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About West Linn
West Linn is a Clackamas County city across the Willamette River from Oregon City, between the Willamette and Tualatin rivers. The City says settlers first occupied the area in the early 1840s, and Robert Moore named his pioneer town Linn City in 1845. West Linn was incorporated in 1913 and took its name from that town.
West Linn in numbers
| Measure | West Linn |
|---|---|
| Population, 2020 Census | 27,373 |
| Population, ACS 2020-2024 | 26,935 |
| Population, Portland State University certified estimate, July 1, 2025 | 27,601 (+0.8% since 2020) |
| Households | 9,844 |
| Owner-occupied share of households | 82.7% |
| Median household income | $146,507 |
| Median home value (owner-occupied) | $770,200 |
| Median age | 43.3 |
| Owner-occupied homes valued at $300,000 or more | 7,881 of 8,137 (96.9%) |
| Owner-occupied homes valued at $750,000 or more | 4,301 of 8,137 (52.9%) |
| Business establishments, ZIP 97068 | 861 |
| Paid employees at those establishments | 5,615 |
A plain reading
West Linn is the most owner-heavy city in this edition: more than 8 in 10 households own their home. Median household income is above $146,000 and the median home value is above $770,000. Nearly 97 in 100 owner-occupied homes are valued at $300,000 or more, and about half at $750,000 or more. Growth is slow, under 1 percent since 2020.
In 2023 ZIP 97068 held 861 business establishments with 5,615 paid employees.
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. Dollars are 2024 inflation-adjusted ACS dollars.
- Margins of error: the ACS lists 90 percent margins of error. For West Linn the median household income estimate is the least certain: plus or minus $13,220 (about 9 percent). Median home value is plus or minus $24,575, and the count of owner homes valued at $300,000 or more is plus or minus about 590 (our own combination of the bracket margins).
- The 2020 population is the Census count (TIGERweb, Census 2020 place layer). The 2025 figure is the certified estimate from Portland State University's Population Research Center (Vintage 2025 city estimates file).
- Business counts are from Census ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023 for ZIP 97068. They are by ZIP code, not by city limit, and they leave out businesses with no paid employees. The ZIP code may not match the city limit exactly, and the Census adds small amounts of noise to employee counts to protect confidentiality.
Sources
- U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year data (2020-2024)
- Census Reporter
- Census ZIP Code Business Patterns
- Portland State University Population Research Center
- City of West Linn, history
- Census TIGERweb
Also from Oregon Living: Oregon Living in Oregon City, Oregon · Oregon Living in Lake Oswego, Oregon · Oregon Living in Wilsonville, Oregon · Oregon Living in Tualatin, Oregon · Oregon Living in Happy Valley, Oregon.