Portland, OR (population: 573,530) has six music schools within its city limits. Reed College, the highest ranked school in the city with a music program, has a total student population of 1,481. It is the 100th highest ranked school in the USA and the highest in the state of Oregon. To learn more about music programs in Portland, ratemyprofessors.com has reviews of music professors at Reed College such as Virginia Hancock.
Music students from Portland schools who go on to become musicians, producers, vocalists, guitarists, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 47,260 people working as musicians and singers alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $0.
Portland lies in Clackamas county, which is one of the 16 counties in Oregon. Overall, the Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton-WA area has 993,470 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 0.6% unemployment rate, $22.15/hr average worker wage, and a $46,080 average annual salary.
Of the 6 music schools in Portland, only 2 have a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, Lewis & Clark College comes out as the most expensive ($28,753/yr) for music students, with Portland Community College as the lowest, reported at only $6,829/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Portland |
| Vancouver | WA | 169,603 | 5 | 29.2795 | 91 | 6.3 miles |
| Beaverton | OR | 94,639 | 1 | 27.5128 | 6 | 8.8 miles |
| Aloha | OR | 48,328 | 1 | 25.9507 | 7 | 10.8 miles |
| Gresham | OR | 104,562 | 1 | 12.9715 | 88 | 11.0 miles |
| Oregon City | OR | - | 1 | 13.6089 | 75 | 12.9 miles |
| McMinnville | OR | - | 3 | 33.009 | 71 | 34.7 miles |
| Salem | OR | 157,890 | 12 | 32.4146 | 406 | 46.3 miles |
| The Dalles | OR | - | 1 | 11.3829 | 21 | 71.8 miles |
| Astoria | OR | - | 2 | 18.4622 | 36 | 72.0 miles |
| Corvallis | OR | 51,582 | 1 | 28.8426 | 8 | 73.6 miles |