The Portland, OR market, by the numbers

The households

Officially the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA metropolitan statistical area, it takes in Portland, Vancouver and Hillsboro across Oregon and Washington.

For housing, the median value is $559,400, 68 percent above the national figure. A $97,436 median household income puts Portland, OR 21 percent above the national figure.

Age and education shape how people search and who answers the phone. Homeownership stands at 61.7%, 4 points below the US share. Education: 42.5% with a bachelor's or higher, 7 points above the US share. Of 1,375,188 people in the labor force, 5.1% are unemployed, about the same as the US share. The median resident is 39.3 years old, about the same as the national median.

One more comparison, this time with Oregon: median income 17 percent higher than the Oregon figure, median home value 17 percent higher than the Oregon figure, business density about the same as the Oregon figure.

Who is already competing here

County Business Patterns counts 72,943 employer establishments in Portland, OR. Relative to population, 28.9 per 1,000 residents, 16 percent above the national figure. The home-services trades that most often advertise locally number 3,167 establishments, a 4.3% share, about the same as the US share. The single largest category in the table below is restaurants, with 5,355 locations.

Reading the index: 1.00 matches the national mix, 1.50 means half again as common here, 0.50 half as common.

Crowded categories in Portland, OR: child day care services and roofing contractors. Child day care services are the clearest case: 1,003 establishments, 1.4 times the share they hold nationally. Fewer than the national pattern would suggest: physicians' offices, electrical contractors, automobile dealers and plumbing and HVAC contractors. Physicians' offices show the largest gap, 1,161 locations, about 61% of what the national mix would give. Concrete contractors, landscaping services and road and paving contractors track the US share closely.

Per resident the densest are restaurants at 212.4 per 100,000 people, then legal services and personal care services. Restaurants (5,355), legal services (1,490) and personal care services (1,462) are the biggest categories by establishment count. Sector view: consumer services (restaurants, salons, child care, grocery) index at about the same as the national share, medical and dental practices at about 77% of.

Where the openings are

When child day care services and roofing contractors are this common, customers compare. That makes the review profile and the speed of the first reply the deciding factors, and it makes conversion tracking essential so budget flows to the searches that turn into booked work. For physicians' offices, electrical contractors and automobile dealers the picture is the opposite. Fewer competing profiles means a complete listing, a fast site and a modest search budget can take a disproportionate share of the searches that exist. Residents here are older than the US median (about the same as the national median); they search, read reviews and call, which puts the weight on search, the listing and the phone. Incomes 21 percent above the national figure give room for premium service tiers; ads that lead with quality and speed rather than price tend to fit. At 61.7% owner-occupied, more residents rent than in the typical US market. Consumer home-services demand is thinner per household, and property managers become a worthwhile audience.