Woodburn

Woodburn is a city in Marion County, Oregon, located in the northern Willamette Valley approximately 30 miles south-southwest of Portland along Interstate 5.¹ The population was 26,013 at the 2020 census and was estimated to be 30,449 in 2024, making Woodburn the 21st most populated city in Oregon and the third-most populous in the Salem metropolitan area after Salem and Keizer.¹ According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.197 square miles.¹

Woodburn is notable for its cultural diversity. The largest racial/ethnic groups are Hispanic (62.6%) followed by White (32.8%) and Two or More (3.0%).² The city is home for a sizable community of Russian Orthodox Old Believers, a Christian traditionalist church that had escaped religious prosecution from post-revolution Russia and moved to the United States from Turkey in the 1950s.¹ Also present in the city are communities of Russian Molokans, Doukhobors and recent refugees from the former USSR: Ukrainian and Russian Pentecostals and Baptists.¹ Among Woodburn residents aged 5 and older, 54.5% speak a non-English language at home, with 50.0% speaking Spanish and 4.0% speaking an Indo-European language.³ With a median household income of $67,469 and a poverty rate of 15.2%, the city faces significant housing affordability pressures.²⁴

Housing Statistics#

Single-family detached homes are the single most common housing type in Woodburn, accounting for 65.61% of the city’s housing units. Other types of housing that are prevalent include large apartment complexes (17.03%), duplexes and small apartment buildings (8.14%), and mobile homes or trailers (6.70%).¹⁰ There is a lot of housing built from 1970 to 1999, and also a significant amount built between 1940–1969 (25.61%), with housing built since 2000 at 19.22% and pre-1939 stock at 6.15%.¹⁰

In April 2025, Woodburn home prices were up 9.3% compared to the prior year, selling for a median price of $440K, with homes selling after an average of 21 days on the market.⁵ The housing market is very competitive, scoring 82 out of 100.⁵ Over the last ten years, Woodburn real estate appreciated 129.91%, an average annual home appreciation rate of 8.68%, placing it in the top 10% nationally.¹⁰

Zoning and Land Use#

Woodburn updated its Woodburn Development Ordinance (WDO) to comply with HB 2001 (2019), which requires larger Oregon cities to allow middle housing in residential zones. The 2019 legislature passed House Bill 2001 into law requiring cities to allow “middle housing” in residential zones that already allow houses. For Woodburn, this means all residential zones.¹¹ HB 2001 requires Woodburn to permit duplexes, triplexes, and quadplexes by right within residential zoning districts that allow detached single-family dwellings.¹¹

Per HB 2001 Section 2, the deadline for conformance was June 30, 2022, with the city’s target enabling ordinance adoption date of Monday, June 27, 2022.¹¹ Following City Council direction on March 9, 2020, city staff applied for and won grant funds to prepare a draft legislative amendment to the WDO.¹¹ The city adopted middle housing code amendments through Ordinance No. 2602 (LA 21-01) and related ordinances.¹¹

The purpose of the state law and the Middle Housing Project is to increase the amount of lower-cost market-rate housing, as middle housing can be less expensive to build than conventional large houses and apartment complexes, and will be allowed in more locations than apartment complexes are allowed today.¹¹

State law through Oregon Administrative Rules (OAR) 660-046 limits cities to requiring no more than two off-street parking spaces total for a duplex, though developers remain at liberty to provide more than the minimum.¹¹ The City Council expressed concern about limiting middle housing more strictly in the central Woodburn area, particularly areas of downtown Woodburn.¹²

Buildable Land#

Oregon law requires that cities plan for and accommodate a 20-year supply of land for predicted population growth.¹³ Oregon Revised Statutes 197.175 requires cities to prepare, adopt and implement comprehensive plans consistent with statewide planning goals, with Goal 10 “Housing” ensuring provision of adequate numbers of needed housing units and efficient use of buildable land within urban growth boundaries.¹³

After a nearly year-long process of technical analysis and public outreach, the City Council adopted a new Buildable Land Inventory, Economic Opportunities Analysis, and amendments to the Comprehensive Plan economic goals and policies in January 2024 via LA-23-02/Ordinance 2619.¹⁴ The adopted BLI and EOA included a forecasted annual employment growth rate of 2.3%, resulting in adding roughly 6,830 jobs by 2043, and findings that Woodburn faces a deficit of 107 gross acres of commercially zoned land and 273 gross acres of industrially zoned land to meet adopted 20-year population projections.¹⁴

The supply and type of vacant and partially vacant land within Woodburn’s existing UGB is limited. The largest remaining contiguous development sites are under 20 acres in size, with most being five acres or less (there are no commercial lots over 10 acres and no industrial lots over 20 acres). Roughly one-third of remaining buildable land is classified as partially vacant parcels where the decision to develop further is subject to the desires of current property owners.¹⁵

Urban Growth Boundary Expansion#

The previous HNA informed the urban growth boundary (UGB) expansion that the Council adopted in December 2015.¹³ Marion County and the City of Woodburn adopted Woodburn’s current Urban Reserve Area via Ordinance 2530 in December 2015.¹⁵

On March 25, 2024, the City Council passed Resolution No. 2230 initiating consideration of a proposed Legislative Amendment to the Woodburn Comprehensive Plan Map to amend the UGB and incorporate the previously established Urban Reserve Area (URA).¹⁴ Pending adoption of the UGB expansion to incorporate the 230-acre Urban Reserve Area into the UGB, any subsequent annexation and zone change of the URA property is subject to a separate legislative land use application initiated by the property owner.¹⁴

In addition to existing capacity within the UGB, Woodburn will need to add 107 gross acres for non-industrial employment land and approximately 273 gross acres for new industrial capacity.¹⁴

Recent Housing Developments#

• Farmdale Apartments: The Farmdale Apartments in Woodburn is one of 10 housing developments statewide to receive funding as part of a $160 million investment from Oregon Housing and Community Services.¹⁶ The renovation will replace the development’s existing 28 units with a newly-constructed 45-unit apartment complex, designed specifically for farmworkers and their families.¹⁷ The city’s approval of the reconstruction came with conditions, including sidewalk and landscaping improvements, new street lighting, and the addition of a mid-block pedestrian and bike path.¹⁷

• Mill Creek Meadows: A planned unit development near the Boones Crossing subdivision. First proposed as 95 lots along the existing drainageway, which drains east from the Boones Crossing subdivision under Brown Street towards Mill Creek.¹⁸ This master-planned community will be made up of 2 unique home collections, with builders including Lennar and Icon Construction offering single-family, duplex, and townhome units.¹⁹

• Smith Creek: An active new construction neighborhood with multiple builders including D.R. Horton and Lennar, offering new homes in Woodburn.²⁰

• Marion Pointe: A new golf course community development by multiple builders including Holt Homes, located near the Oregon Golf Association course with easy access to I-5.²¹

• Brighton Pointe: A new Lennar community in Woodburn offering new construction single-family homes.¹⁹

Key Housing Challenges#

Woodburn faces several significant housing challenges:

• Low incomes relative to housing costs: The city has a median household income of $67,469, and approximately 15.2% of the city’s population lives at or below the poverty line.¹ A household would need an estimated income of approximately $87,200 to afford a median-priced home at current listing prices.²²

• Limited affordable housing supply: Woodburn features 122 income-based apartments where tenants typically pay no more than 30% of their income towards rent and utilities, and 217 rent-subsidized apartments that remain affordable to low-income households.⁹

• Farmworker housing needs: Since 1991, the Farmburn-based Farmworker Housing Development Corporation (FHDC) has created affordable housing and asset building opportunities for thousands of individuals and families in the mid-Willamette valley, with a mission to develop farmworker and low-income community leadership through affordable housing, social services, education, and economic development.²³ The Woodburn-based farmworkers union Piñeros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN) has been a prominent advocate for farmworker housing and labor rights.

• Constrained buildable land: The supply and type of vacant and partially vacant land within Woodburn’s existing UGB is limited.¹⁵ The city is actively pursuing UGB expansion to accommodate future growth through a 230-acre Urban Reserve Area incorporation.¹⁴

• Rapid population growth: Population change since 2000 has been +51.5%, placing continual pressure on housing supply and infrastructure.⁴

• Tight rental market: The rental vacancy rate in Woodburn is 4%, which is a lower than average vacancy rate, contributing to competitive rental conditions.⁹

Local Housing Policies#

Fair Housing: The City of Woodburn certifies that it Affirmatively Furthers Fair Housing, with a policy supporting equal opportunity in housing for all people and prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental, leasing, or financing of housing.²⁴

CDBG Rental Assistance Program: The City of Woodburn has administered Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding to provide direct economic rent relief/assistance to low- and moderate-income families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, covering Woodburn, Gervais, and Hubbard.²⁵ Woodburn’s proficient handling of those funds helped foster opportunities for additional program funding.²⁵

Housing Needs Analysis: Statewide Planning Goal 10 “Housing” requires cities to have housing needs analyses to ensure opportunity for the provision of adequate numbers of needed housing units, the efficient use of buildable land within urban growth boundaries, and to provide greater certainty in the development process so as to reduce housing costs. Woodburn adopted an updated HNA via Ordinance No. 2576.¹³

Buildable Land Inventory: The City Council adopted a new Buildable Land Inventory and Economic Opportunities Analysis in January 2024 via LA-23-02/Ordinance 2619.¹⁴

Middle Housing Ordinances: The city adopted Ordinance No. 2602 (LA 21-01) and Ordinance No. 2603 (LA 21-02) to bring the Woodburn Development Ordinance into compliance with HB 2001 (2019) middle housing requirements.¹¹

Community Resources: The city connects residents with housing resources including Mid-Willamette Valley Community Action (overnight shelter), Farmworker Housing Development Corporation (farmworker housing assistance), and the ARCHES Project (financial help with rent and housing).²³

Sources#