About
The footprint of Western Oregon’s Benton, Lincoln, and Linn Counties spans nearly 4,000 square miles, is home to over 255,000 individuals, and encompasses diverse economic, geographic, and cultural attributes. From the foothills of the Cascades to the Central Oregon Coast, with the fertile Willamette Valley in between, this is a region of exciting opportunities and unique challenges.
This seminal State of the Region highlights trends, connections, and indicators related to the people and the economy of our region, including migration, agriculture, business patents, philanthropic investments, and more. Findings are developed and illustrated through a rigorous data collection process undertaken over the past year by a project team at the Oregon Cascades West Council of Governments.
Our goals for the State of the Region are:
- To capture data related to our region, present it, and make it available in easy-to-use, scalable, and interactive formats. The data are not meant to be comprehensive, but rather to provide a snapshot and encourage future conversations.
- To build internal and external capacity in data collection, maintenance, and visualization.
- To provide decision-makers with data to help set the stage for policy and program decisions concerning our collective priorities, investments, and vision.
About OCWCOG
The Oregon Cascades West Council of Governments (OCWCOG) has served the region since the 1970s. OCWCOG is a regional planning and service delivery organization with offices in Albany, Corvallis, and Toledo, and over 160 staff members. OCWCOG conducts projects and provides services on behalf of its members, which include 21 cities, three counties, the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians, and the Port of Newport. OCWCOG’s work is diverse and includes senior and disability services, veterans programs, business services, economic development, business lending, and transportation planning.
About the Data
The data in this report come from a variety of sources such as the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Oregon State University, Oregon Department of Education, and many other federal, state, and local sources. No primary data collection was completed for this document. All data are publicly available from the respective sources; no confidential data were used. Most of the data in this document are based on sample surveys and are subject to sampling variability. Readers are encouraged to refer to the original data sources for details on methodology, including sampling variability, margins of error, and statistical significance. Data in some tables and charts may not add due to rounding (e.g. percentages may add to 99 or 100). The target timeframe for this report is the period from 2004 to 2014, although not all data were available for this reference period. The most recent available data as of July 1, 2015 were used.
Data Sources
Acronym List
A&E | Albany & Eastern Railroad |
ACA | Affordable Care Act |
ACS | American Community Survey |
BEST | Oregon’s Built Environment & Sustainable Technologies Center |
BLS | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics |
BMI | body mass index |
btu | British thermal unit |
BVCOG | Brazos Valley Council of Governments |
CMS | Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services |
CSA | Community Supported Agriculture |
DHS | Department of Human Services |
DOC | Department of Commerce |
DOE | Department of Energy |
DOI | Department of Interior |
DOL | Department of Labor |
ED | Oregon Department of Education |
EPA | Environment Protection Agency |
ERS | Economic Research Service |
FHWA | Federal Highway Administration |
GIS | geographic information system |
GSA | Government Services Administration |
GTFS | General Transit Feed Specification |
HHS | Health and Human Services |
I-5 | Interstate 5 |
INH-COO | InterCommunity Health Network Coordinated Care Organization |
IHS | Indian Health Services |
HRSA | Health Resources and Services Administration |
Kwh | kilowatt |
LAUS | Local Area Unemployment Statistics |
MW | megawatt |
NACOG | Northern Arizona Council of Governments |
NAICS | North American Industry Classification System |
NASA | National Air and Space Administration |
NASS | National Agricultural Statistics Service |
NEMT | non-emergenct medical transportation |
NIH | National Institutes of Health |
NOAA | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |
NPIAS | National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems |
NSF | National Science Foundation |
OCWCOG | Oregon Cascades West Council of Governments |
ODE | Oregon Department of Energy |
ODF | Oregon Department of Forestry |
ODOT | Oregon Department of Transportation |
OED | Oregon Employment Department |
OHP | Oregon Health Plan |
ONAMI | Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute |
OPRD | Oregon Parks and Recreation Department |
OSU | Oregon State University |
OTRADI | Oregon Translational Research and Development Institute |
P&W | Portland & Western Railroad |
PM | particulate matter |
PSU | Portland State University |
QCEW | Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages |
RAIN | Regional Accelerator and Innovation Network |
SAHIE | small area health insurance estimates |
SICOG | Southeast Idaho Council of Governments |
SNAP | Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program |
SSI | Social Security Insurance |
USACE | United States Army Corps of Engineers |
USAID | United States Agency for International Development |
USDA | United States Department of Agriculture |
USBLM | United States Bureau of Land Management |
USDOD | United States Department of Defense |
USFS | United States Forest Service |
USFWS | United States Fish and Wildlife Service |
USGS | United States Geological Survey |
USN | United States Department of the Navy |
VA | United States Department of Veterans Affairs |
VSO | Veterans Service Office |