Forest Grove, Oregon

Area Profile

26,529 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Forest Grove, in Washington County.

53out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 29% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
Opportunity3,141st of 4,199 cities measured45
Schools3,139th of 4,162 cities measured30
GrowthTop 38% of 4,224 cities measured56
Housing affordability3,286th of 4,218 cities measured51
ClimateTop 38% of 4,225 cities measured73
Physical resilience2,274th of 4,226 cities measured54
Access3,051st of 4,226 cities measured85
Economic stability2,294th of 4,226 cities measured56
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 5.6% and the Opportunity signal places Forest Grove in the bottom 25%.

In the public schools here, 34% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 18.3 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 116 units authorized over the past twelve months, 36% below the prior year.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
26,529
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$87,933
Top 26% nationally
Density
4,426/sq mi
6 sq mi of land
Median age
34.0
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Oregon
Nearest major airport
PDX
25 mi · Portland Intl
Median home value
$479,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.6% — higher than in all but 11% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment fell 0.8% over the past year, to 13,163 employed residents.

32% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 72% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsWashington County, OR’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$83,87565th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftWashington County, OR’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$91,67177th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$9,9162024 ACS 5-Year$87,933Top 26%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,2532024 ACS 5-Year$35,143Top 46%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year13.3%Bottom 40%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±3.3 min2024 ACS 5-Year28.5 minBottom 41%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year31.8%Top 28%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year67.8%23rd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202613,163Bottom 8%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026−1.0%Bottom 39%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.8%Bottom 49%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202613,9449th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year80.9%Top 40%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wagePortland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$78,430Top 20%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wagePortland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$60,690Top 20%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year3.6%94th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.4%Top 29%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20265.6%Bottom 11%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year12.2%68th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/076.22.7
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 5.6% in July 2026. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202488k73k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $87,933 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers34,840$35,620
Retail Salespersons28,230$37,340
Stockers and Order Fillers26,750$44,440
Registered Nurses24,220$130,310
Home Health and Personal Care Aides22,860$45,570
General and Operations Managers21,070$121,050

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

34% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 51% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 18.3 students for every full-time teacher across 9 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
9
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
18.3
across all schools here
Math proficiency
33.7%
Bottom 31% in Oregon
Reading proficiency
51.2%
Bottom 31% in Oregon
All 9 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Forest Grove High SchoolForest Grove SD 151,84920.329%59%
Neil Armstrong Middle SchoolForest Grove SD 1583819.526%44%
Tom McCall Upper ElementaryForest Grove SD 1567317.727%44%
Harvey Clarke Elementary SchoolForest Grove SD 1539016.362%62%
Joseph Gale Elementary SchoolForest Grove SD 1538814.927%27%
Fern Hill Elementary SchoolForest Grove SD 1524913.832%37%
Forest Grove Community School · charterForest Grove SD 1520218.457%67%
Dilley Elementary SchoolForest Grove SD 1520118.367%62%
Community Alternative Learning CenterForest Grove SD 1514120.1——

78.5% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Oregon’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 7% above the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 106.7, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area is up 21% over five years, and up 1.4% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $4,047 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.84% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,922, some 32% above the $1,460 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,922 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $76,900 a year, about 87% of the median household income here of $87,933.

The typical renter household here spends 35% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,460 a month.

A median home at $479,600 costs 4.0 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $118,728, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
106.7

Prices here run about 7% above the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
35.3%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.0×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,922
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,460
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$479,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Forest Grove’s median household income of $87,933, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area’s figure2023106.7Bottom 31%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+1.4%29th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+21.2%6th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+70.8%15th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year4.0Bottom 17%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year64.1%27th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4852024 ACS 5-Year9,09493rd percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,677Bottom 35%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$2,619Bottom 32%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,922Bottom 36%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$702024 ACS 5-Year$1,460Bottom 21%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$13,7522024 ACS 5-Year$479,60088th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2412024 ACS 5-Year$4,04784th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$7,6572024 ACS 5-Year$118,728Top 16%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.06%2024 ACS 5-Year0.84%41st percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±9%2024 ACS 5-Year35.3%Bottom 20%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±312024 ACS 5-Year1971st percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.2%53rd percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year2.9%26th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1952024 ACS 5-Year28083rd percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

56/ 100
Top 38% of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 4% since 2020, reaching 27,076 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 135 units authorized in 2025, 9% below the prior year.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 27,076 residents in 2024, up 0.6% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 116 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Washington County, which contains Forest Grove, lost about 0.8% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $83,875, below the $91,671 of households that moved out.

At 4.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
116
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
4.4
Top 32% nationally
Year over year
−36%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202427k26k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 3 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.8%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
51%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$83,875
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$91,671
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Multnomah County, OR 6,466 people · 23% of arrivals
  2. Clackamas County, OR 2,792 people · 9.9% of arrivals
  3. Clark County, WA 1,079 people · 3.8% of arrivals
  4. Yamhill County, OR 936 people · 3.3% of arrivals
  5. Marion County, OR 880 people · 3.1% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Multnomah County, OR 5,776 people · 18% of departures
  2. Clackamas County, OR 3,251 people · 10% of departures
  3. Clark County, WA 1,915 people · 5.9% of departures
  4. Yamhill County, OR 1,524 people · 4.7% of departures
  5. Marion County, OR 1,079 people · 3.3% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Washington County, OR. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20202021202220232024202538662
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+52%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 82°F and January a low of 34°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 35.9 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 33, in the Good band, and about 2 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

20°40°60°80°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station PORTLAND-HILLSBORO AP, 7.9 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND6.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year532024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals35.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals34°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals82°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year22024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year332024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals27°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
33
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
53
90th percentile index
Days above 100
2
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

54 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, inland flooding and heat wave, with earthquake alone responsible for 60% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

EarthquakeElevated
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: inland flooding, ice storm, cold wave, volcanic activity, landslide, lightning, strong wind, winter weather, tornado, wildfire, hail, drought, avalanche, coastal flooding, tsunami, hurricane.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
402
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,087
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Forest Grove's police department reported 402 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,087.

Washington County records 1.7 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 9.2 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 7.5 per 100,000 residents in Washington County.

Homicide
1.7
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
9.2
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
7.5
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
13.0
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Forest Grove’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Forest Grove (Washington County) rather than Forest Grove itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Portland Intl at 25 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year87.6%Bottom 41%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle25 miBottom 34%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 8%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year8.2%Bottom 46%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Portland IntlPDX25 mi11,000 ft
Mahlon Sweet FldEUG97 mi8,009 ft
Seattle-Tacoma IntlSEA138 mi11,901 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
53
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Other cities in Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
PortlandMultnomah County641,16556Portland vs Forest Grove
VancouverClark County195,30055Vancouver vs Forest Grove
GreshamMultnomah County112,37847Gresham vs Forest Grove
HillsboroWashington County108,23156
BeavertonWashington County97,81264
TigardWashington County56,01162
AlohaWashington County52,38960
Lake OswegoClackamas County40,38159
Oregon CityClackamas County37,75561
McMinnvilleYamhill County34,59653
BethanyWashington County33,10665
OrchardsClark County29,43859

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Forest Grove side by side with a similar place.

Forest Grove vs EverettForest Grove vs Oak Grove

Moving to Forest Grove from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Forest Grove

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Forest Grove with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Forest Grove closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
9711629,800$92,613$495,800—