Lake Oswego, OR — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

All states·Oregon·Lake Oswego

Clackamas County · Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro · population 40,029

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Lake Oswego, OR
Image: Wikipedia · Lake Oswego, Oregon
OverviewCost of livingMoving guide
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58
Stable
Momentum score · 0–100

Where Lake Oswego stands

At or near all-time high.

Median home $894,142
1-year -0.2%
5-yr CAGR +4.2%
vs 5-yr peak -0.3%
Population -0.4%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2025-02$894k$493k$640k$786k$933k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
32/100
Very car-dependent
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
22/100
Transit limited
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
72/100
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
$2,137/mo$1,639$1,981$2,324202220242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent123123100120202220242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 34.9
Rent

At a 34.9 price-to-rent ratio, renting beats buying in Lake Oswego 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
49 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
60 · w22%
Distance from peak
88 · w18%
Population growth
38 · w16%
Rent YoY
44 · w12%
Home 10-yr CAGR
63 · w10%
Long thesis

Lake Oswego has held up across the cycle: home values at $894,142 with +4.2% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.

Short thesis

Lake Oswego carries a $894,142 median home with only -0.2% YoY. Premium pricing in a flat tape is the bear setup — you're paying for the trend that already ran while new buyers can't afford to extend it.

About Lake Oswego

Lake Oswego is a city in Clackamas County, Oregon, with an estimated population of 40,029. It anchors the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro metro area. The median home value in Lake Oswego is $894,142 as of 2026-04, down 0.2% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +4.2% annual growth, with prices at or near the 5-year peak. Rents in Lake Oswego average $2,137 per month, roughly flat year-over-year (-0.2%). The composite momentum score is 58 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.

▲ Bull case

●Held the highs: currently -0.3% from the 5-year peak — this market refused to give back gains.
○The data is the data: Lake Oswego 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

●Expensive AND not growing: median home $894,142 with only -0.2% YoY. You’re paying premium pricing for a flat trend.
●Flat or shrinking population: -0.4% per year. Housing demand has to come from somewhere — verify the source.

About Lake Oswego (Wikipedia)

Lake Oswego is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon, primarily in Clackamas County, with small portions extending into neighboring Multnomah and Washington counties. Population in 2020 was 40,731, an 11.2% increase since 2010, making it the 11th most populous city in Oregon. Located about 7 miles (11 km) south of Portland and surrounding the 405-acre (164 ha) Oswego Lake, the town was founded in 1847 and incorporated as Oswego in 1910. The city was the hub of Oregon's brief iron industry in the late 19th century, and is today a suburb of Portland.

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.

Neighborhoods of Lake Oswego

24 tracked · ranked by median home value
1North Shore Country Club$2,193,517+3.8%
2Birdshill$1,831,924+6.9%
3Lakeview-Summit$1,619,945+0.8%
4Blue Heron$1,435,803+1.7%
5Forest Highlands$1,312,540+4.0%
6Glenmorrie$1,282,955-1.5%
7Uplands$1,213,494+2.6%
8First Addition-Forest Hills$1,186,381+2.6%
9Westlake$1,150,266+2.5%
10Evergreen$1,146,227+1.1%
11Holly Orchard$1,116,458+2.5%
12Westridge$1,101,115+1.3%
13Palisades$1,083,705+0.5%
14Childs$1,058,346-1.4%
15Lake Grove$982,367-2.6%
16Lakewood$978,423+5.3%
17McVey-South Shore$921,089-4.3%
18Oak Creek$846,907-1.8%
19Bryant$839,829+1.2%
20Lake Forest$750,376-1.4%
21Rosewood$684,535-0.0%
22Hallinan$663,791-5.4%
23Waluga$503,173-2.7%
24Mountain Park$479,026-2.5%

Cities like Lake Oswego

West Linn, OR59 · StableSpringfield, OR62 · RisingKeizer, OR60 · StableOregon City, OR59 · Stable

Run the numbers for Lake Oswego

ToolCan I afford Lake Oswego?Income → city shortlistToolROI on a Lake Oswego rentalCap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCRToolCompare Lake Oswego to anywhereSide-by-side up to 3 citiesToolLake Oswego 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 Lake Oswego 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.

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