Oregon City, OR — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

All states·Oregon·Oregon City

Clackamas County · Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro · population 38,327

Oregon City, OR
Image: Wikipedia · Oregon City, Oregon
OverviewCost of livingMoving guide
View watchlist →
59
Stable
Momentum score · 0–100

Where Oregon City stands

At or near all-time high.

Median home $605,572
1-year -0.3%
5-yr CAGR +3.3%
vs 5-yr peak -0.9%
Population +0.5%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2025-01$606k$324k$428k$532k$636k201620182020202220242026

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
$1,937/mo$1,467$1,771$2,075202220242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent118124100120202220242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 26.1
Rent

At a 26.1 price-to-rent ratio, renting beats buying in Oregon City 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
55 · w22%
Distance from peak
84 · w18%
Population growth
55 · w16%
Rent YoY
46 · w12%
Home 10-yr CAGR
66 · w10%
Long thesis

Oregon City has held up across the cycle: home values at $605,572 with +3.3% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.

Short thesis

Oregon City'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 Oregon City

Oregon City is a city in Clackamas County, Oregon, with an estimated population of 38,327. It anchors the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro metro area. The median home value in Oregon City is $605,572 as of 2026-04, down 0.3% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +3.3% annual growth, with prices at or near the 5-year peak. Rents in Oregon City average $1,937 per month, roughly flat year-over-year (+0.2%). The composite momentum score is 59 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.

▲ Bull case

●Held the highs: currently -0.9% from the 5-year peak — this market refused to give back gains.
○The data is the data: Oregon City 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 Oregon City (Wikipedia)

Oregon City is a city in and the county seat of Clackamas County, Oregon, United States, located on the Willamette River near the southern limits of the Portland metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 37,572. Established in 1829 by the Hudson's Bay Company, in 1844, it became the first U.S. city west of the Rocky Mountains to be incorporated.

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 Oregon City

11 tracked · ranked by median home value
1Park Place$658,775+1.1%
2Hazel Grove/Westling Farm$641,330-0.8%
3Tower Vista$583,149-1.1%
4Gaffney Lane$571,903+0.8%
5Caufield$559,237-1.4%
6Hillendale$541,529-1.2%
7South End$537,035-0.9%
8Rivercrest$508,626-1.0%
9Canemah$484,576-2.5%
10McLoughlin$474,744+1.0%
11Barclay Hills$465,654-2.0%

Cities like Oregon City

Keizer, OR60 · StableMilwaukie, OR57 · StableSpringfield, OR62 · RisingWilsonville, OR58 · Stable

Run the numbers for Oregon City

ToolCan I afford Oregon City?Income → city shortlistToolROI on a Oregon City rentalCap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCRToolCompare Oregon City to anywhereSide-by-side up to 3 citiesToolOregon City 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 Oregon City 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 Oregon City

Explore other places with comparable momentum or affordability.

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