Multnomah County · Oregon
Portland, OR jobs and wages
Who works here, what they earn, and which industries carry the local economy — Census ACS estimates for the city itself, not the wider metro.
Quick answer
Workers in Portland, OR earn a median of $51,493 a year, 15% above the national median of $44,587. Unemployment is 5.5% against 5.2% nationally, and education, health care & social assistance is the largest employer at 24.3% of jobs.
- Median earnings
- $51,493#13 of 94 metros
- Unemployment rate
- 5.5%US 5.2%
- Labor force participation
- 70.6%US 63.5%
- People employed
- 365,377Civilian employed, age 16+
What Portland does for a living
Share of the civilian employed population by industry, largest first.
- Education, health care & social assistance24.3%
- Professional, scientific & management17.3%
- Retail trade10.7%
- Arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation & food9.3%
- Manufacturing8.7%
- Finance, insurance & real estate6.1%
- Transportation, warehousing & utilities5.1%
- Other services, except public administration5.1%
- Construction4.2%
- Public administration3.9%
- Information2.6%
- Wholesale trade2.2%
- Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting & mining0.7%
Related data for Portland
Earnings only mean something next to what things cost.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates
Tables B23025, B20002 and C24030, 2019-2023 ACS 5-year. Industry shares combine the male and female columns of C24030 and are rounded, so they may not total exactly 100%.