Oregon among most popular states to move to in 2017

Oregon was among the top places to move to in 2017, with Marion and Polk counties contributing to the state's popularity.

New reports from national movers United Van Lines and Atlas Van Lines show many more people coming to Oregon than leaving last year as part of a broader migration into the American West.

On the downside, Oregon's new residents were met with high costs of living, including a tight, relatively expensive housing market and low unemployment, which creates stiffer competition for family-wage jobs.

The United Van Lines study showed 75 new moves — families and individuals — into Marion County and eight to Polk County. People moved into the Mid-Willamette Valley from states as far apart as California, Illinois and New York.

While not everyone uses moving services to truck their goods from state to state, the studies are backed up by recent estimates from Portland State University showing that Oregon's population rose to 4.1 million in 2017, adding 64,750 people over the year.

Marion County welcomed 5,250 new residents and Polk County brought in 1,270, according to PSU.

Oregon's population growth also puts it on-track to add another congressional seat in 2020, according to the Population Studies Center at the University of Michigan. Seats in the U.S. House are re-allocated after every census based on how many people live in each state.

United Van Lines says Oregon was second only to Vermont for the rate of people moving into a state. In Oregon, 65 percent of movers were coming into the state with 35 percent leaving.

Washington, Idaho and Nevada were other popular western destinations.

Oregon's new residents came because of family ties, new jobs and transfers within their companies, according to the United report.

Meanwhile, Atlas Van Lines logged 933 moves into Oregon, down slightly year-over-year but in keeping with a strong trend toward inbound moves outweighing outbound moves since at least 2008.

"The current level of growth isn't that shocking," said Charles Rynerson, a demographer at Portland State University's Population Research Center.

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Oregon's population has continuously grown since the 1800s, he said, and more people have moved in than moved out, with few exceptions, for at least the past 60 years.

Even though some argue a lot of new residents are transplants, the percentage of Oregon residents born in-state is actually approaching an all-time high, Rynerson said.

While housing remains in relatively short supply, it isn't stopping people from moving to Oregon, he said.

Factors behind the tight housing market: Developers and builders aren't confident about developing land on speculation without guaranteed buyers and renters; construction workers remain difficult to find; and land-use laws limit where developers can build, according to an April 2017 report from the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis.

Still, if people have jobs lined up and they're coming from another expensive state like California or New York, then housing costs shouldn't be a deterrent, Rynerson said.

Reach staff reporter Jonathan Bach by email at jbach@statesmanjournal.com or by phone at 503-399-6714.