Sherwood, Oregon

Area Profile

20,307 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Sherwood, in Washington County.

61out of 100
Area Score
Top 48% of 2,944 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity2270th of 3,904 cities measured52
SchoolsTop 21% of 2,668 cities measured74
Growth1877th of 2,973 cities measured43
Housing affordability3205th of 4,223 cities measured63
ClimateTop 35% of 4,223 cities measured74
Physical resilience2314th of 4,182 cities measured52
Access2652nd of 4,226 cities measured88
Economic stabilityTop 3% of 4,226 cities measured83
The quick read

Unemployment is 5.1% and median household income $109,966, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published city profiles.

Residential permitting has slowed: 52 units authorized over the past twelve months, 16% below the prior year.

A major airport is 20 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
20,307
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$109,966
Top 14% nationally
Density
4,123/sq mi
4.9 sq mi of land
Median age
36.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Washington County
Oregon
Metro area
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
Nearest major airport
PDX
20 mi · Portland Intl
Median home value
$602,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.1% is lower than 22% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment fell 0.8% over the past year, to 323,614 employed residents.

50% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 88% of measured US cities.

Household income is higher than at least 86% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$12,934$109,966Top 14%of 29,5732024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,065$49,988Top 17%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate4.3%Bottom 21%of 31,9002024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute26.3 minBottom 48%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher49.9%Top 12%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Employment323,614Top 21%of 3,904June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-0.7%Bottom 38%of 3,903June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.8%Bottom 47%of 3,904June 2026
Labor force340,832Top 21%of 3,904June 2026
Labor force participation71.4%Top 15%of 31,9332024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$78,430Top 20%of 3,6582025 OEWS
Median annual wage$60,690Top 20%of 3,6582025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.2%Top 44%of 3,904June 2026
Unemployment rate5.1%Top 22%of 3,904June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
2021202220232024111k105k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $109,966 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

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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Washington County, OR, which contains this city.

58% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 62% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 20.2 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
7
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
20.2
across all schools here
Math proficiency
57.5%
Top 8% in Oregon
Reading proficiency
61.7%
Top 14% in Oregon
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Sherwood High SchoolSherwood SD 88J1,66822.8
Sherwood Middle SchoolSherwood SD 88J1,11220.652%
Ridges Elementary SchoolSherwood SD 88J63520.562%62%
Hawks View Elementary SchoolSherwood SD 88J45717.665%45%
Middleton Elementary SchoolSherwood SD 88J39516.565%75%
Archer Glen Elementary SchoolSherwood SD 88J30818.155%65%
Sherwood Charter School · charterSherwood SD 88J22217.150%70%

22.7% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Oregon’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $2,131 takes 23% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 5.5 times median household income here, well above the historic benchmark, at a level conventionally described as seriously unaffordable.

Rent as a share of income
23.3%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
5.5×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$2,131
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$602,100
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price to income5.48Top 12%of 28,4732024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate72.3%Bottom 42%of 31,8432024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3117,055Top 9%of 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$217$2,131Top 7%of 23,4322024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$14,394$602,100Top 9%of 29,3422024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income23.3%Top 24%of 23,2012024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate1.0%Bottom 13%of 32,0012024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
43/ 100
Ranks 1877 of 2,973 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, measured from 2020 to 2025.

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 been broadly flat since 2020, at 20,441 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before.

62% of recently permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

At 2.6 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
52
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.6
Top 47% nationally
Year over year
−16%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
61.5%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202420k20k
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.
Housing units permitted per year
2020202120222023202420259421
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+11%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 83°F and January a low of 36°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 39.5 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 AURORA STATE AP, 8.5 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND6.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index53.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation39.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low36°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high83°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10022024 calendar year
Median air quality index33.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing28°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. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

52 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake and heat wave.

EarthquakeElevated
Heat waveModerate

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

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.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Washington County records 2.0 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 8.9 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 8.7 per 100,000 residents in Washington County.

Homicide
2.0
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
8.9
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
8.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
12.5
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Washington County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Sherwood rather than Sherwood itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 20 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Portland IntlPDX20 mi11,000 ft
Mahlon Sweet FldEUG87 mi8,009 ft
Seattle-Tacoma IntlSEA147 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
61
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Other cities in Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
PortlandMultnomah County641,16560vs Sherwood
VancouverClark County195,30060vs Sherwood
GreshamMultnomah County112,37854vs Sherwood
HillsboroWashington County108,23157vs Sherwood
BeavertonWashington County97,81265vs Sherwood
TigardWashington County56,01163vs Sherwood
AlohaWashington County52,389vs Sherwood
Lake OswegoClackamas County40,38161vs Sherwood
Oregon CityClackamas County37,75558vs Sherwood
McMinnvilleYamhill County34,59652vs Sherwood
BethanyWashington County33,106vs Sherwood
OrchardsClark County29,438vs Sherwood

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.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 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 browse every source.

ZIP codes in Sherwood

1 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
9714027,933$123,22862