According to census estimates released last week for cities of 50 thousand or more, Salem has once again nosed out Eugene as the state’s second largest city. As of July 2013, Eugene’ s population was about 159 thousand, while Salem topped 160, 000.
Portland remains Oregon’s largest city by a factor of four. Bend was the clear state leader in percent of population growth last year at two-point-nine. Eugene, Springfield, Salem and Corvallis all saw small population gains, with none registering as much as one percent.