Women Working in the Mid-Valley
February 10, 2025
More than 138,000 jobs in the Mid-Valley are held by women. Women hold 51% of the jobs in the Mid-Valley (Linn, Marion, Polk, and Yamhill counties). The share of women working in the Mid-Valley has grown over the past three decades; in 1992 only 47% of jobs in the Mid-Valley were held by women.
Although women now hold a majority of the jobs in the Mid-Valley, women outnumber men in only eight of 20 industry sectors. The share of women holding jobs in sectors ranges from a high of 73% in health care and social assistance to a low of 18% in mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction. Health care and social assistance not only has the highest share of women employed; it also is the sector that employs the most women with more than 37,000 jobs. More than one out of four (27%) women employed in the Mid-Valley work in health care and social assistance.
Women’s Earnings
In 1992, women working in the Mid-Valley had monthly earnings that were 62% of the monthly earnings of men in the Mid-Valley. Over the past three decades that gap has narrowed. In 2023, women employed in the Mid-Valley had monthly earnings that were 76% of men’s average monthly earnings.
In the first quarter of 2024, women working in the Mid-Valley had average monthly earnings of $4,296 across all industries, 76% of the average earnings of men in the Mid-Valley, who had average earnings of $5,665.
Average earnings vary greatly by industry for both men and women in the Mid-Valley. Women workings in the utilities sector in the Mid-Valley had average monthly earnings of $9,252 in the first quarter of 2024, the highest average earnings of all sectors for women. The arts, entertainment, and recreation sector had the lowest average monthly earnings for women in the Mid-Valley, with average monthly earnings of $2,001.
The industry that employs the most women in the Mid-Valley, health care and social assistance, had average monthly earnings of $4,222, slightly less than the average across all industries for women.
The industries in the Mid-Valley where women’s earnings are closest to their male counterparts were real estate and rental and leasing (female earnings 88% of male earnings); accommodations and food services (87%); and educational services (86%).
The other end of the spectrum is the finance and insurance sector, where women’s earnings in the Mid-Valley are 56% of their male counterparts. The sector is a high paying industry for both men and women. It is the industry with the highest average monthly earnings for men ($14,588) and the second highest earnings for women ($8,195).
