Beaverton Demographic Profiles: 1960-2000

Education, Employment, Income & Poverty

Education, Employment, and Income

The variables discussed in this section are quite diverse but are interrelated. Areas at the low end of the income scale also will tend to be at the low end of the educational level scale. Geographically, housing cost often is the mechanism that sorts employment, income, and educational level groups into different locations. Many of the changes that can be seen in the Study Area are basically local expressions of national level trends. For example, the shift from a manufacturing based to a trade and services based economy between 1960 and 2000 can be seen at national and local levels.

Education:  Education levels rose between 1960 and 2000 nationally, in the Portland Metropolitan Area, in the Study Area, and in the City of Beaverton. The percentage of high school graduates in Beaverton and the Study Area were at the same level as Washington County and the Metro area. The percent of college graduates, however, was almost 10 percent higher in Beaverton and the Study Area than the Metro area and 5 percent higher than Washington County (Fig. 8a). The geographical pattern of educational levels reflects suburban growth to the north of the Sunset Highway after 1970 and to the south of Farmington Road after 1980 (Figures 8.1 and 8.2). As on many other maps, there is a core of lower educational levels in the area westward from the core of Beaverton to Aloha. Although the maps show the proportion of college graduates, the maps of high school graduation percentages show similar patterns.

Employment:  Employment was analyzed in the broad categories of manufacturing, services, and trade (wholesale and retail). The analysis is based on the place of residence of employees. In other words, it shows how the residents of the Study Area earned their income. Throughout the 1960-1990 period the majority of the Study Area residents were employed in trade and services (Fig. 9A). In 2000, however, the number of persons in manufacturing in the Study Area outweighed the number of persons in trade. This was not true for Beaverton, Washington County or the Metro area. While the percent employed in manufacturing in the Metro area declined each decade since 1960, the proportion employed in manufacturing peaked in Washington Co., the Study Area, and in Beaverton in 1980 at about 25 percent. The proportion employed in manufacturing (since 1970) is scattered along the western half of the Study Area. Tract 316.08 located in the triangle westward from the center of Beaverton to Aloha, along Highway 26 has over 35 percent of its population employed in this industry (Fig. 9.2). Employment in services includes a broad spectrum of industries ranging from health care to shoe repair and its geographical patterns are difficult to explain. Generally the highest proportion of persons employed in services are in the southeast parts of the Study Area probably reflecting employment in Portland in the commercial and industrial areas extending south along Highway 217 to Tigard. Employment in trade shows a mirror image of employment in manufacturing until 1990. Since 1990, there has been a large drop in the portion of persons employed in trade throughout the Study Area. However, this may be reflective of changes to the census definition of industry types in 2000.

Commuting:  From 1960 to 1990, commuting patterns were difficult to discern. Since 1990 with the incorporation of light rail transit along Tualatin Valley Highway in 1998, the portion of commuters that use public transportation has increased substantially throughout the Study Area. The majority of public transit users reside along Tualatin Valley Highway, surrounding the Westside MAX (Fig. 11a). Over 10 percent of residents in many tracts along this route use public transportation. The majority of all tracts still commute to work by private vehicle (Fig.11b). Since 1980 over 80 percent of workers in the Study Area have worked outside of their city of residence. In Beaverton the portion of workers working there grew by over 6 percent from 1980 to 1990, but dropped to 28.1 percent in 2000. Most commuters in the region have taken between 15 and 30 minutes to commute to work since 1980. Although the commute time has increased since 1970, there have not been any major changes in the portion of persons driving any 15- minute interval. For example, the percentage of persons in the Study Area driving less than 15 minutes have gone from 31.9 percent in 1980 to 29.5 percent in 2000. Likewise, the commuters driving between 15 and 29 minutes have stayed between 45 and 50 percent of all commuters. The percentage of persons driving between 30 and 45 minutes decreased by almost 5 percent and those driving more than 45 minutes increased about 3 percent.

Income:  Throughout the 1960-2000 period median family incomes for the Study Area, Beaverton and Washington County were above that for the Metro area (Figure 12a). The difference peaks at about $10,000 in 1989. In 1999, the difference reduces to about $5,000 when Washington County, Beaverton, and the Study Area enjoyed median incomes in the $60,000- $65,000 range verses a Metropolitan Area median just over $55,000. The median family income in the NW and SW suburban portions of the Study Area was in the $95,000 and over class, up from $55,000 in 1989. The lowest income portions were in the central core of Beaverton and showed incomes in the under $40,000 class (Fig. 12.1). In 1960 the pattern was quite different with the highest income tracts in the suburban areas to the East and Northeast between Beaverton and the Multnomah County border (Fig. 12.2). By 1970 the core area of the City of Beaverton began to show relatively lower incomes. By 1990 this lower income area included the area Westward to Aloha and South of the City core toward Tigard. In 2000, the northeastern edge of the Study Area was included. Note that the maps in Figure 12.2 use different income scales (quintile groups) for each decade to account for the upward shift in income levels.

Household Types:  As in the case of the 2000 income, data the map of single parent households shows concentrations in the Beaverton city core area, Westward to Aloha, and Southward in Metzger (Figure 13.1). The map of the distribution of married couples with children type households is not quite a mirror image of the map of single parent households (Fig. 13.3). It shows a concentration in the suburban areas surrounding the core of Beaverton. Note that the 1960-2000 map series of married couples with children type families shows the same type of inversion that is shown on many of the maps with the concentration shifting from the East to the West side of the Study Area over the 30 year period.

Poverty

Poverty is strongly related to the variables discussed in the previous section. Using further analysis of geographical concentrations to examine poverty for different groups of the population geographical trends can be identified. Some of these group characteristics are unique to the Beaverton area.

Poverty:  Poverty levels in the Study Area, Beaverton and Washington County have been significantly lower than in the Metropolitan Area but over time they have converged (Fig. 12b). The percent of persons living in households with incomes below the poverty level held steady at about 7 percent for the Metro area from 1970 to 1990, but dropped to about 6 percent in 2000. However the percentage of persons living below poverty in the Study Area has risen steadily since 1980 from about 3 percent to about 5 percent. The maps showing concentrations of poverty level population (Fig. 14.1, 14.2, and 14.3) show a concentration in the core of Beaverton and a decrease along the periphery to the north of the Study Area. The map showing changes in the proportion of households below poverty from 1990 to 2000 shows that the numbers have increased in those same areas that had higher concentrations in 1990. In other words "the poor areas got poorer" and extended towards Tigard. The series of maps showing families below poverty from 1970 to 2000 clearly shows the increasing pattern of concentration.

Poverty by Age:  Since 1970, almost one-third of all persons in poverty in Beaverton, Washington County, the Metro area and the Study Area have been under the age of 18. About 9 percent of all children are in poverty in the Metro area, Beaverton and the Study Area. Washington County has slightly more, about 11 percent. The children in poverty in the Study Area tend to be concentrated in the core of Beaverton along Tualatin Valley Highway and to the east in older established neighborhoods, not in the areas where most children live (Fig. 15.1). The portion of persons in poverty over age 65 has changed considerably since 1970. In Beaverton, Washington County, the Metro area and the Study Area persons over 65 represented at least 20 percent of all persons in poverty; in 1980 this portion dropped to about 10 percent and finally fell to a low of around 7 percent in 2000. About 7 percent of the persons 65 and over living in the Metro area and Washington County are in poverty. In Beaverton there is a much smaller proportion, 5.3 percent and the Study Area has only 2.3 percent of persons over age 65 in poverty. These persons are not concentrated in any one area (Fig. 15.2).

Poverty by Race:  Due to the large majority of White Persons in the Portland Metro area, the total proportion of persons in poverty is similar to the portion of White Persons in poverty or slightly higher. In the Metro area Black, Hispanic, and Asian minorities have a much higher portion of their populations in poverty than Whites. In 1980, almost 30 percent of Blacks and Asians were living in poverty in the Metro area and in Beaverton. Due to the undeveloped nature of Washington County a much smaller proportion, about 15 percent, of both Blacks and Asians were in poverty; only about 10 percent were in poverty in the Study Area. The proportion of Blacks in poverty in 1990 remained high in the Metro area, however, the proportion of Asians in poverty dropped by almost half to 15 percent. Similar changes were seen throughout Washington County, Beaverton and the Study Area. Both races saw significant decreases of persons in poverty from 1990 to 2000 in the Metro area and Beaverton, but the proportion of persons in poverty in both races increased in Washington County and the Study Area to about 9 percent. A map of Black or African American persons in poverty for 2000 shows that this population is located towards the western side of the Study Area between the major transportation routes and a pocket in the southeast (Fig. 15.3). In contrast, the map of Asian or Pacific Islanders in poverty for 2000 identifies the eastern half and core of the Study Area as the main areas of poverty.

The Hispanic population in poverty experienced almost the opposite changes of the Blacks and Asians in poverty. In 1980, the Study Area had only 6.8 percent of its population in poverty compared with 21.6 percent in the Metro area. Although both areas saw an increase, the Study Area's percent of Hispanics in poverty grew exponentially to 15.8 percent while the region saw growth of about 2 percent. In 2000, Washington County and the Metro areas saw decreases of over 5 percent and 3 percent, respectively. However Beaverton and the Study Area both saw the problem of poverty grow for Hispanics to nearly 20 percent from about 15 percent in 1990. The map depicting concentrations of Hispanics in poverty is not very telling except that it shows that the Hispanics have a much greater portion of their population in poverty than persons of any other races examined in the Study Area.