Multnomah County · Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro · population 635,749
Where Portland stands
Population shrinking 0.6% per year.
Home value trajectory · last 10 years
Zillow ZHVI · monthlyLifestyle scores
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 · monthlyHome value vs rent · indexed to 100
Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)Rent vs buy
At a 26.1 price-to-rent ratio, renting beats buying in Portland 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 →Portland has held up across the cycle: home values at $538,687 with +0.5% 5-year CAGR. The bull case is structural — population, location, employer base — and holds even if next year's print is soft.
Portland's population is shrinking 0.6% per year. Housing demand has to come from somewhere — if people are leaving, the buyer pool is shrinking faster than the inventory. That eventually shows up in price.
About Portland
Portland is a city in Multnomah County, Oregon, with an estimated population of 635,749. It anchors the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro metro area. The population has contracted 0.6% per year on average since 2020. The median home value in Portland is $538,687 as of 2026-04, down 0.9% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +0.5% annual growth (-9.2% from the 5-year peak). Rents in Portland average $1,717 per month, roughly flat year-over-year (+1.5%). The composite momentum score is 44 of 100 (Cooling). Buyers may find more room to negotiate; sellers should price realistically.
▲ Bull case
▼ Bear case
About Portland (Wikipedia)
Portland is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Located in the Pacific Northwest at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, it is the 28th-most populous city in the United States, sixth-most populous on the West Coast, and third-most populous in the Pacific Northwest, with a population of 652,503 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolitan area, with over 2.54 million residents, is the 26th-largest metropolitan area in the nation. Almost half of Oregon's population resides within the Portland metro area. It is the county seat of Multnomah County, Oregon's most populous county.
Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.
City facts
Extracted from the Wikipedia infobox. Values may be slightly out of date relative to the latest sources.
Playbook
You have leverage. Negotiate price, ask for closing-cost credits, and don't waive inspection. Walk-away power is real in a Cooling market — use it.
Price aggressively (at or below recent sold comps) or be prepared to wait. Concessions — rate buydowns, closing costs, repair credits — are how deals close right now.
Cap rates are more attractive than they were 12 months ago but the appreciation tailwind is gone. Confirm tenant demand, vacancy rates, and exit liquidity before committing capital.
Local safety & alerts
No active National Weather Service alerts for Multnomah County right now.
Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Multnomah County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.
Neighborhoods of Portland
93 tracked · ranked by median home valueSee the full neighborhood ranking →
Cities like Portland
Run the numbers for Portland
Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.
Climate & natural-disaster risk
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
Find rentals & listings
Open current Portland listings on the major real-estate sites.
Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.
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 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 Portland
Explore other places with comparable momentum or affordability.