Occupations with the Most Jobs Paying Less Than $11.25 per Hour

Oregon’s minimum wage levels were set by Senate Bill 1532 in 2016. The minimum wage increases on July 1 each year through 2022. There are three tiers of step increases based on geography. Oregon’s most recent minimum wage increase came on July 1, 2017, but the raises weren’t the same across the state. Minimum wage increased to $11.25 per hour inside the Portland urban growth boundary, $10.00 per hour in nonurban counties, and $10.25 in other areas of the state.

Minimum wage jobs are more common in some types of work. There are around 290,700 jobs in Oregon that pay $11.25 per hour or less. This represents 16 percent of all Oregon jobs.

There are three occupations that employ more than 20,000 workers with wages below $11.25 per hour. These occupations are cashiers, retail salespersons, and combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food. Waiters and waitresses were the fourth highest occupation, with 19,237 workers making this hourly rate or less.

Dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers have the largest percentage of their total occupational employment making $11.25 per hour or less, with 78 percent of the jobs below this threshold.

Employers are asked to report tips and gratuities in occupational and payroll tax wage reports. Tipped jobs that pay minimum wage can exceed the $11.25 per hour level once tips are included, and those jobs would be counted in a higher wage category.

This article was written by economist Anna Johnson and was originally published on QualityInfo.org.