Published Aug-16-2012
Bend and Corvallis show more variation from the U.S. and other Oregon metros in occupational employment. In Bend, there is a slightly higher share of employment in food preparation and serving occupations (12%) and sales and related occupations (13%). These occupations make up 9 percent and 11 percent, respectively, of national employment. Bend has a slightly smaller portion of total employment in transportation and material moving (5%), production (4%), and business and financial operations (3%) jobs than the U.S.
In Corvallis, education, training, and library occupations make up 11 percent of all employment, well above the 7 percent share of total employment nationwide. Corvallis also has a higher concentration of architecture and engineering and computer and mathematical occupations. These trends are indicative of the fact that Corvallis is a small metropolitan area with employment that's heavily influenced by Oregon State University, Hewlett-Packard, and home-grown engineering firms such as CH2M Hill. Corvallis reports comparatively small portions of employment in office and administrative support occupations (14%), as well as sales (8%), transportation and material moving (4%), and production (2%).
| Share of Total Employment by Occupational Groups, U.S. and Oregon Metros, 2011 | |||||||
| Occupational Group | U.S. | Bend | Corvallis | Eugene | Medford | Portland | Salem |
| Architecture and Engineering | 2% | 1% | 4% | 1% | 1% | 3% | 1% |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 2% | 2% | 1% |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance | 3% | 4% | 4% | 4% | 3% | 3% | 3% |
| Business and Financial Operations | 5% | 3% | 4% | 4% | 4% | 5% | 6% |
| Community and Social Service | 1% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 2% |
| Computer and Mathematical | 3% | 2% | 5% | 2% | 2% | 3% | 2% |
| Construction and Extraction | 4% | 4% | 2% | 3% | 3% | 4% | 4% |
| Education, Training, and Library | 7% | 7% | 11% | 8% | 6% | 7% | 8% |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry | 0% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% | 0% | 2% |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related | 9% | 12% | 10% | 10% | 10% | 9% | 9% |
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical | 6% | 6% | 6% | 6% | 6% | 5% | 5% |
| Healthcare Support | 3% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 3% | 2% | 3% |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair | 4% | 4% | 3% | 3% | 4% | 4% | 3% |
| Legal | 1% | 1% | NA | 1% | 0% | 1% | 1% |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science | 1% | 1% | NA | 1% | 1% | 1% | 1% |
| Management | 5% | 4% | 5% | 5% | 4% | 5% | 5% |
| Office and Administrative Support | 17% | 18% | 14% | 17% | 17% | 16% | 17% |
| Personal Care and Service | 3% | 4% | 4% | 4% | 3% | 3% | 4% |
| Production | 7% | 4% | 2% | 6% | 6% | 7% | 5% |
| Protective Service | 2% | 2% | 1% | 2% | 2% | 2% | 2% |
| Sales and Related | 11% | 13% | 8% | 11% | 11% | 10% | 9% |
| Transportation and Material Moving | 7% | 5% | 4% | 6% | 8% | 7% | 6% |
| All Occupations | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% |
| NA = not published | |||||||
| Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics | |||||||
In some occupational groups, Oregon's wages differ from the nation. The state's business and financial operations occupations posted relatively low wages in Oregon. Portland ($29.12) came close to matching the U.S. ($29.67), but most other metro areas in the state paid closer to $25.00 per hour.
Oregon metros outperform the U.S. in some other occupational groups; health care practitioners and technical occupations are one such example. The median hourly wage for this occupational group was $28.64 nationwide. That's far below the median wages for all Oregon metropolitan areas, which ranged from a high of $35.69 in Portland to a low of $33.43 in Salem.
For other occupational groups, Oregon metros show mixed results. Computer and mathematical jobs in Corvallis, for instance, had a median wage of $38.28, which exceeds the U.S. median wage ($36.10) by more than two dollars per hour. At the same time, jobs in these occupations earned nearly 10 dollars less per hour in Medford ($27.07) and Bend ($27.84) compared with the U.S.
