A Look into Oregon's Population Growth

"Kanhaiya Vaidya, the state's senior demographer, says the figures arrive with a caveat. 'Most of the state's growth happened in the first seven years of the decade' before the recession socked economic momentum.

The Oregonian's continuing coverage of 2010 Census

The state's 12 biggest counties in 2000 remained the biggest a decade later, and with few surprises concerning the major three: Multnomah is still the big brother of the metro-area family, topping Washington and Clackamas counties with a population of 735,334, an 11 percent jump from a decade ago. Still, Washington saw the biggest growth spurt of the three counties, a nearly 19 percent jump. Clackamas, like Multnomah, grew at roughly an 11 percent clip during the decade."

But despite the growth, more than a fifth of the state's counties lost population between 2000 and 2010.