The Portland metropolitan area is a metro area with its core in the U.S. states of

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

and Washington. It has 5 principal cities, the largest being

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. The U.S.

Office of Management and Budget The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is the largest office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States (EOP). The office's most prominent function is to produce the president's budget, while it also examines agency pro ...

(OMB) identifies it as the Portland–Vancouver–Hillsboro, OR–WA Metropolitan Statistical Area, a metropolitan statistical area used by the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

(USCB) and other entities. The OMB defines the area as comprising Clackamas, Columbia, Multnomah, Washington, and Yamhill Counties in Oregon, and Clark and Skamania Counties in Washington. The area had a population of 2,512,859 at the 2020 census, an increase of over 12% since 2010. The Oregon portion of the metropolitan area is the state's largest urban center, while the Washington portion of the metropolitan area is the state's third-largest urban center after

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

and

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south ...

(the Seattle Urban Area includes Tacoma and Everett). Portions of the Portland metro area (Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington Counties) are under the jurisdiction of Metro, a directly elected regional government which, among other things, is responsible for

land-use planning Land use planning or ''Land-use regulation'' is the process of regulating the use of land by a central authority. Usually, this is done to promote more desirable social and environmental outcomes as well as a more efficient use of resources. ...

in the region.

Metropolitan statistical area

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 2,512,859 people within the MSA.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 2,226,009 people, 867,794 households, and 551,008 families residing within the MSA. The racial makeup of the MSA were as follows: *

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

: 76.3% * Hispanic or Latino (of any race): 10.9% (8.5% Mexican, 0.4% Spanish or Spaniard, 0.3% Guatemalan, 0.3% Puerto Rican, 0.2% Cuban, 0.2% Salvadoran, 0.1%

Peruvian Peruvians (''/peruanas'') are the citizens of Peru. What is now Peru has been inhabited for several millennia by cultures such as the Caral before the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. Peruvian population decreased from an estimated 5–9 ...

) * Asian: 5.7% (1.2% Chinese, 1.2% Vietnamese, 0.7% Indian, 0.6% Filipino, 0.6% Korean, 0.4% Japanese) * Black or African American: 2.9% * American Indian and Alaskan Native: 0.9% *

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

: 0.5% (0.1%

Native Hawaiian Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians; , , , and ) are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, Indigenous Polynesians, Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands. Hawaiʻi was set ...

, 0.1% Guamanian or Chamorro, 0.1% Samoan) * Two or more races: 4.1% * Some other race: 4.9% In 2010 the median income for a household in the MSA was $53,078 and the median income for a family was $64,290. The per capita income was $27,451. The Portland–Vancouver–Hillsboro Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), the 23rd largest in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, has a population of 2,226,009 (2010 Census). Of them, 1,789,580 live in

(46.7% of the state's population) while the remaining 436,429 live in Washington (6.7% of state's population). It consists of Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, Columbia and Yamhill counties in Oregon, as well as Clark and Skamania counties in Washington. The area includes Portland and the neighboring cities of

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, Beaverton, Gresham, Hillsboro, Milwaukie,

Lake Oswego Lake Oswego ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon, primarily in Clackamas County, Oregon, Clackamas County, with small portions extending into neighboring Multnomah County, Oregon, Multnomah and Washington County, Oregon, Washington counties ...

, Oregon City, Fairview, Wood Village, Troutdale, Tualatin, Tigard, West Linn, Battle Ground, Camas and Washougal. Changes in house prices for the metro area are publicly tracked on a regular basis using the Case–Shiller index; the statistic is published by

Standard & Poor's S&P Global Ratings (previously Standard & Poor's and informally known as S&P) is an American credit rating agency (CRA) and a division of S&P Global that publishes financial research and analysis on stocks, bonds, and commodities. S&P is co ...

and is also a component of S&P's 20-city composite index of the value of the U.S. residential real estate market.

Portland-Vancouver-Salem Combined Statistical Area

As of July 2022, the Portland–Vancouver–Salem, OR–WA Combined Statistical Area (CSA) consists of five Metropolitan Statistical Areas, covering nine counties in Oregon and three counties in Washington: * Portland–Vancouver–Hillsboro, OR–WA Metropolitan Statistical Area (five counties in Oregon - Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, Yamhill, Columbia; two counties in Washington State - Clark and Skamania); population 2,509,289 (2022 estimate) * Salem, OR Metropolitan Statistical Area ( Marion and Polk counties); population 436,317 (2022 estimate) * Albany, OR Metropolitan Statistical Area ( Linn county); population 130,467 (2022 estimate) * Longview, WA Metropolitan Statistical Area ( Cowlitz county); population 111,956 (2022 estimate) * Corvallis, OR Metropolitan Statistical Area ( Benton county); population 97,630 (2022 estimate) The 2022 population estimate is 3,285,275, ranked 19th largest in the United States (3,280,736 based on the 2020 Census). This area includes the Portland–Vancouver–Hillsboro, OR–WA Metropolitan Statistical Area; Salem, OR Metropolitan Statistical Area, and other surrounding areas.

Cities and other communities

Major cities in the region in addition to Portland include Beaverton, Gresham, Hillsboro in Oregon, and

in Washington. The area also includes the smaller cities of Cornelius, Fairview, Forest Grove,

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

, Happy Valley, King City,

, Milwaukie, Oregon City, Sherwood, Tigard, Troutdale, Tualatin, West Linn, Wilsonville, Wood Village in Oregon, as well as Battle Ground, Camas, Washougal, Ridgefield and La Center in Washington. It includes the unincorporated suburban communities in Oregon of Aloha, Beavercreek, Boring, Cedar Mill, Clackamas,

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

, Dunthorpe, Garden Home, Raleigh Hills, and West Slope, as well as Hazel Dell, Minnehaha, Salmon Creek, Walnut Grove and

Orchards An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees that are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of lar ...

in Washington. ;Major: * Portland *

* Hillsboro * Gresham * Beaverton ;Other: * Amity * Battle Ground * Banks * Barlow * Camas * Canby * Carlton * Clatskanie * Columbia City * Cornelius *

Dayton Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

* Durham * Estacada * Fairview * Forest Grove * Gaston *

* Happy Valley * Johnson City * King City * La Center * Lafayette *

* Maywood Park * McMinnville * Milwaukie * Molalla * Newberg * North Bonneville * North Plains * Oregon City * Prescott * Rainier * Ridgefield * Rivergrove * St. Helens * Sandy * Scappoose * Sheridan * Sherwood * Stevenson * Tigard * Troutdale * Tualatin * Vernonia * Washougal * West Linn * Willamina * Wilsonville * Wood Village *

Woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

* Yacolt * Yamhill

Transportation

Portland is where Interstate 84 starts at

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...

, both major highways in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

. Other primary roads include Interstate 205, an eastern bypass of the urban core, U.S. Route 26, which heads west and southeast, U.S. Route 30, which follows the Oregon side of the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

northwest and east, mirrored by Washington State Route 14 east from

, and Oregon Route 217, which connects US 26 with I-5 in the south, travelling through Beaverton. Both US 26 and US 30 go to the Oregon Coast. SR 500 runs from Interstate 5 to SR 503. Padden Parkway runs from NE 78th St and east to NE 162nd Ave. Transit service on the Oregon side is generally provided by

TriMet The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) is a Transit district, transit agency that serves most of the Oregon part of the Portland metropolitan area. Created in 1969 by the Oregon Legislative Assembly, Oregon legi ...

. In addition, Sandy Area Metro serves Sandy, South Clackamas Transportation District serves nearby Molalla, Canby Area Transit serves Canby and South Metro Area Regional Transit serves Wilsonville. Service in Clark County is provided by C-Tran. In Columbia County, the ''Columbia County Rider'' provides transit service on weekdays connecting St. Helens with downtown Portland and connecting Scappoose and St. Helens with certain points in urban Washington County, including the PCC Rock Creek campus, Tanasbourne and the Willow Creek

MAX light rail The Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) is a light rail system serving the Portland metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Oregon. Owned and operated by TriMet, it consists of five lines connecting the Neighborhoods of Portland, Oregon, six sectio ...

station.

Major airports

* Portland International Airport * Portland-Hillsboro Airport * Aurora State Airport * Salem Municipal Airport * Portland-Troutdale Airport

Passenger rail

Several daily

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

trains serve

Portland Union Station Portland Union Station is a train station in Portland, Oregon, United States, situated near the western shore of the Willamette River in Old Town Chinatown. It serves as an intermediate stop for Amtrak's '' Cascades'' and ''Coast Starlight'' ...

as well as suburban stops in Oregon City and

. The ''

Coast Starlight The ''Coast Starlight'' is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States between Seattle and Los Angeles via Portland, Oregon, Portland and the San Francisco Bay Area. The train, ...

'' runs from

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to Seattle while '' Cascades'' connects Eugene to Vancouver, BC. The ''

Empire Builder The ''Empire Builder'' is a daily long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago and either Seattle or Portland via two sections west of Spokane. Introduced in 1929, it was the flagship passenger train of the Great North ...

'' heads east to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Major highways

State highway A state highway, state road, or state route (and the equivalent provincial highway, provincial road, or provincial route) is usually a road that is either Route number, numbered or maintained by a sub-national state or province. A road numbered ...

s, numbered as

Interstate The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National H ...

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

and

Oregon Route The state highway system of the U.S. state of Oregon is a network of highways that are owned and maintained by the Highway Division of the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). Highways and routes The state highway system consists of a ...

s, in the metropolitan area include: *

* Interstate 84 * Interstate 205 * Interstate 405 * US 26

U.S. Route 26 * US 30

U.S. Route 30 ** U.S. Route 30 Business * * * * * * * * * * * * * State Route 14 * State Route 500 * State Route 503 Notable highways never built, or removed altogether, include Mount Hood Freeway, Interstate 505, and Harbor Drive.

Sports

The Portland MSA is home to a number of professional and semi-professional sports teams, including the NBA's

Portland Trail Blazers The Portland Trail Blazers (colloquially known as the Blazers) are an American professional basketball team based in Portland, Oregon. The Trail Blazers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (N ...

, the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Timbers have p ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

, the

Portland Thorns FC Portland Thorns FC is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Portland, Oregon, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team NWSL ...

of the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

and the

Portland Loggers The Portland Loggers were a professional American football team based in Portland, Oregon. They were members of the Continental Football League and only lasted one year. Featuring much of the roster of the defunct Orange County Ramblers, the team ...

of the North American Rugby League. Other teams include the Portland Pickles and the Hillsboro Hops. Portland is also home to two NCAA Division 1 universities, the Portland State Vikings and the Portland Pilots. The Portland MSA also hosts a number of amateur sports, including college and high school sports. The high school rugby championships are held annually in the Portland MSA, and draw crowds of 8,000 to 10,000 supporters.USA Rugby, High school state championships gain rugby exposure
, June 4, 2013

Politics

The Portland metropolitan area is heavily Democratic and has voted for that party's presidential candidate in every election since 1988. This is helped by Multnomah County, which has given the Democratic nominee over 70% of the vote in every election since 2004.

References

External links

Metro government website

Portland MSA 2010 Census numbers from the Population Resource Center

pdx.edu/media/p/r/PRC_2007_Population_Report2_rev.pdf
of key urban planning documents on the Portland Metropolitan area, at

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the next ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Portland Metropolitan Area Regions of Oregon Regions of Washington (state) Metropolitan areas of Oregon Metropolitan areas of Washington (state) Combined statistical areas of the United States