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About Happy Valley
Happy Valley is a city in northwest Clackamas County, southeast of Portland. It incorporated in 1965 to avoid being annexed by Portland and to keep its small, rural character, according to the City's history pages. Since 1990 it has been one of the fastest-growing cities in Oregon.
Happy Valley in numbers
| Measure | Happy Valley |
|---|---|
| Population, 2020 Census | 23,733 |
| Population, ACS 2020-2024 | 26,738 |
| Population, Portland State University certified estimate, July 1, 2025 | 28,291 (+19.2% since 2020) |
| Households | 9,002 |
| Owner-occupied share of households | 78.9% |
| Median household income | $122,151 (margin of error plus or minus $9,243) |
| Median home value (owner-occupied) | $725,300 (plus or minus $27,577) |
| Median age | 39.0 (plus or minus 1.6) |
| Owner-occupied homes valued at $300,000 or more | 6,881 of 7,106 (96.8%) |
| Business establishments, ZIP 97086 | 880 |
| Paid employees at those establishments | 7,709 |
A plain reading
Happy Valley is the fastest-growing city of the four Portland Metro editions in this batch: the Portland State estimate is 19.2 percent above the 2020 Census count. About four in five households own their home. Median household income is above $122,000 and the median home value is above $725,000. Nearly 97 percent of owner-occupied homes are valued at $300,000 or more, and 3,312 of 7,106, about 47 percent, are valued at $750,000 or more.
Median income, home value and age are survey estimates, and the margins of error above show how much they could move. The $300,000 count is a sum of Census value brackets, so we do not give a margin for it.
How we got these numbers
- Households, tenure, income, home value, age and home-value brackets come from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates for 2020-2024, tables B01003, B11001, B25003, B19013, B25077, B01002 and B25075, read through Census Reporter for Happy Valley city (Census place 4132050). Dollars are 2024 inflation-adjusted ACS dollars.
- The 2020 population is the Census count from Census TIGERweb. The 2025 figure is the certified estimate from Portland State University's Population Research Center, as published by the League of Oregon Cities.
- Business counts are from Census ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023 for ZIP code 97086. That is by ZIP code, not by city limit, and the ZIP may reach beyond the city. Part of Happy Valley also has a Clackamas (97015) address, which is not counted here. The counts leave out businesses with no paid employees.
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year data (2020-2024)
- Census Reporter
- Census TIGERweb
- Census ZIP Code Business Patterns
- League of Oregon Cities, certified population estimates from Portland State University
- Portland State University Population Research Center
- City of Happy Valley: City History
- Happy Valley (Wikipedia)
Also from Oregon Living: Oregon Living in Milwaukie, Oregon · Oregon Living in Oregon City, Oregon · Oregon Living in Gresham, Oregon · Oregon Living in Portland, Oregon · Oregon Living in Lake Oswego, Oregon.