Veterans Day 2016: Facts about Oregon's Veterans

In 2015, the unemployment rate for veterans in Oregon (5.6%) was about the same as Oregon's overall unemployment rate (5.4%), according to the Current Population Survey. Across the U.S., veterans had a lower unemployment rate (4.6%).

About 9,000 veterans were unemployed, which accounted for 9.4 percent of the unemployed population (105,000) in the state. Over the last decade, unemployed veterans made up between 6.5 percent and 10.1 percent of the overall unemployed population in the state.

About 353,000 veterans age 18 and over lived in Oregon in 2015. About 158,000 veterans (45%) were in the labor force and 195,000 (55%) were not in the labor force. The high percentage of Oregon's veterans out of the labor force could be related to the age of veterans. According to the American Community Survey, in 2015 about 53 percent of Oregon's veterans were age 65 years or older. More than half of Oregon's veterans served in the military at least four decades ago: Vietnam War era veterans (41%), Korean War (9%), and World War II veterans (5%). Gulf-War era I and II veterans accounted for 29 percent in 2015. 

In 2015, Oregon’s veterans earned a higher median income ($34,811) than non-veterans ($25,941). Education could be one of the factors influencing veterans’ higher median income. Among Oregon’s veterans ages 25 years and older, 43 percent have an associate’s degree or some college compared with 34 percent of non-veterans. About 5 percent of veterans don’t have a high school diploma, while 11 percent of non-veterans don’t have a high school diploma. Higher educational attainment generally translates into higher earnings.

Female veterans, who represented 7.8 percent of Oregon’s veterans, earned a median income of $27,183, less than male veterans’ median of $35,226.

Veterans are more likely to have a disability, but less likely to be in poverty than the general population. About 34 percent of Oregon’s veterans reported to have a service-connected disability, compared with 16 percent of the total civilian population. About 8 percent of veterans were in poverty compared with about 16 percent.

For more information on Oregon's Veterans, read the full article "Employment Among Oregon’s Veterans" by Felicia Bechtoldt.