2026 Oregon Wage Information
October 16, 2026Understanding how your take home pay compares with others in your field, or someone in a different career, is vitally important. It can inform you about how your work is being valued, and whether you may want to pursue more lucrative career options in the future. Likewise, hiring employers benefit from knowing the range of wages paid to workers in positions similar to those they are looking to hire, in their area of the state. Thanks to survey responses from employers around the state, the Oregon Employment Department publishes wage estimates for over 750 occupations, as well as hundreds of occupations in every region of the state. The 2026 version of Occupational Wage Information is now available.
The annual average wage for all occupations in Oregon was $74,087 in 2026, or $35.62 per hour. Of the occupations with published data, disc jockeys, except radio had the lowest average wage of $15.85 per hour. Pediatric surgeons had the highest average wage ($249.24 per hour). Medical specialists like pediatric surgeons have such a high average wage because it take many years of education and experience in order to perform that level of work.
The cost of living, mix of industries, and available workforce can be different across the state. We may see a higher number of design engineers and folks working in corporate headquarters in Portland, while natural resource jobs may be more concentrated in rural communities, and leisure and hospitality jobs focused near the coast. Wage estimates reflect these differences. The average hourly wage for Multnomah and Washington counties (the Portland-Metro region) was $39.82, and Clackamas County came in at $36.62 in 2026. Jobs in Central Oregon ($32.75) and Southwestern Oregon ($29.06) had lower average wages than jobs around the Portland tri-county area.
| 2026 Hourly Wages | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Workforce Area | 10th Percentile | 50th Percentile (Median) | 90th Percentile | Mean (Average) | 2026 Annual Mean (Average) |
| Clackamas | $18.08 | $28.89 | $64.25 | $36.62 | $76,179 |
| East Cascades | $17.03 | $25.19 | $55.07 | $32.75 | $68,121 |
| Eastern Oregon | $15.49 | $23.87 | $48.74 | $29.41 | $61,154 |
| Lane | $16.73 | $24.42 | $52.93 | $31.63 | $65,804 |
| Mid-Valley | $17.20 | $26.02 | $55.72 | $32.69 | $67,984 |
| Northwest Oregon | $16.43 | $24.19 | $54.40 | $31.83 | $66,208 |
| Portland-Metro | $18.39 | $30.41 | $70.29 | $39.82 | $82,827 |
| Rogue Valley | $16.97 | $24.61 | $50.99 | $30.88 | $64,236 |
| Southwestern Oregon | $16.23 | $23.54 | $48.25 | $29.06 | $60,448 |
The labor market is made up of all kinds of workers with very different knowledge, skills, and abilities. It intertwines entry-level workers just getting started with experienced workers with additional education or years of experience. By looking at wage ranges we have a better understanding of how workers are paid when they start a career, or how that may change with more experience.
We provide wage ranges by publishing a series of percentiles for each occupation. A percentile wage shows the percentage of workers in an occupation that earn less than a given wage and the percentage that earn more. In most cases, wages in the 10th or 25th percentile likely reflect workers just entering a career, or who have less education attainment than others performing similar work. To get a better understanding of wage ranges let’s look at the wages for some of the most difficult to fill jobs in Oregon.
According to the 2025 Oregon Job Vacancy Survey the occupations with the most difficult to fill vacancies ranged in skill level, education requirement, and pay.The list of occupations with the highest count of difficult to fill jobs included occupations in health care, transportation, maintenance, and food services. The pay ranges for these careers can be very different from one another.
Pay for the occupations with the most difficult to fill jobs ranged between $15.39 and $76.61 per hour in 2026. Difficult to fill careers that require more postsecondary training and certification typically pay higher wages, which is what we see with truck drivers ($23 to $40 per hour), and automotive service technicians ($20 - $45 per hour).
Registered nurses had the widest wage range amongst these occupations, ranging from $47 to $77 per hour. Registered nursing jobs may require education ranging from an associate’s degree to a master’s in nursing. They also work in a number of different settings ranging from hospitals to clinics, schools to nursing homes. The wide range of care setting and education requirement may play a role in determining where a nurse finds themselves in this wage range.
Entry-level jobs can be a great place to skill up and develop the experience to find better paying jobs in the future. Some occupations require additional training up or education, and that is reflected in the pay we typically see for these workers. Occupational wage information allows us to better understand what people get paid for the work they do, and how that may differ across the state. To get additional wage estimates for hundreds of careers please visit QualityInfo.org.