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Affordable housing in Portland

Ten questions, answered with public data

Portland has 31,817 income-restricted rental homes in 947 buildings, and 145,097 renter households. These are homes where rent or income is capped by a public agreement: tax credits, city loans, housing authority ownership, or city incentive programs.

Question 1

How many income-restricted homes are there, compared with the renters who need them?

There are 49 income-restricted homes for every 100 renter households earning under $50,000. Most of those homes are already occupied.

All renter households
145,097
Renter households earning under $50,000
64,583
Income-restricted homes
31,817
Source: Metro Regulated Affordable Housing Inventory; Portland Housing Bureau Rental Portfolio (PortlandMaps); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year, Portland city.

Question 2

Who are these homes priced for?

The gap is widest for the lowest incomes. For every 100 renter households earning under $35,000, there are 13 homes set aside at the deepest level of affordability. Higher up, the ratio is 47 and then 70 per 100.

  • Renter households
  • Income-restricted homes
Under $35,000Homes for incomes up to about 30%
48,733
6,252
$35,000–$49,999Homes for up to 50%
15,850
7,429
$50,000–$74,999Homes for up to 60–80%
23,764
16,523
Income bands come from the Census and are compared with the city's 2026 limits for a 2-person household (the typical Portland renter household has 1.82 people): $30,800 at the 30% level, $51,350 at 50%, $82,150 at 80%. 1,793 homes have no income level on record.Source: Metro Regulated Affordable Housing Inventory; Portland Housing Bureau Rental Portfolio (PortlandMaps); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year, Portland city; Portland Housing Bureau 2026 Income and Rent Limits.

Question 3

How many renters pay more than they can afford?

54% of Portland renter households spend 30% or more of their income on rent and utilities. 29% spend half or more.

  • Under 30% of income63,29946%
  • 30% to 49%33,69225%
  • 50% or more40,15829%
Share of the 137,149 renter households whose rent burden the Census could compute.Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year, Portland city.

Question 4

Are rents rising faster than renters' incomes?

Yes. From 2015 to 2024, the median rent rose 57% (to $1,648 a month) while the median renter income rose 45%. Renting the median home without spending more than 30% of income now takes $65,920 a year, $7,716 more than the median renter earns. An income-restricted 1-bedroom at the 60% level is capped at $1,444 including utilities.

$40k$50k$60k$70k'15'16'17'18'19'21'22'23'24Income needed, 2015: $41,880Income needed, 2016: $46,120Income needed, 2017: $48,640Income needed, 2018: $51,880Income needed, 2019: $52,480Income needed, 2021: $55,760Income needed, 2022: $59,200Income needed, 2023: $62,240Income needed, 2024: $65,920$65,920Income neededRenter income, 2015: $40,029Renter income, 2016: $40,548Renter income, 2017: $45,130Renter income, 2018: $50,077Renter income, 2019: $51,946Renter income, 2021: $52,083Renter income, 2022: $53,589Renter income, 2023: $56,012Renter income, 2024: $58,204$58,204Renter income
Income needed = yearly income at which the median rent is 30% of income. Renter income = median for renter households. Census 1-year estimates; no standard 2020 release. Dollars are not adjusted for inflation.Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year, Portland city; Portland Housing Bureau 2026 Income and Rent Limits.

Question 5

Do the homes fit families?

Few are family-sized. 11% of income-restricted homes with a known size have 3 or more bedrooms (2,628 homes). Portland has 16,969 renter households raising children and 11,817 with 4 or more people.

Room or studio
7,525
1 bedroom
8,355
2 bedrooms
4,856
3+ bedrooms
2,628
Source: Metro Regulated Affordable Housing Inventory; U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 1-year, Portland city.

Question 6

Where are they?

District 2 has the most per renter, with 26 homes for every 100 renter households. District 3 has the fewest, with 15.

Homes per 100 renter households

District 1East Portland · 5,315 homes, 25,181 renter households
21
District 2North and Northeast · 8,364 homes, 32,016 renter households
26
District 3Southeast · 5,217 homes, 34,520 renter households
15
District 4West and Southwest · 10,714 homes, 46,830 renter households
23
2,207 homes could not be placed in a district from their recorded location. Renter households are census-tract estimates assigned to the district that holds each tract's center.Source: Metro Regulated Affordable Housing Inventory; Portland Housing Bureau Rental Portfolio (PortlandMaps); U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 5-year, census tracts; City of Portland council district boundaries (PortlandMaps).

Question 7

Are they near transit and parks?

Mostly. 88% are within a quarter mile of frequent bus service or a half mile of MAX, and 83% are within a third of a mile of a park.

Any bus stop within ¼ mile
100%
Frequent bus (¼ mi) or MAX (½ mi)
88%
Park within ⅓ mile
83%
Metro's distance flags, for the homes in Metro's inventory.Source: Metro Regulated Affordable Housing Inventory.

Question 8

How many homes could lose their income limits soon?

1,541 homes have restrictions that end by 2030, and 751 more by 2035. Another 1,429 homes have end dates that have already passed, so their rents may no longer be restricted.

  • End date already passed1,4295%
  • Ends 2026–20301,5416%
  • Ends 2031–20357513%
  • Ends after 203510,25039%
  • No end date on record12,38847%
12,388 homes have no end date on record.Source: Metro Regulated Affordable Housing Inventory.

Question 9

How fast is the city adding more, and who owns them?

Homes financed by the Portland Housing Bureau opened at a pace of about 510 a year since 2010. 1,124 opened in 2025, the most in any year shown, and 2,868 since 2022. Nonprofits own 51% of the homes in Metro’s inventory.

2010: 701 homes701'102011: 768 homes2012: 369 homes2013: 657 homes2014: 507 homes'142015: 474 homes2016: 136 homes2017: 660 homes2018: 753 homes'182019: 456 homes2020: 232 homes2021: 95 homes2022: 715 homes'222023: 219 homes2024: 584 homes2025: 1,124 homes1,1242026: 226 homes226'26
  • Nonprofit13,36751%
  • Government (incl. Home Forward)6,31124%
  • For-profit6,06523%
  • Not recorded4742%
Bars: homes in city-financed buildings by year completed; darker bars are 2022 onward. 2026 is the year so far. The split below covers homes in Metro's inventory.Source: Portland Housing Bureau Rental Portfolio (PortlandMaps); Metro Regulated Affordable Housing Inventory.

Question 10

Can renters find an open unit?

Rarely in one place. Public announcements listed 70 openings across 947 buildings, and only 5 of those posts stated an income limit. 324 buildings have a website on record. No public source reports which units are vacant.

Income-restricted buildings
947
With a website on record
324
Openings posted publicly
70
Posts that stated an income limit
5
Matching posts to the building inventory raised the number with a known income limit from 5 to 44.Source: Portland Home Finder listings (Multnomah County openings page, PHB N/NE page); Metro Regulated Affordable Housing Inventory.

About this data

Building counts combine Metro’s Regulated Affordable Housing Inventory with the Portland Housing Bureau’s rental portfolio. Metro’s records were last updated at the end of 2020, so buildings opened since then come from the city’s portfolio, which covers city-financed buildings only. Questions 5, 7 and 8 use Metro’s records alone.

A home counted here is a unit with an income or rent restriction. It is not a vacancy.

Generated 2026-11-11.