The Oregonian’s weekly look inside the state’s economy.

Portland has long been a middling city for personal income, with earnings in the same league as ho-hum metropolises such as Minneapolis, Albuquerque and Indianapolis.

No longer. Portland’s gains over the past decade have been remarkable.

Oregon state workforce analyst Christian Kaylor noted last week that new Census data shows Portland’s median household income shot up by 34% between 2005 to 2018. Kaylor found the city, which had been the nation’s 22nd wealthiest, was No. 8 last year with a median household income of more than $73,000.

It’s not just Portland. Kaylor said Oregon’s income growth was the nation’s fourth-fastest during that stretch, surpassed only by Washington, Utah and North Dakota.

The City of Portland is the 8th highest income city - among the 50 largest US cities.



In 2005, Portland was #22.



Portland is 4th for growth:



San Fran 52%

Seattle 47%

Washington DC 40%

Oakland 35%

Portland 34%

Boston 31%

Miami 29%

Atlanta 28%

Austin 27%

Denver 26% pic.twitter.com/vCLyaVog3E — Christian Kaylor (@KaylorChristian) September 27, 2019

The Oregonian/OregonLive reported last month that poverty rates in the Portland area were down significantly last year, according to the new Census data. And incomes were up across disparate rural and urban areas and across demographic groups. Oregon state economist Josh Lehner found poverty rates among communities of color are at their lowest point in decades.

Oregon is enjoying a period of historic economic growth, with the jobless rate holding steady around 4%, core industries like technology expanding and smart young migrants bringing fresh skills to the state.

Still, the new Census data shows more than half of Portland renters remain “cost burdened.” That means more than 30% of their paychecks goes toward housing.

While Portland remains in a housing crisis, there are signs of progress.

The Oregon Housing Blog’s Tom Cusack reported this past week that median renter income increased 47% from 2014 to 2018, while median rents grew 38%. It’s not clear, though, that the gains are evenly distributed – so renters on the economic margins may not be faring as well.

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