The Portland metropolitan area is a metro area with its core in the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington.^[2][3] It has 5 principal cities the largest being Portland, Oregon.^[4] The U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) identifies it as the Portland–Vancouver–Hillsboro, OR–WA Metropolitan Statistical Area, a metropolitan statistical area used by the United States Census Bureau (USCB) and other entities. The OMB defines the area as comprising Clackamas, Columbia, Multnomah, Washington, and Yamhill Counties in Oregon, and Clark and Skamania Counties in Washington.^[5] The area had a population of 2,512,859 at the 2020 census, an increase of over 12% since 2010.^[6]

Quick Facts Country, State ...

Portland Metropolitan Area
Metropolitan Statistical Area
Portland–Vancouver–Hillsboro, OR–WA Metropolitan Statistical Area
Portland skyline from the Ross Island Bridge
Portland–Vancouver–Salem, OR–WA CSA   City of Portland   Portland–Vancouver–Hillsboro, OR–WA MSA   Salem, OR MSA   Albany, OR MSA   Longview–Kelso, WA MSA   Corvallis, OR MSA
Country	United States
State	Oregon Washington
Largest city	Portland
Other cities	Vancouver Gresham Hillsboro Beaverton Tigard
Area
• Total	6,684 sq mi (17,310 km2)
Highest elevation	11,249 ft (3,429 m)
Lowest elevation	0 ft (0 m)
Population  (2020)
• Total	2,512,859
• Estimate  (2022)	2,509,489
• Rank	25th in the U.S.
• Density	367/sq mi (129/km2)
GDP [1]
• Portland (MSA)	$204.3 billion (2022)
Time zone	UTC−8 (PST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−7 (PDT)
Area code(s)	503, 971, 360 & 564

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The Oregon portion of the metropolitan area is the state's largest urban center, while the Washington portion of the metropolitan area is the state's third-largest urban center after Seattle and Spokane (the Seattle Urban Area includes Tacoma and Everett^[7]).^[8] Portions of the Portland metro area (Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington Counties) are under the jurisdiction of Metro,^[9] a directly elected regional government which, among other things, is responsible for land-use planning in the region.

As of July 2022, the Portland–Vancouver–Salem, OR–WA Combined Statistical Area (CSA) consists of five Metropolitan Statistical Areas, covering nine counties in Oregon and three counties in Washington:

• Portland–Vancouver–Hillsboro, OR–WA Metropolitan Statistical Area (five counties in Oregon - Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, Yamhill, Columbia; two counties in Washington State - Clark and Skamania); population 2,509,289 (2022 estimate)
• Salem, OR Metropolitan Statistical Area (Marion and Polk counties); population 436,317 (2022 estimate)
• Albany, OR Metropolitan Statistical Area (Linn county); population 130,467 (2022 estimate)
• Longview, WA Metropolitan Statistical Area (Cowlitz county); population 111,956 (2022 estimate)
• Corvallis, OR Metropolitan Statistical Area (Benton county); population 97,630 (2022 estimate)

The 2022 population estimate is 3,285,275, ranked 19th largest in the United States (3,280,736 based on the 2020 Census).

This area includes the Portland–Vancouver–Hillsboro, OR–WA Metropolitan Statistical Area; Salem, OR Metropolitan Statistical Area, and other surrounding areas.

Major cities in the region in addition to Portland include Beaverton, Gresham, Hillsboro in Oregon, and Vancouver in Washington. The area also includes the smaller cities of Corbett, Cornelius, Fairview, Forest Grove, Gladstone, Happy Valley, King City, Lake Oswego, Milwaukie, Oregon City, Sherwood, Tigard, Troutdale, Tualatin, West Linn, Wilsonville, Wood Village in Oregon, as well as Battle Ground, Camas, Washougal, Ridgefield, La Center and Yacolt in Washington.

It includes the unincorporated suburban communities in Oregon of Aloha, Beavercreek, Boring, Cedar Mill, Clackamas, Damascus, Dunthorpe, Garden Home, Raleigh Hills, and West Slope, as well as Hazel Dell, Minnehaha, Salmon Creek, Walnut Grove and Orchards in Washington.

Major

• Portland
• Vancouver
• Hillsboro
• Gresham
• Beaverton

Other

Portland is where Interstate 84 starts at Interstate 5, both major highways in the Pacific Northwest. Other primary roads include Interstate 205, an eastern bypass of the urban core, U.S. Route 26, which heads west and southeast, U.S. Route 30, which follows the Oregon side of the Columbia River northwest and east, mirrored by Washington State Route 14 east from Vancouver, and Oregon Route 217, which connects US 26 with I-5 in the south, travelling through Beaverton. Both US 26 and US 30 go to the Oregon Coast. SR 500 runs from Interstate 5 to SR 503. Padden Parkway runs from NE 78th St and east to NE 162nd Ave.

Transit service on the Oregon side is generally provided by TriMet. In addition, Sandy Area Metro serves Sandy, South Clackamas Transportation District serves nearby Molalla, Canby Area Transit serves Canby and South Metro Area Regional Transit serves Wilsonville. Service in Clark County is provided by C-Tran. In Columbia County, the Columbia County Rider provides transit service on weekdays connecting St. Helens with downtown Portland and connecting Scappoose and St. Helens with certain points in urban Washington County, including the PCC Rock Creek campus, Tanasbourne and the Willow Creek MAX light rail station.^[16]

The Portland MSA is home to a number of professional and semi-professional sports teams, including the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers, the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer, the Portland Thorns FC of the National Women's Soccer League and the Portland Loggers of the North American Rugby League. Other teams include the Portland Pickles and the Hillsboro Hops. Portland is also home to two NCAA Division 1 universities, the Portland State Vikings and the Portland Pilots.

The Portland MSA also hosts a number of amateur sports, including college and high school sports. The high school rugby championships are held annually in the Portland MSA, and draw crowds of 8,000 to 10,000 supporters.^[18]

The Portland metropolitan area is heavily Democratic and has voted for that party's presidential candidate in every election since 1988. This is helped by Multnomah County, which has given the Democratic nominee over 70% of the vote in every election since 2004.