Transparency

Methodology & Data Sources

How we collect, verify, and present Portland's civic data.

Our Principles

Real data only

We show real data where we have it and clearly mark what’s missing. Every metric on the dashboard is labeled with its source and status.

No fake data as real

We never present estimated or mock data as real. If a data source is unavailable, we say so rather than fabricating numbers.

Public sources

Every metric is sourced from public records, government APIs, and verified datasets. We do not use proprietary data without disclosure.

Open source

All code and data pipelines are open source. Anyone can audit how we fetch, transform, and display every number on this dashboard.

Data Sources by Category

Housing

Building permits, construction activity, and rental market trends across Portland.

Source	Provider	Update Frequency	Status
Building Permits (BDS)	Portland Permitting & Development via ArcGIS	Continuous (live API)	Live
Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI)	Zillow Research	Monthly CSV	Periodic Download
Zillow Observed Rent Index (ZORI)	Zillow Research	Monthly CSV	Periodic Download

Public Safety

Crime trends, 911 response data, and public safety metrics for Portland.

Source	Provider	Update Frequency	Status
PPB Crime Grid Data	Portland Police Bureau via ArcGIS MapServer	Continuous (live API)	Live
BOEC 911 Response Times	Bureau of Emergency Communications	Hardcoded from published reports	PRR Needed

Economy

Employment, wages, business formation, and commercial vacancy across Multnomah County.

Source	Provider	Update Frequency	Status
BLS QCEW (Employment & Wages)	Bureau of Labor Statistics	Quarterly CSV API, ~6 month lag, 10-year history	Live
BLS LAUS (Unemployment Rate)	Bureau of Labor Statistics	Monthly API, ~2 month lag	Live
Oregon SOS Business Registry	Oregon Secretary of State via data.oregon.gov	Continuous (live API)	Live

Fiscal Health

Tax burden comparisons, city budget analysis, and pension liability tracking.

Source	Provider	Update Frequency	Status
Tax Rate Analysis	Lincoln Institute / OR DOR / WA DOR / City budgets	Annual (published rates)	Static

Education

PPS enrollment, test scores, graduation rates, chronic absenteeism, per-pupil spending, and class size.

Source	Provider	Update Frequency	Status
PPS Enrollment Data	Oregon Dept of Education (ODE)	Annual XLSX (October headcount)	Periodic Download
Test Scores (Smarter Balanced)	Oregon Dept of Education (ODE)	Annual	Periodic Download
Graduation Rates	Oregon Dept of Education (ODE)	Annual (4-year adjusted cohort)	Periodic Download
Chronic Absenteeism	Oregon Dept of Education (ODE)	Annual	Periodic Download
Per-Pupil Spending	Oregon Dept of Education (ODE)	Annual	Periodic Download
Class Size	Oregon Dept of Education (ODE)	Annual	Periodic Download

Homelessness

Point-in-time counts, shelter capacity, and service utilization data.

Source	Provider	Update Frequency	Status
HUD Point-in-Time Count	HUD Exchange	Annual XLSB	Periodic Download
HSD/JOHS Shelter Dashboard	Joint Office of Homeless Services / Tableau	Varies	PRR Needed

Transportation

Transit routes, ridership, and commute patterns across the Portland metro.

Source	Provider	Update Frequency	Status
TriMet GTFS (Routes & Stops)	TriMet	Continuous (89 routes, 6,399 stops)	Live
Census ACS Commute Mode Share	U.S. Census Bureau	Annual (American Community Survey)	API Key Required

Environment

Air quality, emissions, and environmental health metrics for Portland.

Source	Provider	Update Frequency	Status
AirNow AQI	EPA AirNow API	Hourly	API Key Required

Quality of Life

Parks access, street conditions, library services, and neighborhood livability.

Source	Provider	Update Frequency	Status
Portland Parks Data	Portland Parks & Recreation via ArcGIS	Continuous (live API)	Live
PBOT Pavement Condition Index	Portland Bureau of Transportation via ArcGIS	Annual survey	Periodic Download
Oregon Library Statistics	State Library of Oregon via Socrata API	Annual	Live

Accountability

Ballot measure results, elected officials, and government transparency tracking.

Source	Provider	Update Frequency	Status
Ballot Measure Results	Multnomah County Elections / public records	Seeded from election results	Seeded
Elected Officials	portland.gov	Seeded from public records	Seeded

Data Quality & Known Limitations

Oregon SOS business data has survivorship bias. The Oregon Secretary of State registry only tracks currently active businesses. Dissolved or inactive entities drop out of the dataset, so net formation counts overstate business growth and understate churn.

QCEW data has approximately a 6-month lag. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages data with a delay of roughly two quarters. The most recent quarter shown on the dashboard reflects this lag.

ArcGIS crime data counts grid cells, not individual crimes. The PPB crime MapServer returns counts per geographic grid cell. Multiple offenses at the same location are collapsed into a single cell count. This means raw totals from the API undercount actual crime volume.

Permit processing times have survivorship bias. Only completed permits are included in processing time calculations. Permits still in review (which are likely the slowest) are excluded, making median processing times appear faster than they actually are.

Census ACS data has margin of error. American Community Survey estimates are based on sampling, not a full count. Small geographies and rare characteristics have wider margins of error. We display point estimates without confidence intervals for readability.

ArcGIS date fields may contain garbage values. Some ArcGIS feature services return dates in the year 1899 or other obviously invalid timestamps. We filter these out rather than display them.

Update Schedule

Frequency	Data Sources
Real-time / Continuous	BDS Building Permits, PPB Crime Grid, Oregon SOS Business Registry, TriMet GTFS, Portland Parks ArcGIS
Hourly	AirNow AQI (when API key configured)
Monthly	BLS LAUS Unemployment (~2 month lag), Zillow ZHVI/ZORI
Quarterly	BLS QCEW Employment & Wages (~6 month lag)
Annually	ODE Enrollment, Test Scores, Graduation Rates, Chronic Absenteeism, Per-Pupil Spending, Class Size; HUD PIT Count; Tax Rate Analysis; PBOT Pavement PCI; Oregon Library Stats; Census ACS
As published	Ballot measure results, Elected officials, BOEC 911 reports

Report Errors & Contribute

If you spot an error in our data, see a metric that doesn't match an official source, or have a suggestion for a new data source, we want to hear from you.

Report a data error: Open an issue on our GitHub repository with the category, metric, and the correct value with its source.

Suggest a data source: We prioritize sources that are free, publicly accessible, and machine-readable. If you know of a Portland-area dataset we should include, let us know the URL, format, and update frequency.

Contribute code: This project is open source. Data ingestion pipelines, API routes, and visualization components are all available for contribution.