Low Income Apartments and Affordable Housing For Rent in Portland, OR

Discover affordable housing in Portland where there are 320+ housing opportunities based on income and household needs like accessible units for seniors or persons with disabilities. Find and apply to these low income apartments now.

Spruce Park Apartments

650 SE 162nd Ave, Portland, Oregon 97233

Buckman Heights Apartments

430 NE 16th Ave, Portland, Oregon 97232

Milepost 5

850 NE 81st Avenue , Portland, Oregon 97213

Humboldt Gardens

5025 N Vancouver Ave, Portland, Oregon 97217

Uptown Tower Apartments

712 SW Saint Clair, Portland, Oregon 97205

Cathedral Gardens

8652 N Swift Way, Portland, Oregon 97203

Miracles Club

4150 NE Martin Luther King Blvd, Portland, Oregon 97211

Bridge Meadows Senior Housing

8502 N Wayland Ave, Portland, Oregon 97217

Hawthorne East Apartments

1420 SE 16th Ave, Portland, Oregon 97232

Miracles Central Apartments

1306 NE 2nd Ave, Portland, Oregon 97232

Mayfield Court Apartments

17675 SE Pine St, Portland, Oregon 97233

St. Francis Park Apartments

1177 SE Stark St, Portland, Oregon 9721

NAYA Generations

8510 SE Steele St, Portland, Oregon 97203

Collins Circle

1701 SW Columbia Street, Portland, Oregon 97201

Cascadian Terrace

5700 N Kerby, Portland, Oregon 97217

Bookmark Apartments

2034 NE 40th Ave, Portland, Oregon 97212

Alder House

523 SW 13th Ave, Portland, Oregon 97205

Powell Plaza I & II

13320 SE Powell Blvd, Portland, Oregon 97236

Tenino Terrace

2405 SE Umatilla Street, Portland, Oregon 97202

Kentonwood Dimensions

1603 N Willis Blvd., Portland, Oregon 97217

The Hourly Wage Needed to Afford A Safe, Modest 2 Bed Apartment In Portland, Oregon
$38.33/hour
$25.13 (+190%) more than Oregon minimum wage and $31.08 (+429%) more than the Federal minimum wage.
Learn More About Portland, Oregon Affordable Housing ↓

What HUD offices serve Portland, Oregon?

Public Housing Agencies operate federally assisted affordable housing programs at local levels on behalf of HUD. Notably, housing agencies are responsible for managing Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher, Public Housing, and Project-Based Voucher waiting lists within their jurisdiction.

Operates the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV), Public Housing programs for Portland, Oregon.
Operates the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV), Public Housing, Moving to Work, Section 8 Project-Based Voucher (PBV), Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) programs for Portland, Oregon.

Go to the Oregon Public Housing and Low-Income Apartments Waiting Lists page for openings near Portland.

How many renters live in Portland, Oregon?

The City of Portland has 635,296 people living in 284,533 households.

There are 260,391 renters living in 139,825 renter households in this City. Renters make up 40.99 percent of the population living in Portland.

What is the rental market like in Portland, Oregon?

There are an estimated 305,077 housing units in the Portland area. Of these, 148,227 units are rental homes, making up 49 percent of the housing market. For every renter household in Portland, Oregon, there are 1 rental units.

What is the vacancy rate for rentals in Portland?

The rental vacancy rate in Portland is 5 percent. This is a lower than average vacancy rate. When rental vacancy rates are low there are fewer available units. Rents tend to be higher as more people compete for scarce housing.

How many rental units are in Portland for each bedroom size?

Occupied Rental Units by Size in Portland
Studio One-Bedroom Two-Bedroom Three-Bedroom Four+ Bedrooms
23,385 45,033 44,674 21,063 4,756
Occupied Rental Units by Size in Portland

A large number of apartments in Portland have two or fewer bedrooms. Seniors and young professionals especially may have more success finding an apartment that meets their needs.

How many renter households in Portland are overburdened by housing costs?

Among renter households in this market, 52 percent have housing cost burden. Further, 26 percent of households are extremely rent overburdened. When renters pay too much for their housing, it leaves little money for other necessities like food, clothes, or medicine.

The federal government says that renters are cost-burdened if they pay more than a third of their monthly income for rent and utilities.

How Much Is Rent in Portland

Depending on size, the Fair Market Rent - HUDs measurement of the cost of an average housing unit - ranges from $1,650 to $3,254. FMRs are updated annually by HUD for every city and county nationwide.

Bed Size 2024 Fair Market Rents
Studio $1,650
One BR $1,776
Two BR $2,024
Three BR $2,809
Four BR $3,254
2024 Fair Market Rents in Portland, Oregon

How many units are rented at Fair Market Rent (FMR) in Portland?

Renters with a Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher must select a home that is at or below the area’s Fair Market Rent. Markets with a large share of units above FMR tend to have longer search times to find a qualified unit, while those with a large share of units below FMR tend to have more choices and shorter search times. The share below FMR can vary by size of unit, as shown in the table below.

These are the approximate number of units renting below the FMR in this market:

Unit Size Count of Units Below FMR Percentage of Total Units Below FMR
Studio 18,418 79 percent
One BR 28,286 63 percent
Two BR 18,497 41 percent
Rental Units Below FMR in Portland, Oregon

How many affordable rental units are in Portland?

There are a variety of federal affordable housing programs serving households in Portland, Oregon including the following:

Federal Program Unit Count
Low Income Housing Tax Credit 15,199
Public Housing 376
Section 8 Project-Based Rental Assistance 3,374
Mod Rehab Project-Based Rental Assistance 50
Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly 478
Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities 130
Tracked Units by Federal Program in Portland, Oregon

Rental units may be funded in part by multiple federal programs.

Income Based Apartments in Portland, Oregon

Portland features 7,263 income based apartments. Tenants of income based apartments typically pay no more than 30% of their income towards rent and utilities.

Low Rent Apartments in Portland, Oregon

There are 14,523 rent subsidized apartments that do not provide direct rental assistance but remain affordable to low income households in Portland.

Housing Choice Vouchers in Portland, Oregon

On average, Section 8 Housing Choice vouchers pay Portland landlords $800 per month towards rent. The average voucher holder contributes $400 towards rent in Portland.

The maximum amount a voucher would pay on behalf of a low-income tenant in Portland, Oregon for a two-bedroom apartment is between $1,822 and $2,226.

Sourced from federal housing data and AffordableHousingOnline.com research.