Lake Oswego is the Portland metro area's only "super" zip code, according to a fascinating new interactive map compiled by The Washington Post.
The map takes a look at where the country's top zip codes are—places where the median household income is around $120,000 and seven out of 10 people hold college degrees. The highest scoring Super Zip metro area in the country is Washington DC.
Lake Oswego's zip code—97034—is the only such high-ranking location in the state, with a median income of $96,134 and 68 percent of adults are college graduates.
I think the Washington Post may be a little behind the times. In a recent Oregonian article, Happy Valley is the new Lake Oswego, but West Linn has topped Lake Oswego's median household income for several years.
Your post prompted me to take a look at the most recently available census data.
ReplyDeleteLake Oswego of course has two zip codes 97034 and 97035.
Also, the vast majority of multi-family housing-apartments-is found in 97035.
Here's what I found in regard to the cities of Lake Oswego, West Linn and Happy Valley:
The most educated-Bachelor's Degree or more: Lake Oswego at 66.5%; followed by West Linn at 56.2%; and, Happy Valley, at less than 50%.
Based on the Washington Post criteria neither West Linn nor Happy Valley meet the education threshold of 7 out of 10 holding college degrees.
Some additional data of possible interest:
The highest median income: Happy Valley at $100, 647; West Linn $92,342; and, Lake Oswego at $81,669.
The highest percentage of home ownership: Happy Valley at 87.5%; West Linn 80.8%; and Lake Oswego at 71.1%.
And, the highest percentage of Multi-Family Units: Lake Oswego at 28.6%, West Linn at 14.2%, and Happy Valley at 5.4%.
So, Lake Oswego is the highest educated of the three, with also the highest % of multi-family; and the lowest median income and lowest % of home ownership.
One senses our median income is lower than either Happy Valley or West Linn because we have 5x the number of apartment dwellers of Happy Valley, and 2x the number of West Linn.
I agree with your analysis. But you don't hear much about the other communities being pressured to increase density. Why not?
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