The struggles of Oregon families to make ends meet are, to a large extent, a problem of wages being too low. A new report by the Oregon Center for Public Policy shows that in 2024, Oregon’s typical (median) wage of $25.54 per hour was not enough for most families with children to cover the bare minimum.

This report explains, among other things:

• Which types of households fail to meet a “survival budget” despite working full-time and earning the median wage — the wage right in the middle of the wage distribution; 
• Which types of households fail to meet a “stability budget” despite working full-time and earning the median wage; 
• What share of jobs in the state pay less than $20 per hour, well-below the median; 
• In what industries are low-wage jobs concentrated; 
• What the state can do to improve wages.

Read the report: Many Jobs Pay Too Little to Support a Family.

This story is based on submitted information and has not been verified by our news team.

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Many Oregon Jobs Pay too Little to Support a Family

by The Source Staff, The Source - Bend, Oregon
September 1, 2026

<h1>Many Oregon Jobs Pay too Little to Support a Family</h1> <p class="byline">by The Source Staff, The Source - Bend, Oregon <br />September 1, 2026</p> <p class="has-drop-cap">The struggles of Oregon families to make ends meet are, to a large extent, a problem of wages being too low. A <a href="https://u4493895.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.QJ0Y6-2FIS0ihBrjbzgItahyv0BxmA3sa9F0-2BjbbJqbihg5dTXqxFCAlx6oQxFpEkS-2B1rGFPIwIOvW4YXHiao8FFY-2BXwQjxyolWD5-2FAblQfrDwjoY4oli-2Fq1MjkN5gF9DCJc6wlxjXM-2F6BBlMUA0f5tQ-3D-3DOrfu_pIbxPfpDI69aAybPrpOfg0C-2BQMJbNjcx2asKh-2FdPb4cHinWnt9wJ45MbtITCbdOTZAd97gz7F5HARs8JkH-2FrJY1ShtbC3QHBhGxbCta3rTznVMZ4h-2BFdQEIwIaTymTQ0-2FnCxFsTwRCyKxdl-2B91JvIlxiiT0EtsgTFYvX3A7dz4saxo2QxjuA9oi-2BFXR2hdZzVUScJ4Q9w3RZtEw2ptFBXIggBSDEBmLQ-2FCtIFaVyFAm-2FGAyznOxn8OlRsojEPtn6qTOxQMn9aGYW1GwA04ykTb5OUf73lLGw3kuSUvyiMBG7rDsKyC-2F9efEyx9-2FlEFf4u-2FE577qhk59EhtZpiAqEdhhQicbsF77PubJR3suP9oH1XRGo6TCpj2mXplNHtX2eOH0qqLG4TiZT6JEqfPwOoA-3D-3D" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new report by the Oregon Center for Public Policy</a> shows that in 2024, Oregon’s typical (median) wage of $25.54 per hour was not enough for most families with children to cover the bare minimum.</p> <p>This report explains, among other things:</p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Which types of households fail to meet a “survival budget” despite working full-time and earning the median wage — the wage right in the middle of the wage distribution; </li> <li>Which types of households fail to meet a “stability budget” despite working full-time and earning the median wage; </li> <li>What share of jobs in the state pay less than $20 per hour, well-below the median; </li> <li>In what industries are low-wage jobs concentrated; </li> <li>What the state can do to improve wages.</li> </ul> <p>Read the report: <a href="https://u4493895.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.QJ0Y6-2FIS0ihBrjbzgItahyv0BxmA3sa9F0-2BjbbJqbihg5dTXqxFCAlx6oQxFpEkS-2B1rGFPIwIOvW4YXHiao8FFY-2BXwQjxyolWD5-2FAblQfrDwjoY4oli-2Fq1MjkN5gF9DCJc6wlxjXM-2F6BBlMUA0f5tQ-3D-3DIRWT_pIbxPfpDI69aAybPrpOfg0C-2BQMJbNjcx2asKh-2FdPb4cHinWnt9wJ45MbtITCbdOTZAd97gz7F5HARs8JkH-2FrJY1ShtbC3QHBhGxbCta3rTznVMZ4h-2BFdQEIwIaTymTQ0-2FnCxFsTwRCyKxdl-2B91JvIlxiiT0EtsgTFYvX3A7dz4saxo2QxjuA9oi-2BFXR2hdZzVUScJ4Q9w3RZtEw2ptFBXIggBSDEBmLQ-2FCtIFaVyFAm-2FGAyznOxn8OlRsojEPtn63mxLDfQEhcnbDteylZnJ-2F6tLooYoDbnl0-2FM110yFMys48wJ2BIbZ8ejqz-2FHmGUrQNCkbCOodhFS2hwzrJZMx4g-2BNwJyHGR1loHSTbZ7l-2F8i8Kqge8ntWFrNTza4RszJIhtjO2J6Xx2unFh00vxZ1Gw-3D-3D" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Many Jobs Pay Too Little to Support a Family</a>.</p> <p><em>This story is based on submitted information and has not been verified by our news team.</em></p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com/business/businessnews/many-oregon-jobs-pay-too-little-to-support-a-family/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com&quot;&gt;The Source - Bend, Oregon&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.bendsource.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/cropped-Untitled-design-4.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://www.bendsource.com/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=98782&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://www.bendsource.com/business/businessnews/many-oregon-jobs-pay-too-little-to-support-a-family/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/bendsource.com/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

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