.

Seller

Price competitively from day one or risk a 60+ day listing. Staging, photography, and presentation matter more in Stable markets than in Hot ones.

Investor

Stable cap rates, no big appreciation story to lean on. Underwrite this as a pure cash-flow play — the math has to work on rent alone.

Local safety & alerts

No active National Weather Service alerts for Clackamas County right now.

NWS active alerts (OR)Oregon Emergency ManagementHow to prepare (NWS)

Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Clackamas County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.

Cities like Happy Valley

Cornelius, OR57 · StableWoodburn, OR67 · RisingRedmond, OR63 · RisingEstacada, OR57 · Stable

Run the numbers for Happy Valley

ToolCan I afford Happy Valley?Income → city shortlistToolROI on a Happy Valley rentalCap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCRToolCompare Happy Valley to anywhereSide-by-side up to 3 citiesToolHappy Valley cost-of-livingEquivalent income elsewhere

Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.

Climate & natural-disaster risk

Winter (Jan)
47° / 35°
avg high / low
Summer (Jul)
82° / 53°
avg high / low
Sunny days/yr
178
~49% of year
Annual precip
28″ rain
12″ snow
Disaster risk (1=very low, 5=very high)
Hurricane
Very low
Tornado
Very low
Wildfire
High
Earthquake
High
Flood
Low

State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.

Current weather

Loading current conditions…

7-day forecast on weather.gov →

Find rentals & listings

Open current Happy Valley listings on the major real-estate sites.

Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.

Local news & community

Updated 2026-05-21 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Headlines link to original sources.

Local sports teams

Major professional teams the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.

Local economy & environment

Humidity
75%
Very humid climate
Median household income
$80,400
Oregon state median
Top industries (state-level)
Tech (Intel)ManufacturingForestry

Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.

Cities similar to Happy Valley

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