Portland is a very large coastal city (ie. on the ocean or tidally-influenced rivers) located in the state of Oregon. With a population of 529,025 people and 157 constituent neighborhoods, Portland is the largest community in Oregon.

Unlike some cities, Portland isn't mainly white- or blue-collar. Instead, the most prevalent occupations for people in Portland are a mix of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Portland is a city of sales and office workers, professionals, and service providers. There are especially a lot of people living in Portland who work in office and administrative support jobs (15.51%), sales jobs (11.02%), and management occupations (8.86%).

Of important note, Portland is also a city of artists. Portland has more artists, designers and people working in media than 90% of the communities in America. This concentration of artists helps shape Portland's character.

Also of interest is that Portland has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

Portland is a popular destination for single career-starters. One thing that you will notice when you are out and about town is that there is a large population of people who are young, single, educated, and upwardly-mobile career starters out at restaurants, listening to live music, and enjoying other activities. They are a real visible part of the culture of Portland. This makes Portland a good place to live for young professionals. With so many people in this demographic, Portland presents many opportunities for single professionals to enjoy themselves, socialize, and to create lasting relationships.

One of the nice things about Portland is that is it nautical, meaning that parts of the city are somewhat historic and on the ocean, or touch tidal bodies of water, such as inlets and tidal rivers. Because of this, visitors and locals will often go to these areas to take in the scenery or to enjoy waterfront activities.

Portland Information and Demographics

The citizens of Portland are very well educated compared to the average community in the nation: 32.62% of adults in Portland have a bachelor's degree or even advanced degree.

The per capita income in Portland in 2000 was $22,643, which is wealthy relative to Oregon, and upper middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $90,572 for a family of four.

Portland is a very ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Portland home come from a variety of different races and ancestries. The most prevalent race in Portland is White, followed by African-American. Important ancestries of people in Portland include German, Irish, English, Norwegian, Italian, Swedish, and European.

The most common language spoken in Portland is English. Some people also speak Spanish.