First Quarter 2025 Oregonians at Work: Wage Growth Across Industries
December 02, 2025Oregon employers must report total wages and hours worked for each employee covered by unemployment insurance. These quarterly records cover more than two million individuals employed in the state but don’t include roughly 230,000 self-employed workers. Past quarterly wage reports are available in the Oregonians @ Work drop-down menu at www.qualityinfo.org/data.
Oregon had 1.98 million workers covered by the state’s unemployment insurance system during the first quarter of 2025. The workforce remained virtually unchanged from the same quarter of the previous year. They earned a total of $35.1 billion, with an average wage of $17,773 per worker for the quarter. The median hourly wage during the quarter was $28.94.
Wage Growth in Most Industries
Oregon employers reported over 2.1 million jobs during the first quarter of 2025. (Individuals with multiple jobs are counted for each job they hold.) The median wage increased by $0.16 over the year, after being adjusted for inflation according to the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U). Inflation continued to ease through 2024, and 11 industries experienced real wage growth, meaning that the median wage increased more than inflation.
State government had the largest real gain in median wage from first quarter 2024 to first quarter 2025 (+$2.36; +4.8%). While most industries kept pace with inflation, the manufacturing, health care and social assistance, and leisure and hospitality industries were effectively unchanged over the year. Transportation, warehousing, and utilities recorded a decline in real median wage compared with the same quarter a year ago (-$0.25; -0.8%).
| 1Q2025 | Over the Year | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Wage | Real Gain ($) | Real Gain (%) | |
| All Industries | $28.94 | $0.16 | 0.6% |
| State Government | $51.25 | $2.36 | 4.8% |
| Information | $53.94 | $2.34 | 4.5% |
| Construction | $36.81 | $0.85 | 2.4% |
| Professional and Business Services | $32.44 | $0.67 | 2.1% |
| Financial Activities | $35.78 | $0.63 | 1.8% |
| Local Government | $39.14 | $0.69 | 1.8% |
| Wholesale Trade | $33.91 | $0.55 | 1.6% |
| Other Services | $25.96 | $0.28 | 1.1% |
| Retail Trade | $20.73 | $0.14 | 0.7% |
| Natural Resources and Mining | $20.43 | $0.08 | 0.4% |
| Private Educational Services | $28.38 | $0.11 | 0.4% |
| Manufacturing | $32.73 | $0.00 | 0.0% |
| Health Care & Social Assistance | $27.99 | $-0.01 | 0.0% |
| Leisure and Hospitality | $20.23 | $-0.03 | -0.1% |
| Transportation, Warehousing, and Utilities | $29.38 | $-0.25 | -0.8% |
Shifts in Hourly Wages
The number of jobs paying less than $15 per hour decreased by 21,900 between first quarter 2024 and first quarter 2025. This was a decrease of 23.5%. Jobs paying $15 to $19.99 per hour decreased by 41,800, or 9.6%.
The number of jobs paying $20 to $24.99 per hour increased by 5.1% from first quarter 2024 to first quarter 2025. This was an addition of nearly 18,000 jobs. The number of jobs paying $25 to $29.99 per hour also increased, growing by 1.2%, or 3,300 jobs.
The number of jobs paying $30 to $39.99 per hour increased by 3.1%, adding 9,800 jobs. The number of jobs paying $40 to $49.99 per hour grew by 3,200 jobs, or 1.7%.
Finally, the number of jobs paying $50 to $59.99 per hour increased by 6.2% or 7,900. The number of jobs paying $60 per hour or more grew by 26,400 or 8.1% from first quarter 2024 to first quarter 2025.
To provide better data, this analysis also filters out job records that probably contain errors. Jobs that report zero hours or more than 999 hours (about 77 hours per week) worked in a quarter and jobs that paid less than the federal minimum wage ($7.25 per hour) are excluded. Jobs that paid more than $500 per hour and reported less than 10 hours work during the quarter are also excluded.