Oregon's Smaller Cities Growing Faster Than Other States'

America’s large metropolitan areas are seeing much stronger growth than smaller cities. The same is true in Oregon, but to a smaller degree.

The U.S. lost about 6 percent of jobs during the great recession.  In Oregon, it was more like 8 percent.

Coming out of the recession, the large metropolitan areas turned things around first. They’ve been growing at about 3 percent while smaller metropolitan areas - those with populations of less than 250,000 — are seeing rates of less than 1 percent.

But, said Josh Lehner with the Oregon Office of Economic Analysis, some Oregon cities aren’t following that national trend.

“The one thing that’s different about Oregon today, relative to the rest of the country, is that our second tier metros are booming today," he said.

"If you look at Bend and you look at Salem, they're growing at rates as fast as they ever has grown - unlike some of those medium sized metropolitan areas around the rest of the country that are lagging behind the bigger cities," Lehner said.

Lehner attributed Oregon's success to migration and the mix of established industries.