Portland, OR
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Portland ranks 30th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 27th for income. A household earns $98,994 a year while median rent runs $1,767/mo, making it comfortably affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 5% above the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is household income (27th of 300), while cost of living is the soft spot (275th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 262nd and home prices 274th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Portland, your take-home is worth about $52,461 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it less than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 27th of 300↑26.2%$98,994
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 275th of 300105 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $93,903
- Per-capita income
- $52,102
- Full-time pay
- $53,466
Housing
- Median rent
- 262nd of 300↑30.3%$1,767/mo
- Home value
- 274th of 300↑43.1%$584,800
- Property tax
- $4,889/yr · 0.8%
- Sales tax
- 0.00%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 164th of 3004.6%
- Bachelor's+
- 42nd of 30043.5%
- Avg commute
- 193rd of 30025.4 min
People
- Population
- 2,537,070
- Population change
- +1.8%
- Median age
- 39.7 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 13.1%
- Broadband
- 95.2%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 42nd of 30038
- Natural-hazard loss
- 188th of 300$15/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 91st of 30016.8%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 7.7%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Affordability
- + Household income
- + Education
- + Air quality
- + Health
Watch-outs
- – Cost of living
- – Rent
- – Home prices
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — portland troutdale ap.
What jobs pay in Portland
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $286,170
- IT managers
- $183,720
- Pharmacists
- $168,830
- Financial managers
- $164,680
- Software developers
- $156,000
- Lawyers
- $155,330
- Registered nurses
- $130,310
- General & operations managers
- $121,050
- Civil engineers
- $106,280
- Electricians
- $105,090
- Plumbers
- $101,010
- Police officers
- $97,200
- Accountants & auditors
- $92,200
- Secondary school teachers
- $84,120
- Elementary school teachers
- $82,330
- Web developers
- $73,920
- Carpenters
- $73,710
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $63,800
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $58,760
- Waiters & waitresses
- $54,780
- Construction laborers
- $54,240
- Customer service reps
- $48,650
- Janitors
- $41,170
- Retail salespersons
- $37,340
- Cashiers
- $36,560
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Portland metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Oregon are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- California21,543
- Texas3,786
- Arizona3,640
- Florida2,798
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Portland
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Portland metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Portland metro?
- Median gross rent across the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area is $1,767 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Portland.
- What is the median household income in the Portland metro?
- A typical household in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area earns $98,994 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Portland expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area runs about 5% above the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are higher than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Portland metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $93,903 (versus its face value of $98,994). CityLedger rates the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area comfortably affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Portland metro?
- The median home value across the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area is $584,800 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Portland metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area is 4.6% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).