Virgil Wells of Boring sells trees and turns them into bowls, back scratchers on other items

A file photo of Portland. ( Beth Nakamura/The Oregonian)

(Beth Nakamura)

Portland is moving on up.

The city is now the 26th largest in the country, according new estimates released by the U. S. Census Bureau Wednesday night. Between July 2014 and July 2015, Portland's population increased 1.9 percent, or by 11,889 people, enough to rise two positions in the national population estimate rankings.

The new data included two national rankings that focused on populations for incorporated places, like cities and towns, with a population of 50,000 or more. One ranked places based on overall population size and another by the percentage of population change.

As of July 1, 2015, Portland had 632,309 residents, according to census estimates. That lands the City of Roses between Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, which ranks 27th, and the Nashville-Davidson area in Tennessee, which ranked 25th on the total size ranking.

For population growth within a year, Portland ranked 126th nationally. Central Oregon's Bend, with a year-over-year growth of 3.4 percent, was the highest ranking Oregon city. Bend ranked 32nd nationally and gained 2,883 people in a year, putting the city's total population at 87,014.

Hillsboro also saw notable growth. The Washington County city ranked 55th nationally for population growth, with increase of 2.9 percent or 2,908 people.

Hillsboro was also one of seven cities nationwide to cross the 100,000-resident threshold between 2014 and 2015, the census bureau said in a press release. The city had 102,347 residents as of July 2015.

Nationwide, New York City remains the most populous, population estimates show.The city gained 55,000 people in a year and has about 8.6 million total residents. In a press release, the census bureau also highlighted growth in Texas, now home to five of the 11 fastest growing cities in the country.

The census bureau also released new housing unit estimates on Wednesday. Oregon gained 14,344 housing units within a year.

In March the census bureau released data showing that Oregon's population grew by 1.5 percent within a year, nearly returning to pre-recession growth rates. Oregon's population grew by almost 58,000 people, putting the state's total population at more than 4 million.

--Laura Frazier

lfrazier@oregonian.com

503-294-4035

@frazier_laura