Employment among Oregon's Veterans

In 2016, the unemployment rate for veterans in Oregon was 6.3 percent according to the Current Population Survey. This was higher than Oregon’s overall unemployment rate of 4.9 percent. Across the U.S., veterans had a lower unemployment rate of 4.3 percent.

Around 142,000 of the 151,000 veterans in the labor force were employed, with 117,000 being employed full time and 25,000 part time. About 9,000 veterans were unemployed, which accounted for 9.4 percent of the unemployed population (96,000) 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. 

In 2016, Oregon’s veterans earned a higher median income ($36,959) than nonveterans ($27,432). Education could be one of the factors influencing veterans’ higher median income. Among Oregon’s veterans ages 25 years and older, 41.6 percent have an associate’s degree or some college compared with 33.8 percent of nonveterans. About 5.3 percent of veterans don’t have a high school diploma, while 10.2 percent of nonveterans don’t have a high school diploma. 

Veterans are more likely to have a disability, but less likely to be in poverty than the general population. About 33.3 percent of Oregon’s veterans reported to have a service-connected disability, compared with 17.6 percent of the total civilian population. About 7.4 percent of veterans were in poverty compared with about 12.4 percent of the total civilian population.