Eastern Oregon Has High Percentage of Small Businesses

by Tony Wendel

September 04, 2025

Eastern Oregon, comprising Baker, Grant, Harney, Malheur, Morrow, Umatilla, Union, and Wallowa counties, has a lot of small businesses. This is fairly typical of rural areas. There were 5,314 private-sector firms within the Eastern Oregon area in the first quarter of 2025. Two out of three firms in the area have four employees or less (3,578 firms) and only 2.8% (150 firms) have 50 or more employees.

Graph showing About 92% of Eastern Oregon Private Firms Have Fewer Than 20 Employees

Even with such a high percentage of small businesses in Eastern Oregon, about 59% of the area’s approximately 60,120 private jobs are in larger firms with 50 or more employees. About one-quarter of jobs are in companies with 10 to 49 employees, while about 17% are in businesses with nine or fewer employees.

Graph showing About 59% of Eastern Oregon's Private Employment Comes from Larger Employers (50+ Employees)

 

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