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Jobs in Portland, OR: pay, hiring and remote work
In Portland, 35.5% of the 629 job postings we track list a pay range, and the median posted pay is $165,000 a year. 13.5% are remote, 12.4% are entry level, and 44.1% have been open for more than 60 days (data as of October 2026).
What stands out
- A $150,000 posted salary in the Portland area buys about what $142,500 buys in the average US metro area, because prices here run 5% above the national average.
- After adjusting for local prices, the typical worker's official median wage ($60,500) is worth $57,500 in average-US dollars, 12th of 99 metro areas.
- Housing costs run 25% above the US average here (BEA regional price parities).
- 7.7% of postings are remote, 16th highest of 99 metro areas.
- 36.4% of open postings have been listed for more than 60 days (median 30 days), 18th highest of 99 metro areas.
OR has no statewide law requiring a pay range in job postings.
Portland is part of the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA metro area, with suburbs and nearby towns broken out.
The metro area's unemployment rate was 4.9% in 2026-08 (5.3% a year earlier) (BLS, not seasonally adjusted). Across Oregon, employers had 72,000 job openings in 2025-12, an openings rate of 3.5% (BLS JOLTS). Indeed's own measure of job postings in the metro area is 19% below its February 2020 level and 1.1% lower than a year ago (Indeed Hiring Lab, 2026-10-02).
Posted pay vs official wages
| Kind of job | Median posted pay | Closest official occupation | Official median wage (BLS, May 2025) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Software developers | $187,500 16 postings | software developers | $156,000 |
Official wages are the Bureau of Labor Statistics median annual wage for all workers in that occupation in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA metro area. Posted pay is the middle of the ranges in open postings, so the two measure different things: pay for open jobs versus pay for everyone already employed.
Posted pay by kind of job in Portland
| Kind of job | Median posted pay | Postings with pay |
|---|---|---|
| Software developers | $187,500 | 16 |
| Legal and compliance | $185,000 | 12 |
| Sales | $160,000 | 27 |
| Product and design | $157,000 | 16 |
| Operations and logistics | $147,500 | 11 |
Kinds of job are grouped by title wording. Pay is the midpoint of the range in the posting, annualized for hourly postings.
Who is hiring, by industry
| Industry | Postings |
|---|---|
| Healthcare & Life Sciences | 166 |
| Software & Technology | 147 |
| Real Estate & Construction | 60 |
| Retail & E-commerce | 47 |
| Consulting & Professional Services | 46 |
| Manufacturing & Industrial | 39 |
| Government & Nonprofit | 33 |
| Media & Entertainment | 25 |
| Other | 21 |
| Financial Services | 19 |
Employers with the most openings
- Mercury: 65 postings
- OHSU: 48 postings
- Panthalassa: 39 postings
- Careers Lhs: 37 postings
- Multco: 27 postings
What applications ask in Portland
Among 123 application forms we read: 25.2% ask applicants for a salary expectation, 82.1% ask about visa sponsorship, 37.4% include the equal-opportunity section, and 5.7% carry an AI-use notice. Question wording only; no applicant answers are ever collected.
What your paycheck buys here
Prices in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA area run 5% above the national average, and housing runs 25% above it. The official median wage for all jobs is $60,500, which is worth $57,500 in average-US dollars. The median posted pay of $150,000 is worth $142,500.
How it compares with similar-sized metro areas
| Metro area | Pay listed | Posted pay | Official wage | Prices | Paycheck power |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portland | 28.3% | $150,000 | $60,500 | 105.4 | $57,500 |
| Las Vegas | 24.6% | $86,500 | $46,500 | 100.2 | $46,500 |
| San Jose | 62.2% | $201,000 | $84,000 | 110.4 | $76,000 |
| Austin | 21.4% | $165,000 | $57,000 | 98.1 | $58,000 |
| San Antonio | 20.9% | $113,000 | $47,000 | 94.7 | $49,500 |
| Pittsburgh | 27.9% | $180,000 | $49,500 | 94.7 | $52,500 |
| Columbus | 25.7% | $135,000 | $51,500 | 95.5 | $54,000 |
Compare any metro areas side by side
Download this data
Free to use with credit: Second Summit, October 2026. Data (CSV) · Data (JSON) · paycheck power chart (SVG) · prices chart (SVG) · industries chart (SVG) · biggest jobs chart (SVG)
Related pages
- Metro area: Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
- State: Oregon
- Compare the metro area with others
Postings that list several cities count in each one. This covers employers whose career pages we read, not every job in Portland. Methodology · All cities (CSV)
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