Multnomah County saw slight population growth in 2024, Census Bureau says

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Although estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau point to population growth in most metro areas, numbers indicate the increase in Multnomah County residents was rather small.

Released on Thursday morning, the federal data collection agency’s latest estimates show there were 795,897 people living in the county as of July 1, 2024. This represents a 0.2% rise from the same date in 2023, when experts recorded 794,271 residents.

Even with the slight increase, Oregon’s largest county — population-wise — has yet to reach the numbers seen in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Estimates show there were 816,321 Multnomah County residents in April 2020.

However, the numbers indicate population growth has been faster in the region as a whole. The Portland metro area, which the Census Bureau defines as Portland, Hillsboro and Vancouver, had 2,537,901 residents as of July 2024.

In 2023, there were an estimated 2,521,668 people living in the Portland area — a 0.35% increase from the April 2020 estimates.

Experts have suspected that international migration is driving population growth in many cities.

“While births continue to contribute to overall growth, rising net international migration is offsetting the ongoing net domestic outmigration we see in many of these areas,” Census Bureau Population Division Demographer Kristie Wilder noted in a statement.

According to the bureau, 90% of U.S. metro areas grew in population from 2023 to 2024. Data collectors reported that 65.3% of counties grew as well.

The agency listed Georgia’s Dawson and Jackson counties, Texas’ Kaufman County, South Carolina’s Jasper County and Arizona’s Pinal Counties as the counties with the highest year-over-year growth — percentage-wise.

Mississippi’s Yazoo and Sunflower counties, Georgia’s Mitchell County, Oregon’s Curry County and Alabama’s Dallas County saw the steepest percent declines.

The bureau is expected to release 2024 estimates for cities and towns in just a few months.