Ranking Oregon’s Metro Area Unemployment Rates
April 29, 2025Most Oregon metropolitan areas had unemployment rates similar to the national average in 2024. A Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is a region surrounding at least one urbanized zone with 50,000 or more inhabitants. The largest cities in each MSA are designated as the “principal” cities. The title of each MSA consists of up to three principal city names.
Oregon currently has eight MSAs. The Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro MSA is Oregon’s only metro area with a population over one million, making it one of the nation’s 60 or so large metro areas. Oregon’s other MSAs are Salem, Corvallis, Albany, Eugene-Springfield, Bend, Medford, and Grants Pass.
In 2024, unemployment rates varied widely among the nation’s 389 MSAs. Rapid City, S.D. and Sioux Falls, S.D. had the lowest rates among the nation’s MSAs at 1.8% and 1.7% respectively. El Centro, Calif. had the highest rate at 18.4%, followed by Yuma, Ariz., which had a rate of 12.2%.
Oregon’s MSAs were generally similar to the national average unemployment rate for MSAs of 4.0%. Corvallis had Oregon’s lowest rate at 3.6%, putting it in the bottom half of unemployment rates of all U.S. MSAs. Portland (4.0%), Salem (4.1%), Bend (4.2%) and Eugene (4.2%) had rates near the national average.
Grants Pass had the highest unemployment rate of Oregon’s MSAs at 5.8%, tying it for the 23rd highest rate in the nation with Decatur, Ill. and Las Vegas, Nev. Oregon’s Medford and Albany MSAs also had relatively high unemployment rates at 4.9% and 4.6%, respectively, placing them in the top 100 highest rates nationwide.
Portland’s Unemployment Rate About Average for Large Metro Areas
Portland’s 4.0% unemployment rate was close to the average for large metro areas (metro areas with a population over one million). The average unemployment rate for large metro areas was 3.9% in 2024.
Honolulu had the lowest large metro unemployment rate at 2.7%, followed by Nashville (2.8%), Birmingham (2.9%), Miami (2.9%), and Minneapolis (2.9%). Fresno had the highest unemployment rate of any large metro area at 7.9%, followed by Las Vegas (5.8%), Los Angeles (5.4%), Riverside (5.2%), and Chicago (5.1%).