Oregon

How Oregon ranks among the states

Oregon is the 19th most distressed state on our State Distress Index. Its place comes from a split that most readers wouldn’t expect. On debts, Oregonians are in better shape than most. In early 2025, the share of those with a credit record who were 90 or more days late on a payment was 10th lowest among the 50 states and D.C. (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia). On jobs and rent they are not. The state’s unemployment rate in August 2026 was tied for 2nd highest among the 50 states and D.C. overall. A larger share of renters spend 30% or more of their income on housing than in all but a handful of states. What lies behind the high unemployment is less clear; the possibilities, and the case against each, are in the jobs section.

Oregon’s score has climbed since 2021, mostly on jobs

Is Oregon expensive to live in?

For renters, yes: rent costs more than in most states and takes a bigger share of income. The typical Oregon rent over 2020 to 2024 was $1,525 a month, 14th highest among the 50 states and D.C., against $1,413 for the U.S. (Census Bureau). Rent is high next to what people earn: 49.5% of Oregon renter households paid 30% or more of their income for rent and utilities, 6th highest. Homeowners feel it too, with 25.1% spending 30% or more of their income on housing, 9th highest. We don’t track prices for food, gas, insurance or electricity, so we can’t rank Oregon’s overall cost of living.

How is Oregon’s economy doing?

It is growing slowly, with more people out of work than in most states. Oregon’s jobless rate stood at 5.1% in August 2026, tied for 2nd highest among the 50 states and D.C. with California and Connecticut; only D.C.’s, at 5.7%, was higher, and the U.S. rate was 4.1% (Bureau of Labor Statistics). The rate was down from 5.2% in July and from 5.3% a year earlier, but it was still above the national rate. On Oct. 14 the Oregon Employment Department put the September rate at 5.0%. Payrolls have barely grown: the department counted 2,600 more jobs in September than a year earlier, a gain of 0.1%.

Why is Oregon’s unemployment so high?

No one cause has been shown. We found three possibilities, each with a case against it.

A long pattern. The state’s economists write that it is “not unusual” for Oregon’s rate to drift above the nation’s (Office of Economic Analysis, Aug. 26, 2026). By the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ yearly averages, it was higher in 26 of the 36 years from 1990 to 2025, and the highest of any state in 2001, 2002 and 2003, reaching 8.0% in 2003. The case against: the gap isn’t fixed. Oregon’s rate was at or below the nation’s from 2019 to 2021.

Lost chip-making and factory jobs. The same forecasters cited Bureau of Labor Statistics data on Oregon jobs making semiconductors and other electronic components. Those jobs fell by 28% from January 2023 to June 2026. Manufacturing lost 4,300 jobs in the year to September, more than any other industry (Oregon Employment Department). Intel filed layoff notices in 2025 for its sites in Washington County. The case against: Washington County’s unemployment rate in August, 4.7%, was below the state’s. The highest rates were in the south, far from the chip plants, in Josephine (7.2%), Klamath (6.8%) and Douglas (6.1%) counties. County rates aren’t adjusted for the seasons, so they compare only roughly with the state rate.

Slow hiring rather than mass layoffs. The forecasters describe a “low hire-low fire” job market, and layoff notices have fallen from their 2025 peak. The case against: that describes the slowdown without saying why it hit Oregon harder than the country, and the forecasters themselves note that California, Washington state and Nevada have similar rates.

Which Oregon counties are poorest and most distressed?

Malheur County, on the Idaho border, is Oregon’s poorest: in 2024, 18.5% of its residents lived in poverty, the highest share in any of the state’s 36 counties (Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). On our County Distress Index, which scores every county in the country from 0 to 100 on the strain in household finances, Klamath County, home to Klamath Falls, is the most distressed; Lake, Josephine and Lincoln counties come next. The least distressed is Hood River County, in the Columbia River Gorge, followed by Washington County, west of Portland. No Oregon county ranks among the 100 most or least distressed in the U.S.

Every county, by score

Of Oregon’s 36 counties, 2 score 80 or more, Klamath and Lake, and 1.8% of Oregonians live in them (2023 population). With the 5 that score 70 to 79, the most distressed counties hold 9.9% of the state’s people. Multnomah County, the most populous and home to Portland, ranks 26th most distressed of the 36. Only Hood River, Washington and Deschutes counties score below 30.

All 36 Oregon counties, ranked →

Is Oregon a poor state?

No. Oregon sits near the middle of the states on poverty and above the middle on household income. In 2024, 11.7% of Oregonians lived in poverty, 25th highest among the 50 states and D.C. and a little under the U.S. rate of 12.1%. The typical household earned $84,897, 17th highest, against $81,604 nationally (Census Bureau, Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates). Income per person in 2024, which counts wages, business and investment income and government benefits, was $70,823, under the U.S. figure of $73,204 (Bureau of Economic Analysis). Every Census estimate since 2016 has put Oregon’s poverty rate under the nation’s.

How many Oregonians get SNAP food benefits?

In June 2026, 697,500 Oregonians got SNAP food benefits, 16.3% of residents, 3rd highest among the 50 states and D.C., behind only New Mexico and D.C. Across the U.S. the share was 10.7% (U.S. Department of Agriculture). Oregon’s poverty rate, by contrast, ranks 25th highest. Oregonians apply through the state’s human services department.

Most of the past year’s drop came before the state began counting work-rule cut-offs

The number of Oregonians getting SNAP fell 9.7% between June 2025 and June 2026. Of that drop, 51,536 came between June 2025 and March 2026, and 23,274 more by June 2026 (U.S. Department of Agriculture). The state’s count of people cut off under the expanded federal work rules starts at the end of April 2026, when 6,948 people lost benefits, followed by 5,258 at the end of May (Oregon’s human services department). Those cut-offs came after most of the fall, and we found no source that splits the earlier drop by cause. A smaller count isn’t the same as less need.

Are Oregonians behind on their bills?

Fewer than in most states. Among Oregonians with a credit record, 12.1% were 90 or more days late on at least one debt in early 2025, 10th lowest among the 50 states and D.C., against 17.2% across the U.S. (Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia). We averaged the states, weighting each by population, for the national figure. The figures cover what households owe on cards, car loans, mortgages and other loans, not Oregon’s state budget.

In early 2025, Oregon borrowers were less likely than U.S. borrowers to be 90 or more days late on cards, car loans and mortgages, and less likely to have a debt in collections

Percent of borrowers at least 90 days behind on each kind of loan, and percent of people with a debt in collections, Oregon and the U.S., first quarter of 2025.

People with a debt in collections

Oregon 9.5% U.S. 13.2%

Card borrowers 90+ days late

Oregon 9.8% U.S. 13.5%

Auto borrowers 90+ days late

Oregon 5.8% U.S. 8.5%

Mortgage borrowers 90+ days late

Oregon 0.8% U.S. 1.2%

Oregon’s place among the 50 states and D.C., counted from the smallest share: cards tied for 11th lowest, car loans 17th lowest, mortgages tied for 7th lowest and collections 14th lowest. The U.S. bars are our population-weighted average of the states.

The share of Oregonians with a debt in collections fell from 14.9% at the end of 2019 to 9.5% in early 2025. But that isn’t a sign that fewer people are struggling. The share was already lower by early 2022 (10.8%). Part of the later fall comes from a change in what credit reports show. In 2022, the three national credit bureaus said they would stop reporting certain medical debts. Nationwide, the share of people with a medical collection on their record went from about 14% in March 2022 to about 5% in June 2023 (Consumer Financial Protection Bureau).

Are bankruptcies rising in Oregon?

Yes, faster than almost anywhere. Oregonians filed 8,202 bankruptcy cases in 2025, up 24.4% from 2024; only D.C. had a faster rise (U.S. Courts). It was the most filings in a year since 2019, and the count has gone up every year since its 2022 low of 4,202. Measured against the population, Oregon sits closer to the middle: 192.0 filings for every 100,000 residents, using the 2024 population, 16th highest among the 50 states and D.C., against 167.1 nationally. The 12 months to June 2026 brought 8,244 filings.

Most Oregon filers use Chapter 7: 77.7% of 2025 cases. Under it, a trustee sells some property to pay debts, and most of the rest is wiped out. Chapter 13, where a filer repays part of the debts through a court-approved plan, made up 21.8%, well under the U.S. share. A few dozen cases, almost all Chapter 11, make up the rest. Filings have climbed along with unemployment since 2023, but we found no study tying the two together in Oregon, and filings rose across the country too, by 11.1% in 2025.

How foreclosure works in Oregon

In Oregon, a home can be foreclosed without going to court: a trustee sells it after a fixed set of notices (ORS 86.705 to 86.815), though a lender can choose to sue in court instead (ORS 88.010). Federal servicing rules generally keep the process from starting until a home loan is more than 120 days behind. Before it files a notice of default on a home, a lender must ask for a resolution conference, a meeting with a neutral facilitator to look at ways to avoid foreclosure, through the state’s Foreclosure Avoidance Program. A lender that started 30 or fewer foreclosures the year before can claim an exemption (ORS 86.726).

The notice of sale must go to the owner at least 120 days before the sale (ORS 86.764) and run in a local newspaper once a week for four weeks (ORS 86.774). The owner can stop the sale by catching up on what is overdue until five days before it (ORS 86.778). After a trustee’s sale, the former owner can’t buy the home back, and the lender can’t sue for any balance the sale leaves unpaid (ORS 86.797).

Oregon’s award from the federal Homeowner Assistance Fund was $90.9 million, and the program had helped 3,951 homeowners through early 2026 (U.S. Treasury). The state stopped taking new applications on July 17, 2026 (Oregon Housing and Community Services).

What changed in Oregon in the past year

1. Oct. 14, 2026

   The state reports September unemployment, little changed from August

   The Oregon Employment Department published its own September estimate six days before the federal figures for every state. It shows the rate barely moved from August, with health care adding the most jobs over the year and manufacturing and government cutting the most (the figures are in the jobs section).

   Oregon Employment Department, Oct. 14, 2026

2. July 30, 2026

   Daimler Truck tells the state it will close its Portland truck plant

   Daimler Truck North America gave notice that it would permanently close its Portland Truck Manufacturing Plant and related sites in North Portland, affecting about 387 workers, with operations ending on Oct. 30, 2026.

   Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission, WARN notice #9549

3. July 17, 2026

   Oregon’s Homeowner Assistance Fund stops taking new applications

   Oregon Housing and Community Services closed the federally funded mortgage help program to new applicants and said it would keep working through pending applications until the money runs out (how many homeowners it helped).

   Oregon Housing and Community Services, Homeowner Assistance Fund

4. July 8, 2026

   Portland General Electric’s home rates fall as data centers pay more

   To carry out the 2025 POWER Act (House Bill 3546), the Oregon Public Utility Commission shifted costs onto the company’s data center customers. Their rates rose 29% on average, and home rates fell 1.3% on average. That followed a rise of about 5% in the typical home bill on April 1, which waited out the winter: the FAIR Act (House Bill 3179) bars home rate increases from Nov. 1 to March 31 (Oregon Public Utility Commission, release on the April 1 rates). This item covers Portland General Electric only, not Pacific Power.

   Oregon Public Utility Commission, July 2026

5. End of April 2026

   The state counts SNAP cut-offs under the new federal work rules

   Oregon’s human services department told legislators that a 2025 federal law expanded SNAP’s work rules to more than 300,000 Oregonians, including veterans and people experiencing homelessness who used to be exempt. Its count of people who lost benefits under the rules begins at the end of April (the counts are in the SNAP section).

   Oregon’s human services department (ODHS), presentation to the Legislature, June 15, 2026

6. Nov. 13, 2025

   Intel files another layoff notice for its Washington County sites

   Intel told the state that about 669 more employees at or reporting to its Hillsboro and Aloha sites would lose their jobs, following a larger notice for the same sites in July 2025.

   Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission, WARN notice #9389

7. Nov. 7, 2025

   A transportation tax package is signed, then mostly rejected by voters

   Gov. Tina Kotek signed House Bill 3991, which raised transportation taxes and fees. Voters later rejected most of the fee and tax increases in Measure 120, according to the Oregon Department of Transportation. A higher supplemental registration fee for vehicles rated at 40 miles per gallon or more is in effect, and a per-mile road charge for existing electric vehicles is set to begin on July 1, 2027.

   Oregon Department of Transportation, House Bill 3991

Loan modifications and foreclosure top Oregon’s mortgage complaints

Oregonians have sent the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau 5,217 complaints about mortgages since the start of 2012. The issue raised most often was the one the bureau calls “loan modification, collection, foreclosure” (1,314). Close behind came “trouble during payment process” (1,279), then “loan servicing, payments, escrow account” (1,045).

What to watch before the next edition

What is scheduled between now and January 2027 that could affect household budgets in Oregon, nearest first.

1. Oct. 20, 2026

   September unemployment rates for every state

   The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes September rates for the 50 states and D.C., the first chance to rank Oregon’s September figure. The Oregon Employment Department plans to release September county rates the same day.

   U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, State Employment and Unemployment for August 2026

2. Oct. 30, 2026

   Daimler Truck’s Portland plant is set to close

   The company’s notice to the state says operations at the Portland plant and its related sites will end on this date.

   Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission, WARN notice #9549

3. Nov. 18, 2026

   October unemployment and the state’s next revenue forecast

   The Oregon Employment Department plans to release the statewide rate for October. The Office of Economic Analysis lists its next economic and revenue forecast, which includes the kicker outlook, for the same day; its calendar calls the dates tentative (2026 forecast calendar).

   Oregon Employment Department, Oct. 14, 2026

4. Jan. 1, 2027

   A higher cap on yearly rent increases

   For 2027, the most a landlord can raise the rent on most tenancies covered by the state’s rent stabilization law is 10%, up from 9.5% in 2026. Larger manufactured-home parks have a lower cap.

   Oregon Office of Economic Analysis, rent stabilization

5. Jan. 1, 2027

   Medicaid work requirements are due to start

   Under the 2025 federal law that changed SNAP, work requirements for some members of the Oregon Health Plan, the state’s Medicaid program, are due to begin on this date, according to a timeline the state’s human services and health agencies gave legislators in September 2025. The law lets a state ask for more time, up to the end of 2028.

   Oregon’s human services department (ODHS) and Oregon Health Authority, presentation to the Senate Committee on Health Care, Sept. 30, 2025

Where Oregon ranks highest and lowest