La Pine’s population jumps 9.5% in a year, fastest in Oregon; C.O. counties, cities grow while some other places see losses

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Every Central Oregon city and county added residents over the year ended July 1, as  did Oregon as a whole -- and that's not a given any more, when you see minus signs starting to emerge in yearly population reports.

Growth here on the High Desert is not at the sizzling rates seen years ago, according to estimates released Tuesday -- much to the relief of those who deal with the impacts and try to ease the many challenges growth brings. But one High Desert community emerges as the state’s growth pace-setter.

Two of Central Oregon’s smaller cities grew the most in the region, by far, as Sisters saw its population rise more than 6 percent. But La Pine led not just Central Oregon, but the state -- at 9.5% growth, according to preliminary estimates from Portland State University’s Population Research Center, which will be finalized next month.

La Pine gained more than 200 residents, topping 2,600 residents, in numbers released the same week that the south Deschutes County community cracked the top 10 in AAA Oregon/Idaho’s list of the region’s favorite holiday destinations.

But one doesn’t have to wander far in perusing PSU’s county and city estimate lists to see that growth has slowed even more, stopped or even turned negative in some places, from Baker County, which lost 103 residents, or about 0.6%, to Grant County, where a 142-person decline (to just under 7,300 residents) equals a loss of nearly 2% of its population.

For example: Just above the relatively new city of La Pine, on the alphabetical list, but in sharp contrast is the much-older northeast Oregon city of La Grande, which saw its population fall by 1,130 this year and fell below 13,000, for a population loss of 8.1%

Scan the list and you see many small Oregon cities saw population drop over the 12-month period, from Adair Village’s decline of two people to Yamhill’s dozen fewer residents, down just over 1%.

Oregon as a whole added 22,627 residents over the year, just over a half-percent annual growth rate. As for counties, the biggest gain percentage-wise was in sparsely populated Lake County, which added 157 residents, topping 8,500 and up nearly 2% for the year.

Population Estimates Program Manager Dr. Huda Alkitkat noted that the 2022 estimates in these figures also were revised, as new data continues to flow in. She wants to focus on next month's final numbers, after local governments can challenge them or provide more data, but pointed to some highlights:

-          The state’s population grew by approximately 23,000 (+0.53 percent), from 4,267,598 on July 1, 2022, to 4,290,225 on July 1, 2023.

-          Oregon’s population has increased by more than 50,000 since the 2020 Census.

-          Oregon’s three most populous counties— (Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas) have more than 40% percent of Oregon's population.

-          Portland is the most populous, with over 650,000 residents, followed by Salem (approximately 181,000), and Eugene (approximately 176,000). 

A separate spreadsheet tab lays out the methodology used to arrive at these estimtes, from the natural increase (births vs. deaths) to various government (IRS tax returns, driver licenses etc.) housing and demographic data.