Oregon Jobs in 2025: A Wage Data Perspective
September 16, 2026Each quarter, Oregon employers are required to file unemployment insurance tax reports which list every job covered by unemployment insurance, the wages paid, and the hours worked. These quarterly records cover more than two million individuals employed in the state but exclude self-employed workers and federal government workers. The data allow us to calculate hourly wages for each job by industry and firm size. These statistics are not directly comparable to the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) and Current Employment Statistics (CES) data.
In 2025, Oregon’s industries provided 3,013,200 jobs to nearly 2,348,600 people. About a quarter of workers (23%) had two or more jobs, while 2% had four or more jobs. Sectors with the most jobs included health care and social assistance, professional and business services, leisure and hospitality, and retail trade.
The median hourly wage of all jobs rose from $25.54 to $26.59 in 2025 – a year-over-year increase of 4.1%. All industries saw their median hourly wages increase, and all industries increased more than inflation, translating to real wage gains over the year for every industry. The largest wage increases in the private sector occurred in information (+11.0%) and private educational services (+5.8%). Manufacturing saw the smallest increase over the year at 2.7%, followed by transportation, warehousing, and utilities at 2.8%.
State government, information, local government, and construction had over 30% of their jobs paying at least $50 per hour or more. This equated to nearly 200,000 jobs across the four industries. At the other end of the spectrum, leisure and hospitality, natural resources and mining, and retail trade had the smallest shares of jobs paying $50 per hour or more.
In 2025, 42% of all jobs paid at least $30 per hour. About 74% paid at least $20 per hour – leaving about 26% that paid less than $20 per hour. All hourly wage classes posted job gains except for those paying less than $20 per hour. With the annual increases in the minimum wage that began in July of 2016, the number and percentage of jobs paying less than $20 per hour began to decrease from year to year.
The wage categories paying at least $20 per hour experienced gains in 2025. The $70 or more wage category saw the largest year-over-year percentage increase in number of jobs at 12%. The six remaining hourly wage categories all saw a minimum of a 0.8% increase in the number of jobs.
| Hourly Wage Class | Percent Change | Jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Under $20.00 | -13.5% | -122,501 |
| $20.00 - $24.99 | 0.8% | 4,542 |
| $25.00 - $29.99 | 2.9% | 10,819 |
| $30.00 - $39.99 | 2.1% | 8,967 |
| $40.00 - $49.99 | 1.6% | 3,716 |
| $50.00 - $59.99 | 1.5% | 2,483 |
| $60.00 - $69.99 | 5.1% | 5,800 |
| $70.00 or more | 12.0% | 33,991 |
| All Wage Classes | -1.7% | -52,183 |
Four-Quarter Jobs
Annual job counts include all jobs with reported wages in at least one quarter of the year. This means the annual total captures both jobs that were present throughout the year and those that appeared for only part of the year. To better understand what makes up the annual job count, jobs are divided into two groups. Four-quarter jobs are those with reported wages in all four quarters of the year, while other jobs have wages reported in only one to three quarters.
Nearly half of Oregon’s annual jobs were four-quarter jobs in 2025. Four-quarter jobs generally had higher median hourly wages than other jobs across industries. Jobs observed in one to three quarters can represent a variety of employment situations. Some may have begun or ended during the year, while others may reflect seasonal or short-term employment. These employment patterns may contribute to the wage differences. Workers in lower-paying jobs are more likely to change employers, making these jobs less likely to appear in all four quarters. Seasonal and short-term jobs also tend to be concentrated among lower-paying positions.
The share of four-quarter jobs varied across industries. State government had the highest share of jobs observed in all four quarters in 2025, followed by local government. In the private sector, financial activities and manufacturing had the largest share of four-quarter jobs, while natural resources and mining had the smallest share, followed by leisure and hospitality. Industry wage levels may be one factor associated with these differences. Industries with higher median hourly wages tend to include more higher-paying jobs, and workers in higher-paying jobs are more likely to stay with their employers.
Jobs observed in all four quarters do not necessarily lead to higher wages, and these patterns should be interpreted as descriptive rather than causal. Seasonality, occupation mix, staffing patterns, and other industry characteristics may all contribute to differences in job presence across the year.
To see detailed annual tables, visit www.QualityInfo.org, go to the Data page, and click Oregon Wages and Hours to find Annual Wage Tables.