Beaverton Demographic Profiles: 1960-2000

Population and Housing

The Study Area changed during the 1960 - 2000 period from a largely rural region with an urban core in Beaverton to a largely urban region. In 1960 the eastern half of the Study Area contained most of the population and had the demographic characteristics of a recently developed 1960's suburban area - single family homes and young families with children. The western portion contained large areas of agricultural lands with scattered areas of urban settlement. After 1980 most of the growth was in western half of the area. The mix of housing in the Study Area changed from predominantly single family housing to a mix of single and multiple family housing. Apartments were built in remaining vacant lands in the eastern half. Newly built housing in the western half was a mix of single and multiple family units.

Trends for the Study Area.  From 1960 to 2000 the population of the Portland Metropolitan Area increased from 821,897 to 1,789,457, a 117 percent increase (Fig. 1a). The Study Area increased from 46,452 to 244,475 an increase of 426 percent. Beaverton contained only 5,937 persons at the time of the 1960 Census but the number more than tripled by 1970 and it contained 76,129 persons in 2000, an increase of 1182 percent over the 30-year period. Housing growth (Fig. 3a) saw an even greater rate of increase since household size declined from about 3.4 persons per household for Beaverton and the Study Area in 1960 to about 2.5 in 2000 (Fig. 1a). Part of this decline in household size can be attributed to a declining birth rate and part to the decrease in the proportion of traditional "married couple with child" households. This trend is also reflected in the shift from single to multi-family housing units (Fig. 3C). In 1960 93.5 percent of the housing units in the Study Area were single family. This number fell to 77 percent in 1970 and 59 percent in 2000. Beaverton declined from 78.3 percent single family housing in 1960 to 50.5 percent in 2000. Home ownership showed a similar decline in the Study Area from 83.3 percent in 1960 to 53.4 percent in 2000 (Fig. 3b). Housing values and rents increased rapidly from 1960 to 2000. The average housing value in the Study Area was $15,206 in 1960 and $90,816 in 1990, jumping 121 percent to $201,012 in 2000 (Fig. 2c). The ratio of median housing values in the Study Area compared to the Metro area has declined from a peak ratio of 1.46 in 1970 to 1.25 in 1980 and 1.06 in 2000.

Variations within the Study Area.  Currently the highest population densities in the Study Area are in the blocks in the core of Beaverton and to the south. There are also concentrations located along several major arterials (Fig. 1.1). These areas of higher density approximate those in fully built up areas of the City of Portland but are not as dense as highly urbanized NW Portland. The growth of population in the Study Area shows a distinctive core-periphery pattern with some loss of population in fully built areas of older single family housing and rapid growth in the developing areas in the NW and SW quadrants of the Study Area. There also is a core periphery contrast in the proportion of owner occupied housing with an area of less than 25% owner occupied units in the area between Walker Road and Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway (Fig. 2.1) and over 75% in the outer portions of the NW and SW quadrants of the Study Area. The 1990-2000 changes in home ownership show a relatively small decline in the blocks along the major arterials in Beaverton and in scattered areas where new apartment complexes have been built (Fig. 3.2). The highest valued owner occupied homes in the Study Area are on the northeastern and southwestern periphery with values shown in the 2000 census of $225,000 and over. The lowest valued homes are in the core of Beaverton and in the triangle between Farmington Road and the Sunset Highway. The greatest increase in housing values are in the areas of new construction in the Sylvan area, in the outer NW quadrant of the Study Area, and in the lower housing value in filling area between Beaverton and Aloha.