Many Pacific Northwesterners don’t have consistent access to air conditioning: Fewer than two-thirds of households in Oregon have air conditioning, according to Kaiser Permanente Northwest.
According to 2019 figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, Seattle has the lowest rate of air-conditioned homes of any major American city. Only 44% of the homes in the metro area have air conditioning. In the Portland metro area, that figure was 79%.