2024 Washington County Population Growth Outpaces Oregon
January 7, 2025Newly released estimates from Portland State University’s Population Research Center show Washington County continued to gain residents through July 1, 2024, as it did in the year ending July 1, 2023, at the same pace as the prior two years.
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau show that Washington County’s population in the 2020 Census was 600,372, an increase of 70,662 residents and up by 13.3% from the 2010 Census. This differs from PSU’s intercensal figures for Washington County published in its 2020 Population Report, which had the county up by 90,370 residents over the 10-year period. The most accurate population numbers resulting from the decennial census are published once a decade. The U.S. Census Bureau also publishes population estimates for years between the decennial censuses. Their 2024 population estimates for states will release in December 2024. County-level estimates will be published in March 2025.
Washington County’s population growth rate has consistently outpaced the statewide trend since 2021. In 2021, the state’s population declined by 0.4% while Washington County’s population declined at a slower rate of 0.3%. In 2022, Oregon’s population increased at a rate of 0.4% whereas Washington County population rose by 0.7%, gaining 1,442 residents. The gains for the county continued in 2023, again at the rate of 0.7% or 4,484 residents. The state’s population rose by 0.4% again in 2023. In 2024, Oregon’s population increased at a slower rate of 0.3% whereas Washington County population growth steadily held its growth rate of 0.7%, gaining 4,245 residents.
Population Growth Led by Cornelius, Tigard, and Hillsboro
Most city areas in Washington County showed little change or moderate growth between 2023 and 2024, with a few notable exceptions. Cornelius added 655 residents, a jump of 4.7%, while North Plains gained 160 residents – a 4.4% increase. Hillsboro saw the largest growth in absolute terms, adding 1,139 residents for a 1.0% gain, and nearby Tigard increased by 1,457 residents, or 2.7%. Tualatin – including its population in both Washington County and Clackamas – grew by 128, Forest Grove by 137, and Beaverton by 79. Meanwhile, Durham and King City both posted slight declines, losing 16 and 8 residents, respectively.
Population trends and growth rates have mirrored the overall economic improvement that Oregon and Washington County have experienced in the period after the Great Recession and before the COVID-19 pandemic. In-migration has been the driver of Washington County’s population change in recent years. Factors that may slow the growth rate could be rising home and rental prices, lack of housing availability and low vacancy rates, and the growing trend toward slower overall migration and staying in homes longer, as interest rates on home mortgages have soared past their generational lows.
