Local SEO
With RankGuarantee™, each service gets its own page in each city you serve, so a search for your service in a Clackamas County town finds a page written for it. About RankGuarantee™.
Clackamas County, OR · SEO Services
SEO Services for Every City in Clackamas County
Clackamas County has 12 places of 2,500 or more residents, and that changes how SEO should be built here. We are an SEO agency built for small businesses: pages for each city you serve, Google Maps and AI search work, and flat monthly plans with no contracts. Below is the data behind the Clackamas County market.
The market in numbers
Clackamas County at a Glance: Competition, Growth and Search Demand
Local Search Competition Index
79.6/ 100
Sitting at rank 98 of 1,822 counties with 20,000+ residents and 40 of the 400 markets we cover. A higher score means more local businesses are competing for the same searches. How the score works
We rate every U.S. county-equivalent with 20,000 or more residents on how many local-search businesses (such as the lawyers, dentists, contractors, restaurants, salons and agents that customers find on Google and the map) are chasing the same residents. Clackamas County scores 79.6, which is more contested than most.
Two features set Clackamas County apart: it is a county with many sizeable cities and towns, and it is also a high-income county. The eight measures that follow place it among every other county.
- Headcount change since the 2020 Census +0.4% Growing slower than 57% of counties
- Median household earnings (2023 est.) $100,376 Higher than 93% of counties
- Businesses that live on Google and the map, per 10,000 residents 69.7 Heavier than 91% of counties
- Growth in those businesses, 2017 to 2022 +5.4% Faster growth than 54% of counties
- Share of them that employ fewer than 5 people 61.2% Greater share than 68% of counties
- How all employer locations changed, 2017 to 2022 +6% A faster pace than 68% of counties
- Cities and towns of 2,500+ residents 12 More named places than 94% of counties
- New-home permits per 10,000 residents (2025) 30.8 More building than 54% of counties
Each bar places Clackamas County against all 1,822 U.S. counties with 20,000 or more residents. Sources: U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates, County Business Patterns (2017 and 2022), Census income estimates and the Building Permits Survey.
Market profile
Clackamas County Is Many Search Markets, Not One
Clackamas County has 12 places with 2,500 or more residents, 10 of them above 10,000, more than 94% of counties. Each is its own search market: people look for a plumber in Lake Oswego or in the next town over, not in the county. Local SEO means giving each of those cities its own page for each service you offer, which is what RankGuarantee™ is built to produce.
Clackamas County has 423,173 residents, which ranks 176th of 3,143 U.S. counties, and the headcount has shifted +0.4% since the 2020 Census. Across all industries it has 12,830 employer locations, 30.3 per 1,000 residents.
44% of residents (184,156 people) live outside any incorporated place, so county-level and "near me" searches matter as much as city names.
Where the customers are
Clackamas County by Place: A Search Market for Each
The largest places in Clackamas County by resident count. A local SEO plan can build pages for any of them, one per service you offer in each.
| Place name | People (2023 est.) | Percent of the county |
|---|---|---|
| Lake Oswego (part) | 37,411 | 9% |
| Oregon City | 37,351 | 9% |
| Happy Valley | 28,409 | 7% |
| West Linn | 26,629 | 6% |
| Wilsonville (part) | 24,232 | 6% |
| Milwaukie (part) | 21,594 | 5% |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates. The list covers cities, towns and census-designated places; where a city spills into a neighboring county, just the portion inside Clackamas County is counted.
Who you would rank against
Who You Would Be Ranking Against in Clackamas County
Here is how Clackamas County compares with the typical U.S. county for fifteen categories that live on Google and the map: the number of locations, how that number has moved, and how many are very small.
CategoryLocationsCrowding vs. a typical countyShift, 2017 to 2022Tiny locations (under 5 staff)
Real estate agents and brokersBusiest 384 +34.3% 364
Residential remodelers 337 +10.9% 276
Roofing contractors 56 +9.8% 23
Dentists 217 -4% 62
Janitorial services 112 +13.1% 60
Accounting and CPA firms 88 -5.4% 55
Law offices 207 +4.5% 166
Landscaping services 231 +7.9% 145
Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors 217 +5.3% 117
Insurance agencies and brokerages 218 +0% 172
Electrical contractors 124 +8.8% 70
Full-service restaurants 365 +4.6% 85
Physicians offices 208 -16.1% 97
Beauty salons 77 -2.5% 51
General automotive repairLeast contested 107 -5.3% 60
Crowding is employer locations per 10,000 residents relative to the median U.S. county of 20,000+ residents (1.0x is typical; the dark tick marks it). The counts are establishments in County Business Patterns (2017, 2022), which says nothing about search volume. See the method
The real estate agents and brokers category is the most contested in Clackamas County: 384 locations, 3.6x the density of a typical county, and up 34.3% since 2017. Residential remodelers (337 locations, 2.6x) and roofing contractors (56 locations, 2.3x) also run above a normal county. The general automotive repair category is the least contested here at 1.0x typical (107 locations), so there are fewer rival pages for those searches.
Real estate agents and brokers is also the fastest-growing category, up 34.3%, so the competition is still building. Physicians offices went the other way, down 16.1% to 208 locations. The tiniest competitors are in real estate agents and brokers: 364 of 384 locations (95%) have fewer than five employees.
One caution: these are business counts and say nothing about searches. No keyword search volume or traffic numbers are claimed here; a crowded category is a sign that more sites are competing, not a forecast of results.
Housing demand
Clackamas County Housing Permits Since 2022: Down From the High, Still Slowing This Year
New housing units authorized by building permits. Data: U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (annual county files, with the year-to-date bars covering the same months in each year). A permit is an authorization, not a finished home.
Clackamas County authorized 2,284 housing units in 2022 and 1,302 in 2025, about 43% fewer; 2025 still works out to 30.8 units per 10,000 residents, more than in 54% of counties. For January through August, permits are running at 644 against 736 a year earlier (−12.5%).
The construction-linked categories already most contested in Clackamas County are real estate agents and brokers (3.6x typical) and residential remodelers (2.6x typical). Because SEO builds gradually, the best time to start is before demand arrives; pages that are already indexed and ranking meet new households first.
Similar markets
Which Markets Look Most Like Clackamas County?
These six counties are the nearest matches to Clackamas County in our 400-market set when we compare size, income, local-search competition, small-business mix and growth together.
| Place | LSCI | People | Population change since 2020 | Local-business change since 2017 | Share under 5 employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clackamas County, OR (this page) | 79.6 | 423,173 | +0.4% | +5.4% | 61.2% |
| Plymouth County, MA | 72.9 | 535,308 | +0.8% | +5.3% | 61.8% |
| Waukesha County, WI | 83.7 | 412,591 | +1.4% | +6.6% | 59.6% |
| Bucks County, PA | 86.8 | 645,984 | -0.1% | +3.2% | 61.4% |
| Union County, NJ | 71.6 | 572,726 | -0.5% | +0.4% | 62.9% |
| Orange County, NY | 72.9 | 407,470 | +1.5% | +7.8% | 64.3% |
| Washington County, OR | 69.1 | 598,865 | -0.3% | +1% | 60% |
The six look-alikes are the counties in our 400-market set that sit closest to this one on size, income, local-search competition, small-business mix and growth. Same sources as above.
Plymouth County, MA is the closest match, scoring 72.9 against Clackamas County's 79.6. Washington County, OR is the furthest from it, scoring 69.1. Orange County, NY has 64.3% of its local-search locations under five employees against 61.2% in Clackamas County. Already investing in SEO in one of these places? The comparison shows how similar the competition is, not what your results will be.
Run your own numbers
An SEO Payback Calculator for Clackamas County Businesses
SEO is a monthly investment that compounds over time, so the question that matters is how many new customers it must bring in to cover itself. Fill in what a customer is worth to you and pick the plan you are considering.
The pieces of SEO
What Our SEO Services Cover in Clackamas County
Google Maps optimization
Profile optimization, citations, weekly posts, rank tracking and review management, so you appear in the map results when Clackamas County customers search nearby. Read about Map SEO.
AI search (GEO)
We organize your pages and business details so AI tools find clear, consistent facts. A mention in an AI answer cannot be guaranteed by anyone; this improves the odds.
Technical, on-page and content
Technical fixes, on-page work and written content that answers real customer questions, published monthly on every Organic Growth plan.
SEO services, an SEO agency, an SEO company, local SEO, organic search, search engine optimization: different words for the same work of getting Clackamas County businesses found on Google, Maps and AI search. You work with one account manager and see the numbers each month. If you also want ads, we manage Google, Bing and Meta (Facebook and Instagram) as well.
How it works
The Four Stages of SEO for Clackamas County Businesses
Audit and strategy
We dig into your services, cities and competitors, audit your website, and put together a six-month strategy. It is included in your monthly rate.
Build for every city
RankGuarantee™ creates a dedicated landing page for each service in every city you cover, and your website gets technical clean-up and on-page improvements.
Maps, writing, AI
We optimize your Google Business Profile, citations and reviews, add Strategic Content Assets, and lay out your pages so AI search can pull accurate facts from them.
Measure & expand
You get monthly reporting from Search Console and Analytics with your account manager, and we build more where the numbers show it will help.
Plans
SEO Plans and Pricing in Clackamas County
No setup fee and no contract on any plan. Your monthly rate covers onboarding: keyword research, a website audit and a six-month plan. Talk it through with our CEO.
FAQ
Clackamas County SEO Services: Your Questions Answered
How much do SEO services cost in Clackamas County?
We charge a flat monthly fee with nothing to sign and no setup fee: $495 for RankGuarantee™ landing pages, or $1,495, $2,495 or $3,495 for the Silver, Gold and Platinum Organic Growth plans. A fully managed, custom-built website comes with Gold and Platinum.
How long does SEO take to work in Clackamas County?
Nobody can promise a date for SEO, since it builds gradually. How fast pages climb depends on the competition in your category, the strength of your website and Google Business Profile, and how much we can build. In Clackamas County, real estate agents and brokers is especially contested (3.6x a typical county), so expect that category to take longer. Our planning cycles run six months with no contract, and you get a report each month.
Is Clackamas County a competitive market for SEO?
The densest category here is
More than most. Clackamas County scores 79.6 on our Local Search Competition Index, ranking 98th of 1,822 counties with 20,000+ residents and 40th of the 400 markets we cover. Real estate agents and brokers, at 3.6 times the typical county. 61.2% of local-search locations have fewer than five employees, which often means thin websites to outrank. If anything, it makes city-and-service pages and strong reviews matter more.
Which local businesses compete for search in Clackamas County?
Across the fifteen categories we track, the largest by employer locations in Clackamas County are real estate agents and brokers (384), full-service restaurants (365) and residential remodelers (337). Measured against a typical county, the most contested are real estate agents and brokers (3.6x) and residential remodelers (2.6x). Size and crowding in a category do not decide whether SEO works for you; it shows how many other sites would be in the results with you.
Which cities in Clackamas County would you build pages for?
Whichever ones you cover. Clackamas County has 12 places of 2,500 or more residents, led by Lake Oswego, Oregon City, Happy Valley, West Linn and Wilsonville. RankGuarantee™ builds local landing pages for each service in each city you serve (25 new pages a month on the $495 plan, 25 to 100 on Organic Growth), so the plan follows your service area, not the county line.
Is Google Maps optimization part of what you do?
We do. Every Organic Growth plan includes Google Business Profile optimization, citations and review management, along with on-page and technical SEO, strategic content and AI search (GEO) work. Maps rankings matter most for searches like "near me", and most of the local categories in Clackamas County rely on them.
Does SEO help me show up in ChatGPT and Google's AI answers?
It can. Our plans include AI search (GEO) optimization: clear, well-structured pages and consistent business information give AI tools more to draw on. No one can guarantee a mention in an AI answer, and we do not promise one, but the work behind rankings is also the content those tools draw from.
Is SEO or Google Ads the better choice in Clackamas County?
Usually a mix of both. Google Ads can send calls within days and costs per click; SEO takes longer to build and keeps working without a per-click charge. If leads cannot wait, start with ads (we manage Google Ads, Bing and Meta too) and use SEO to build the asset that lowers your dependence on them.
Do I have to sign a contract, and what does the monthly fee include?
There is no setup fee, and you can cancel anytime. Each month you get the keyword research, website audit and six-month strategy at the start, then the pages and content in your tier, rank tracking, and an account manager who knows your Clackamas County business.
Close by
Beyond Clackamas County: Nearby Counties
Serving customers outside Clackamas County? These are the closest counties, measured from center to center:
- Marion County, OR: roughly 26 miles out, 346,741 residents, index score 69.2
- Multnomah County, OR: roughly 29 miles from here, 789,698 residents, index score 68.9
- Hood River County, OR: around 36 miles out, 23,745 people, index score 84.1
- Clark County, WA: about 45 miles from here, 521,150 residents, Local Search Competition Index 65.1
- Linn County, OR: about 49 miles from here, 131,496 residents, Local Search Competition Index 51.5
- Wasco County, OR: roughly 50 miles from here, 26,333 residents, competition index 78.7
Behind the numbers
How We Built This Clackamas County Page
The figures on this page are drawn from public U.S. Census Bureau data, computed the same way for every county, so you can compare Clackamas County with any other market. Client account data is not used, and we publish no search volumes, traffic or client rankings, because results vary by business.
- Last updatedOctober 16, 2026
- Data sourcesPopulation Estimates (2023), County Business Patterns (2017, 2022), Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (2023), Building Permits Survey (2021 to 2026 year to date), Census Gazetteer files.
- MethodThe Local Search Competition Index and every derived figure are defined on the methodology page. Browse all markets in the index.
- Found an error?Noticed a mistake? Email hello@getphound.com and we will check it against the Census source.
Start a Conversation
Ready to Grow Your Clackamas County Business With SEO?
Tell us what you sell and which parts of Clackamas County you serve. We will show you what an SEO plan looks like for your business. To book a strategy session with our CEO, call 610-825-4363 or email hello@getphound.com.