Editor’s Note
Sherwood, Oregon is not an entirely equivalent comparison to Mount Vernon or Knox County, Ohio. Still, the areas share many similarities, the “Beyond the Chip” series is exploring Sherwood, Oregon to learn from their community’s growth after a nearby Intel plant was developed, and uncover what Mount Vernon can learn.
MOUNT VERNON — The Knox Pages team wanted to travel to a community of what Mount Vernon might expect to be in 30 years or so.
Sherwood is in the southeast corner of Washington County, Oregon. It is a residential community approximately 17 miles southwest of Portland. The city’s population is about 20,621 as of 2024.
Sherwood is also about 17 miles away from Intel’s largest Oregon campus located in Hillsboro.
Here’s a deep dive into comparisons between Sherwood and Mount Vernon, from housing to population demographics, education and employment.
Sherwood’s home values are higher than Mount Vernon’s according to listing prices from Realtor.com. Sherwood also has a stronger inclination toward homeownership, where 39% of Mount Vernon’s population are renters.
According to Realtor.com data, the median price per square foot for home listings in Mount Vernon in 2024 was $160 per square foot. The Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro area recorded a median $305 per square foot.
Mount Vernon’s home values are more varied than Sherwood’s as well, with more than half of Sherwood’s owner-occupied housing units valued between $500,000 – $749,999. Mount Vernon’s meanwhile are valued largely between $100,000 and $249,999.
Additionally, Sherwood has a higher average family size with an average of 3.35 persons in a household and Mount Vernon’s average family size is 2.87 people.
Housing
Mount Vernon has more housing units than Sherwood, Oregon. However, Sherwood has larger household sizes and a larger population of children.
From 2018-2022, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated there were 6,829 total households in Sherwood compared to Mount Vernon’s 7,181 households.
Five years from now, Sherwood’s median home values are expected to increase by 5.9% and Mount Vernon’s are expected to increase by 6.07%.
Population
Both communities’ median age of the population is about 39 years old. Here’s a closer look:
Children and Teen Population (Ages 0-14):
- Sherwood has a higher proportion of children. In 2020, about 23.2% of Sherwood’s population was aged 0-14, projected to decrease slightly to 19.9% by 2029.
- Mount Vernon, in contrast, had about 17.4% of its population in this age range in 2020, further declining to around 16.9% by 2029.
Young Adults and Working Age (Ages 15-54):
- Sherwood maintains a higher concentration in the 15-to-54 age range. Approximately 67% of its population was in this group in 2020, with an expected slight drop to 64% by 2029.
- Mount Vernon had a smaller proportion of people in this age group, around 63% in 2020, decreasing to about 59% in 2029.
Older Adults and Seniors (Ages 55 and Above):
- Sherwood shows a smaller portion in this range, with about 19.1% in 2020, increasing modestly to 24.9% by 2029.
- Mount Vernon has a larger and growing senior population. In 2020, 29.4% of the population was 55 or older, and this is expected to increase to nearly 35% by 2029.
Employment by industry
Both communities have a strong presence in the services and manufacturing industries, while Sherwood has a higher proportion in finance/insurance/real estate and transportation/utilities.
Below are employment by industry and job type graphs as of 2024, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and ESRI Market reports.
By job type
Sherwood and Mount Vernon both have large manufacturing employment bases. However, as seen in the graphs below, Sherwood has a larger concentration of “white collar” jobs (77.7%) compared to Mount Vernon’s 56.2%. This may also coincide with Sherwood’s higher household incomes.
Incomes
According to the MIT living wage calculator, a family of four living in Washington County, Oregon would need to make approximately $102,952 to support themselves and their family. An individual would need to make approximately $59,311 before taxes.
In Knox County, that living wage for a family of four is approximately $76,301, while the living wage for an individual is $40,226.
Race/ ethnicity
Sherwood’s racial diversification is moving faster than Mount Vernon’s.
ESRI-recorded 2029 forecasts expect Mount Vernon’s racial diversity to remain about the same as it is now, while Sherwood’s is expected to increase — shown by the diversity index. The diversity index is defined as “the probability that two people from the same area will be from different race/ethnic groups.”
Sherwood’s diversity index is 49.2 while Mount Vernon’s is 22.
Sherwood is 78.3% white, with 11% of its population two or more races and 10.8% of Hispanic origin.
Mount Vernon is 90.9% white, with 5.6% of the population two or more races. Approximately 3% of Mount Vernon’s population is of Hispanic origin and 1.4% of the population is Black.
Education
Sherwood has a larger proportion of residents with bachelor’s degrees or higher (51.6%) compared to Mount Vernon’s 28.6%.
Mount Vernon has about 2.6 times the proportion of residents with only a high school diploma. Both communities have a notable proportion of populations with an associate’s degree or some college — Mount Vernon’s 22.2% combined and Sherwood’s 30.4% combined between the two measurements.
Urban and rural status
Both Sherwood and Mount Vernon host nearly 100% urban residents (as of the 2020 Census), as they are cities. However, Knox County’s population’s at large is nearly 70% rural, compared to Washington County, Oregon’s 5.5% rural population.
Knox County has higher rates of home ownership than Washington County and Washington County has a denser urban environment.
Knox County’s population density is shown below.
