Oregon's Economy: Income

barn in the Wallowa Mountains
The Wallowa Mountains and an abandoned barn along Zumwalt-Buckhorn Road. (Oregon State Archives Photo)
Per capita personal income, a broader measure of the income all Oregonians receive from all sources, was $46,361 per person in 2017. In addition to wages, personal income includes proprietors’ income; income from dividends, interest, and rent; and transfer receipts.

The national per capita personal income reached $50,392 in 2017. Oregon’s per capita personal income is just 92% of the nation’s and ranks 38th among the states and Washington, D.C. 

Oregon’s real per capita personal income, adjusted for inflation and local prices, grew 12.9% over the previous five years. That was the fifth fastest adjusted income growth among the states and much faster than the national adjusted income growth rate of 8.9%.

Despite lower average incomes than the nation as a whole, Oregon’s poverty rate is about the same as the nation. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 12.7% of Oregon residents lived in families with incomes below the poverty threshold during 2014-2016. The U.S. poverty rate was 13.7%. Oregon ranked roughly 27th among the states with the lowest percentage of people living in poverty.