Oregon.gov Publishes State Workers’ Salaries

In an effort to meet requirements for a transparency website created by House Bill 2500, the Department of Administrative Services has compiled and made available state workers’ salaries.
The data provided includes approximately 32,620 state workers’ salaries. Not included are employees of the Oregon University System, Oregon State Treasurer, and semi-independent agencies, temporary employees, or records protected by the courts.

Of the top three individual earners, the top two are from the Department of Human Services. Both DHS workers are classified as Principle Executives and earn $231,996 and $242,004, respectively. The third top earner, from the Department of Corrections, is classified as a Clinical Director and earns $229,332.

Workers who earn $100,000 or above total 949. Those earning at least $75,000 total 3,689. The mean salary for all 32,620 state workers is $51,442. The mean for all Oregon workers, public and private, is $41,430, as reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The state workers’ mean salary exceeds Oregon’s mean salary by $10,000, or 24 percent.

The top-earning agency is the Legislative Revenue Office, with an average salary of just under $100,000. The Legislative Fiscal Office and the Employment Relations Board followed closely, with an average salary of approximately $95,000. Comparatively, the Legislative Assembly earns the least with an average salary of $33,783.

The top two service-type category earners are Agency Heads and Executive Services, with mean incomes of $115,778 and $93,622, respectively. Employees unrepresented by a union earn $44,530 on average. Union-represented employees earn $47,277, six percent more than their unrepresented counterparts.

As for total agency payroll, the Department of Human Services eclipses all others. DHS has a head count of 8,923 and total payroll of $426 million. The runner-up is the Department of Corrections, with a head count of 4,161 and total payroll of $222 million. Following closely in third place is the Department of Transportation, with a head count of 4,236 and total payroll of $219 million.

Click the links below for full analyses:
All salaries in descending order
Average salaries by Service Type
Average salaries by Agency Title
Average salaries by Classification

Jacob Szeto is Investigative Reporter at Cascade Policy Institute, Oregon’s free market public policy research organization.