Data-Driven Education Journalism for the Beaver State
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Oregon's graduation rate hit 83% for the Class of 2025, a 16.6-point gain since 2010. The state still trails the national average by about 4 points.
The gap between where Oregon's enrollment was heading and where it actually is grew by nearly 12,000 students in a single year, and the forces driving the divergence are accelerating.
More than 40% of Oregon's school districts enroll fewer than 500 students, but they collectively educate just 16,365 children — while virtual charters quietly reshape the rural map.
Oregon kindergarten enrollment fell to 34,490 in 2026, down 18.5% from 2020. The shrinking pipeline locks in at least a decade of further decline.
Oregon's 9th-to-12th grade cohort survival rate fell below 100% for the first time on record, signaling the end of a longstanding senior enrollment bump.
David Douglas, the most racially diverse district in Oregon, has lost 2,219 students since 2010. White enrollment fell 44%, but the district grew more diverse as it shrank.
Beaverton is closer to overtaking Salem-Keizer than at any point in at least 17 years. Both districts are losing students, but on very different terms.
Only 28% of Oregon districts have returned to pre-pandemic enrollment. The non-recovery is accelerating, and zero large districts have bounced back.
Multiracial students grew 25.3% in a decade, but 2026 marks the first decline. What the plateau reveals about identity and enrollment forms.
Portland SD 1J dropped to 42,106 students in 2026, its lowest in at least 17 years, accelerating a decline that has erased all growth since 2010.
Oregon's 26 virtual charters enroll 21,161 students, nearly matching the COVID peak. The growth is structural, and it is distorting rural district data.
Oregon's second-largest district lost 7,645 white students in a decade while Hispanic enrollment grew by 2,351, reshaping schools across the Willamette Valley.
More than a third of Oregon school districts are at record-low enrollment in 2026, including seven of the state's 10 largest. The decline is accelerating.
White enrollment fell 59,505 in a decade, accelerating post-COVID. Oregon is on track for a majority-minority K-12 system by 2037.
Salem-Keizer SD has lost 5,257 students since 2018, hitting an all-time low of 36,661. Beaverton is just 93 students behind.
