Metro Area Factsheet: Portland-Vancouver, Oregon PMSA
| Summary Metro Area Data (and Source) | |
|---|---|
| Population (2008 CB est.): | 2,196,668 |
| Population (2000 Census): | 1,918,009 |
| Foreign-born Population (2008 FAIR est.): | 269,260 |
| Foreign-born Population (2000 Census): | 208,075 |
| Share Foreign Born (2008 FAIR est.): | 12.3% |
| Share Foreign Born (2000): | 10.8% |
| Immigrant Settlement (2000-07 DHS): | 63,791 |
| Population Projection 2025 (FAIR): | 3,001,000 |
METRO AREA POPULATION
The population of Portland-Vancouver Principal Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA) was estimated by the Census Bureau at 2,196,668 residents as of July 2008. That was an increase of 14.5 percent since the 2000 Census.
According to the 2000 Census, the population of the Portland-Vancouver Principal Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA) was 1,918,009. That is a 26.6 percent increase from the 1,515,452 residents in 1990. During the previous decade, the PMSA population increased by 13.6 percent from 1,333,572 residents in 1980.
According to the 2008 Census Bureau estimate, Portland-Vancouver PMSA’s population has increased since July 2000 from domestic migration (an annual average of about 12,380 more native-born residents arriving than leaving), natural change (an annual average of about 13,930 more births than deaths) and net international migration (an annual average of about 8,605 more foreign-born residents arriving than leaving). Therefore, immigration was the smallest component of population change, but it accounted for nearly one-fourth (23.8%) of the metro area’s population increase.
The Portland-Vancouver metro area comprises the counties of Clackamas (17.3% of the metro area population in 2008), Columbia (2.2% of the population), Multnomah (32.5%), Washington (24.1%) and Yamhill (4.5%) as well as Clark County, WA (19.3%).
FOREIGN-BORN POPULATION
FAIR estimates the foreign-born population of the Portland-Vancouver Principal Metropolitan Statistical Area (PMSA) in mid-year 2008 to be about 269,260 persons (12.3% of the population). This represents an increase of 29.4 percent from the 2000 Census and compares with a 12.7 percent increase in the native-born population.
Immigration also contributes to population growth through the children born to immigrants in this country. Nationally the share of births to the foreign-born is about double their share of the population. A 24.6 percent share of the metro area’s current births is large enough to account for about 7,180 births a year. Combining the increase in the foreign-born population and estimated immigrant births suggests that immigration may be adding as many as 15,785 persons to the metro area’s population annually,which is more than two-fifths (43.6%) of the metro area’s annual average population increase.
The 2000 census recorded 208,075 foreign-born residents in Portland-Vancouver metro area. That was a 10.8 percent share of the overall population, which was higher than the share for Oregon overall (8.5%). The 2000 data showed an increase of 136.2 percent in the immigrant population since 1990, which compared with a 19.8 percent increase in the native-born population (which includes children born to immigrants) over the same period. That meant that immigration accounted directly for 29.8 percent of the overall population increase of the metro area.
In 2000, the Census recorded that more than half (53.2%) of the metro area's foreign-born population had arrived since 1990. This was higher than the rate for Oregon overall (50%). About one-third (34%) of the foreign-born residents had become naturalized U.S. citizens. This was slightly higher than the rate for Oregon overall (33.6%).
Another indicator of the impact of the foreign-born population may be seen in data on residents who speak a language other than English at home. In the metro area in 2000, the share of other-than-English speakers at home (age 5 and older) was 14.4 percent. Half of those persons admitted to speaking English less than very well.
In 1990, there were 88,072 foreign-born residents in the Portland-Vancouver PMSA. That constituted a of 5.8 percent share of the metro area population.
LEGAL IMMIGRATION
The most recent data on immigrant admissions to the metro area published in the Yearbook of Immigration Statistics are shown in the table below. The Department of Homeland Security has stopped publishing data on the admission by source country to metro areas, but earlier data showing major source countries are also below.
| Immigrant Admissions FY'91-'98: Top Ten Countries | ||
| Rank | Country | No. of Immigrants |
| 1 | Soviet Union ** | 9,494 |
| 2 | Vietnam | 6,307 |
| 3 | Mexico | 3,263 |
| 4 | China * | 2,911 |
| 5 | Philippines | 1,734 |
| 6 | Romania | 1,640 |
| 7 | Korea | 1,313 |
| 8 | India | 1,088 |
| 9 | Canada | 1,042 |
| 10 | United Kingdom | 673 |
* Includes Hong Kong and Taiwan. ** Partial data.
The data on the adjustment of illegal aliens to legal immigrant settlement -- which was still at the surge level in FY-91, significantly affected immigrant settlement data in the Portland metro area with the inclusion of nearly 17,000 amnestied Mexican illegal aliens. The data for FY'95, FY'97 and FY'98 were artificially low because the INS did not issue green cards to all the eligible applicants for adjustment of status who were already in the United States. In those years, new immigration could have registered as much as 30 percent higher, if the INS had kept up with its workload.
The INS data below supplement the summary data above in the number of countries included, and by showing the numbers who entered by fiscal year. However, the INS data for a few countries are missing for FY'98, and the numbers shown differ from those above, because the amnesty beneficiaries are not excluded (which is especially notable in FY'91).
View table: Immigrant Admissions by Fiscal Year
POPULATION INCREASE AND SPRAWL
A study published by NumbersUSA in 2001 that weighed sprawl factors in large metropolitan areas found that most (93.8%) of the additional 121.2 square miles consumed by the Portland-Vancouver urban area between 1970-90 was attributable to population increase. The other factor studied was per capita land use. The Portland-Vancouver urbanized area is similar to the metropolitan statistical area, but smaller (covering a population of 1,172,158 residents in 1990).
POPULATION PROJECTION 2025
The current rate of population increase from 2000-07, if continued, will result in a population in 2025 of 3,001,000 residents. The projected increase in the foreign-born population will account directly for 31.7 percent of that change, and the foreign-born share of the population in 2025 will be about 12.6 percent. The immigrant share of the population increase would be much greater if the U.S.-born children of immigrants were included with the arrival of new immigrants.
