Work at Home Isn’t All Bunny Slippers

An estimated 96,000 Oregon workers work primarily at home, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS). They account for about 6 percent of all workers in Oregon, compared to an estimated 4 percent of workers nationally.

Management and professional workers make up almost half of those who work at home in Oregon, about the same share seen nationally. Those working at home account for about 8 percent of all management and professional workers in the state, whereas nationally 5 percent of this group works at home. Sales and office occupations are the next largest group of work-at-home workers, accounting for over one-fifth of those who work at home. About 5 percent of all sales and office workers work at home.

The median age of those who work at home is higher than that of all workers, both in Oregon and nationally. Oregon work-at-home workers had a median age of 47 years, very similar to the 46.3-year national median. The median age for all workers in Oregon was 41.5 years, about the same as the 41.1-year national median.

Median earnings for workers who work at home are much lower than for all workers, both in Oregon and nationally. In Oregon, the estimated median earnings in the past 12 months (according to the ACS) for those who work at home were $21,577 - just 73 percent of the estimated median for all Oregon workers of $29,703. Nationally, the estimated median for those who work at home is higher, at $27,006, and more comparable to all workers' median earnings of $31,434.

Read the full article about stay-at-home workers, written by Economist Jessica Nelson.