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About Oregon City
Oregon City is the county seat of Clackamas County, on the Willamette River at the falls. Wikipedia says Dr. John McLoughlin of the Hudson's Bay Company established the settlement in 1829 and that it was incorporated in 1844, the first U.S. city west of the Rocky Mountains to be incorporated. It was capital of the Oregon Territory from 1848 to 1851.
Oregon City in numbers
| Measure | Oregon City |
|---|---|
| Population, 2020 Census | 37,572 |
| Population, ACS 2020-2024 | 37,755 |
| Population, Portland State University certified estimate, July 1, 2025 | 38,387 (+2.2% since 2020) |
| Households | 13,944 |
| Owner-occupied share of households | 65.3% |
| Median household income | $97,829 |
| Median home value (owner-occupied) | $555,800 |
| Median age | 37.5 |
| Owner-occupied homes valued at $300,000 or more | 8,547 of 9,109 (93.8%) |
| Owner-occupied homes valued at $750,000 or more | 968 of 9,109 (10.6%) |
| Business establishments, ZIP 97045 | 1,549 |
| Paid employees at those establishments | 14,916 |
A plain reading
Oregon City has the most moderate home values in this edition, with a median of $555,800 and median household income just under $98,000. Even so, about 94 in 100 owner-occupied homes are valued at $300,000 or more, though only about 1 in 10 reaches $750,000. It is also the fastest-growing of the four, at 2.2 percent since 2020, and has a younger median age of 37.5.
In 2023 ZIP 97045 held 1,549 business establishments with 14,916 paid employees.
How we got these numbers
- Households, tenure, income, home value, age and home-value brackets come from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates for 2020-2024, tables B01003, B11001, B25003, B19013, B25077, B01002 and B25075, read through Census Reporter. Dollars are 2024 inflation-adjusted ACS dollars.
- Margins of error: the ACS lists 90 percent margins of error. For Oregon City the largest are: median household income plus or minus $4,613, median home value plus or minus $14,175, and the count of owner homes valued at $300,000 or more plus or minus about 570 (our own combination of the bracket margins).
- The 2020 population is the Census count (TIGERweb, Census 2020 place layer). The 2025 figure is the certified estimate from Portland State University's Population Research Center (Vintage 2025 city estimates file).
- Business counts are from Census ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023 for ZIP 97045. They are by ZIP code, not by city limit, and they leave out businesses with no paid employees. This ZIP code may cover areas outside the city limit, and the Census adds small amounts of noise to employee counts to protect confidentiality.
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year data (2020-2024)
- Census Reporter
- Census ZIP Code Business Patterns
- Portland State University Population Research Center
- Oregon City, Oregon (Wikipedia), for history
- Census TIGERweb
Also from Oregon Living: Oregon Living in West Linn, Oregon · Oregon Living in Canby, Oregon · Oregon Living in Happy Valley, Oregon · Oregon Living in Lake Oswego, Oregon · Oregon Living in Milwaukie, Oregon.