The Oregonian’s weekly look at the numbers behind the state’s economy. View past installments here.

Oregon began the last decade reeling from the setbacks brought by the Great Recession, with unemployment soaring and many of the state’s largest industries struggling.

The state came roaring back over the next several years, with the median household income leaping by nearly 21% to $59,393 in 2018, according to the latest Census data. That’s the highest point on record and – for the first time in 50 years – the typical Oregon household earned significantly more than the national figure.

Incomes rose across the state but the newly released Census data shows the gains were strongest in Portland and other urban parts of the state, with technology and other high-wage industries expanding rapidly.

Of the 15 Oregon communities where incomes grew fastest between 2010 and 2018, 11 are in the Portland area. Portland itself was near the top of the list, with median household incomes soaring 35% to $65,740.

Of the 15 communities with Oregon’s slowest-growing incomes during that stretch, just one, Gresham, was in the Portland area. Many others were in outlying or rural areas – and three communities actually suffered income declines between 2010 and 2018.

Household incomes in St. Helens fell 9.2% to $48,311, according to the Census data. Newport incomes fell 6.2% and incomes in Altamont, south of Klamath Falls, declined 5.1%.

The disparities in income growth highlight the persistent gaps between rural and urban Oregon, with the state’s big cities and college towns thriving economically while smaller communities were much slower to come back from the Great Recession as they continue to struggle with the loss of natural resource industries and other hard-hit economic sectors.

-- Elliot Njus

-- Mike Rogoway | twitter: @rogoway | 503-294-7699