35 Cent Minimum Wage Increase Presents Mixed Challenge

A large vintage jar to collect change sits on a shelf, nearly empty. Credit: Sarah Isak-Goode

On July 1, the minimum wage in Deschutes County increased from $14.70 to $15.05 per hour.

An hourly increase of 35 cents could be challenging for some small businesses. With 9 out of 10 restaurants being small businesses and most paying minimum wage to food service workers, the increase can significantly impact whether the restaurant stays open. If the restaurant remains open, it will face labor shortages, like others in the hospitality industry.

This restaurant industry challenge is part of a larger pattern across service sectors that rely heavily on lower-wage workers. The hospitality industry, which includes restaurants, hotels, and food service, is actually the biggest employer of minimum wage workers in the country. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics, these employees make up nearly 25% of the 30.2 million U.S. jobs that pay less than $15 per hour. Retail comes in as another major minimum wage employer, with cashiers, sales associates, and stock workers often starting at or near the minimum wage. These two industries combined employ millions of Americans who are directly affected by wage increases like the one in Deschutes County.

Like many retail businesses, The House of Hash in La Pine starts its budtenders at minimum wage. When asked what he thinks about the upcoming increase, House of Hash employee Chris Ellsworth said, “It’s great! In my opinion, the more money we make, the better it is for the industry. We can try more product and give more thoughts. Customers really appreciate it.”

Ellsworth’s enthusiasm reflects the original intent of minimum wage: to stimulate the economy and provide basic wages. Started in 1938 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt with the Fair Labor Standards Act, minimum wage laws also sought to protect workers from poor working conditions and excessively low wages. The idea was pretty straightforward—when workers have more money in their pockets, they spend it on goods and services, which helps boost the overall economy.

Today, Oregon continues this tradition of worker protection through automatic adjustments. According to Bureau of Labor and Industries, Oregon’s minimum wage is set to increase annually according to inflation. While minimum wage has been aligned with inflation rates, it does not accurately reflect the cost of living in Deschutes County.

While the policy sounds reasonable on paper, the real-world impact shows just how small this increase really is. From the worker’s perspective, this 35-cent increase comes to less than the average cost of one gallon of gas or one fast food meal per day.

This modest increase seems even smaller when compared to the broader cost of living in Deschutes County. The average monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in La Pine is $1,400; in Redmond, it is $1,506, and in Bend, it is $1,696. According to a recent study by the Source, people in Redmond and Bend pay an average of $599 to $721 per month just for utilities, health insurance, and car insurance.

Considering that a single minimum wage earner will earn about $2,000 per month in take-home pay, this leaves very little room for much else. In fact, a minimum wage earner in Redmond could go into debt by paying their basic bills.

Journalist Jonathan Bach explored this issue in his book “High Desert, Higher Costs: Bend and the Housing Crisis in the American West,” examining how various factors have driven up home prices and made things increasingly difficult for long-time residents. The housing crisis doesn’t just hurt individual families, either- it causes major staffing problems as businesses can’t find workers who can actually afford to live nearby. Only a tiny percentage of people working in Bend can actually buy homes here, which creates a bigger divide between the haves and have-nots. This also puts even more pressure on things like schools and hospitals that are already stretched thin across Deschutes County.

These financial pressures have expanded the minimum wage policy beyond its original scope. Originally, minimum wage was meant to stop employers from taking advantage of workers and make sure people could afford the basics like food, rent, and clothing. Over time, lawmakers have started using minimum wage increases to tackle bigger problems like poverty, the growing gap between rich and poor, and helping working families feel more financially secure.

Locals like Rachel Brown see this challenge firsthand, explaining: “It’s nearly impossible to survive in Bend with a non-tipped, minimum wage job—especially if you don’t have roommates or shared income. A person living alone in Bend, working only one job would live paycheck to paycheck at best. Minimum wage doesn’t keep up with the cost of living. High cost of living areas (like Bend) need to have higher wages across the board so that people can live, not just survive.”

This article appears in Source Weekly June 26, 2025.