Growth by the numbers

Those who lived here in 1950 were one of 723 Sisters residents. By 1960, that number was down to 602, a decrease of 16.7 percent.

Following the end of the logging business in and around Sisters, the population hit bottom at 516 in 1970. Black Butte Ranch was being developed just about then and the developers helped Sisters businesses spruce up their stores, embracing the 1880s Western theme, to service ranch visitors.

Over the next decade, the population grew by 34.9 percent to 696. Things slowed a little during the 80s, dropping the population by 2.4 percent to 679 in 1990. The end of the 90s decade saw Sisters install its municipal sewer system following a vote by the residents and growth became the byword.

The 2000 census showed a population increase of 41.2 percent for 959 residents. At that time, there were 397 households and 262 families. The first 10 years of the new century saw Sisters population mushroom to 2,038 or a 112.5 percent increase. The number of households in 2010 was 847 with 557 families.

Between 2010 and 2014, the population grew at an annual average of 2.21 percent. At that rate, predictions were made that by 2020, the population would reach 2,535. That number is already in the rearview mirror with the estimated census for 2020 being 3,003, with an average annual growth rate of 4.45 percent.

It was recently announced that Deschutes County is second in the nation for people who used to visit and now live here. The Lake Tahoe area was number one and the Jersey Shore number three.

As of November 2019, Portland State University reported that Sisters had the fastest growth of any city in Deschutes County, a jump of 9.5 percent over the space of a year.

The figures from the Central Oregon Association of Realtors for the first 10 months of both 2019 and 2020 bear out this population growth with an increase in prices.

Sisters is growing fast and it does not appear that it will slow down soon.