City · Washington County, Oregon

Cornelius, Oregon

Cornelius is a city in Washington County, Oregon, part of the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA metro area. It has 14,255 residents. Cornelius, Oregon has a quality-of-life score of 79 out of 100 (high), ranking #3,333 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Oregon it ranks #34 of 227 cities and towns. It ranks best on child poverty rate (low), broadband subscriptions (high) and public transit commuters (high). It ranks worst on job growth (low), pharmacies (low) and poor or fair health (high).

79High

Quality-of-life score: #3,333 of 15,651 cities and towns
Oregon: #34 of 227 in OR
Population: 14,255 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 6,090.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 4115550

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety67#5,207/15,637
Economy72#4,320/15,631
Housing40#9,025/14,977
Health66#5,258/15,609
Healthcare78#3,401/15,650
Environment64#5,495/15,453
Education39#9,554/15,649
Infrastructure97#532/15,650
Community75#3,894/15,651
Leisure & amenities69#4,872/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Cornelius, Oregon ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Washington County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Child poverty rate · low2.5%
98/100Oregon 13.0%United States 15.5%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001High uncertainty
Broadband subscriptions · high98.3%
96/100Oregon 92.4%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Public transit commuters · high6.8%
95/100Oregon 2.2%United States 3.2%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08301
Traffic deaths · low5.0 /100k
95/100Oregon 13.3 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataWashington County value
Mental health providers · high643 /100k
95/100Oregon 776 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWashington County value
Premature death · low4,904 /100k
94/100Oregon 7,519 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteWashington County value

Weaknesses

Job growth · low-2.7%
8/100Oregon -1.3%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataWashington County value
Pharmacies · low1.0 /10k
14/100Oregon 0.9 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsWashington County value
Poor or fair health · high25.9%
14/100Oregon 19.9%United States 19.9%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Students per teacher · high17.9×
15/100Oregon 17.8×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsWashington County value
Public libraries · low0.3 /10k
17/100Oregon 0.5 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesWashington County value
Time spent in the emergency room · high202 min
20/100Oregon 159 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesWashington County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
12,638 (2015-2019) → 14,255 (2020-2024)
+13%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedWorsening
28.2 /1k (2021) → 2.9 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−90%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
89.3% (2015-2019) → 98.3% (2020-2024)
+9.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$67,207 (2015-2019) → $96,273 (2020-2024)
+43%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Child poverty rateImproving
7.6% (2015-2019) → 2.5% (2020-2024)
−5.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
3.9× (2015-2019) → 4.7× (2020-2024)
+20%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Cornelius, Oregon improved on 2 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 11 moved within the margin of error and 1 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved2

Household income+43%$67,207 → $96,273
Broadband+9.1 points89.3% → 98.3%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Cornelius, Oregon between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	26.6 min2015-2019	28.7 min2020-2024	+2.2 min	Within the margin of error	26%
Bachelor's degree or higher	15.8%2015-2019	18.9%2020-2024	+3.2 points	Within the margin of error	53%
Broadband subscriptions	89.3%2015-2019	98.3%2020-2024	+9.1 points	Improved	55%
Effective property tax rate	0.97%2015-2019	0.58%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Little change	84%
High school diploma or higher	73.4%2015-2019	77.1%2020-2024	+3.7 points	Within the margin of error	74%
Home price to income ratio	3.9×2015-2019	4.7×2020-2024	+0.8×	Within the margin of error	31%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3472015-2019	0.3662020-2024	+0.019	Within the margin of error	35%
Median household income	$67,2072015-2019	$96,2732020-2024	+43%	Improved	78%
Poverty rate	6.7%2015-2019	9.1%2020-2024	+2.3 points	Within the margin of error	24%
Public transit commuters	4.2%2015-2019	6.8%2020-2024	+2.6 points	Within the margin of error	100%
Rent as share of income	28.0%2015-2019	28.9%2020-2024	+0.9 points	Within the margin of error	48%
Rent-burdened households	43.1%2015-2019	45.7%2020-2024	+2.7 points	Within the margin of error	46%
Unemployment rate	3.3%2015-2019	5.0%2020-2024	+1.7 points	Within the margin of error	19%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	11.3%2015-2019	11.3%2020-2024	−0 points	Within the margin of error	47%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Cornelius, Oregon five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Cornelius, Oregon in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Cornelius, Oregon itself moved +2.6 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

14,255 residents (±39)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

4,843 households (±342)

Cornelius, Oregon
Oregon share

Under $25k6.3%†306
$25k–50k14%679
$50k–75k12%†585

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

4,843 households (±342)

Cornelius, Oregon
Oregon share

Own74%3,597
Rent26%1,246

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

7,413 workers (±457)

Cornelius, Oregon
Oregon share

Drive alone67%4,998
Carpool12%926
Public transit6.8%†505

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Washington County, the county holding most of Cornelius's residents.

Washington County has 16,355 employer establishments, 271 for every 10,000 residents (1.09× the US rate of 248; 0.94× Oregon's), with 307,351 paid employees at an average annual pay of $87,499. The Census Bureau also counts 46,094 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 16,355; 46,094 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 271; US 248 · Oregon 288
Paid employees: 307,351
Average annual pay: $87,499; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Washington County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	1,364	22.6	1.08×About typical	16,520	$73,059	2,126
Restaurants and other eating places	1,146	19	1.03×About typical	20,132	$26,866	215
Specialty trade contractors	1,081	17.9	1.16×About typical	13,637	$83,072	1,460
Lessors of real estate	960	15.9	1.29×More than typical	4,381	$62,553	4,580
Construction of buildings	689	11.4	1.51×More than typical	4,032	$77,678	942
Services to buildings and dwellings	646	10.7	1.59×More than typical	5,810	$46,824	1,732
Offices of other health practitioners	492	8.1	1.34×More than typical	3,627	$49,678	1,251
Limited-service restaurants	475	7.9	0.98×About typical	8,745	$24,286	112
Management, scientific and technical consulting	475	7.9	1.17×About typical	3,427	$119,325	2,228
Building finishing contractors	459	7.6	2.00×More than typical	3,399	$63,501	525
Full-service restaurants	458	7.6	0.99×About typical	8,388	$30,907	68
Real estate agents and brokers	395	6.5	1.34×More than typical	1,017	$74,350	1,345

Rank places for an industry Open Washington County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 603,856 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $11.3K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Cornelius, Oregon: $0.79 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $11.3K
Per resident: $0.79; US $1,994
Sole-source: 21%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

National Aeronautics and Space Administration$10.7K94%
Defense Logistics Agency$6655.9%

Top recipients

SHELDON MANUFACTURING, INC.$11.3K100%

Spending by fiscal year

5.4KFY2017
20.1KFY2018
1.2KFY2019
7.1KFY2020
1.3KFY2023
11.3KFY2026

What was bought

Other equipment & supplies$11.3K100%

Top industries (NAICS)

Other general purpose machinery manufacturing · 3339$10.7K94%
Other fabricated metal product manufacturing · 3329$6655.9%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Cornelius, Oregon, so they do not add up across cities.

Cornelius, Oregon's figures are part of those of Washington County, OR ($71.6M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Cornelius is mostly in Washington County.

See federal money in Washington County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Cornelius, Oregon is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

Senate

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Washington County88100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA80

Other cities and towns in Washington County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/4115550

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends