Leaving Rose City? Portland population down 18,000 in last 2 years, US Census Bureau finds

PORTLAND, Ore. — From a series of crises including homelessness, gun violence, drug use, and mental illnesses, the City of Portland has been faced with several concurrent challenges.

It's given Portland a bad reputation, but it's unclear if it's the driving force behind a recent big drop in the number of people living in the city.

New numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau show Portland's population has gone down by about 18,000 people since the start of the pandemic, while other areas around the city are growing.

Those numbers don't really show "why" people are leaving.

KATU's Joe English asked people their reasons for leaving. Many cited high crime rates, a large homeless population, and the cost of living.

A recent U.S. News and World report ranks Portland as the 36th best big city when it comes to overall livability. Within the last two decades, Portland was getting a lot of positive attention, and its vibrant economy and weird personality was bringing in more people.

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In the spring of 2010 there were more than 580,000 people living here. That number went up to more than 652,000 in 2020 - ten years later.

But from 2020 to 2022, the city’s population shrank to about 635,000.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler voiced his concern at this week's city budget meeting, talking about doing things like increasing the city's parking rates to cover services that could keep people happier.

“I don't think it's about one fee increase here, or one fee increase here, or a meter rate there, or a utility rate increase there. I think it's the cumulative impact. We're steamrolling families in our community, and they're making choices to live and play and work elsewhere,” said Mayor Wheeler.

One Portland resident said the city getting smaller isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

“I think some of Portland’s problems would be made easier in that way,” said Tim Smith, who is not planning on leaving the Rose City. “But I don’t think it’s a good thing when people are voting with their feet and leaving. I think there’s something wrong with that.”

Since the start of the pandemic, other areas have seen the population grow.

Ridgefield in Clark County, for example, has seen the numbers increase by 38%. Estacada has grown by 21%. Happy Valley is 11% bigger.

But some say they're not willing to help Portland get the numbers back up.

Leanne, who was out enjoying the waterfront on a warm Spring day, said Portland's just too expensive.

"People are leaving Portland because of all the homeless walking around asking for money. Increasing amount on a daily basis. Saying things they shouldn’t be saying and just hassling them in general," said Leanne.

The experts at Portland State University track the population changes and say one big difference in the numbers is larger families moving out of the city and younger, single people moving in.

"This is consistent with the type of housing units, studios, and 1-2 bedroom units, being built in the city. Most inter-state migration to and from the Portland metro area is either to the West Coast, or PNW, or to big cities around the country," said PSU's Huda Alkitkat.