Salem, OR

Across all occupations in the Salem, OR metropolitan area, the median wage is $55,310 a year ($26.59 an hour) and the mean $67,920, May 2025. That median is +8% against the US median of $50,980 and −3% against Oregon's $57,000. BLS counts 188,620 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is physicians, all other; the largest is home health and personal care aides.

All occupations: Salem, OR vs Oregon and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Salem, OR area, Oregon and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Salem, OR	Hourly	$16.75	$19.69	$26.59	$38.34	$56.91	$32.66	188,620
Salem, OR	Annual	$34,830	$40,960	$55,310	$79,750	$118,380	$67,920	188,620
Oregon	Hourly	$17.15	$20.52	$27.40	$39.94	$62.27	$34.84	1,967,130
Oregon	Annual	$35,680	$42,690	$57,000	$83,070	$129,520	$72,460	1,967,130
United States	Hourly	$15.00	$18.07	$24.51	$38.71	$61.81	$33.54	155,495,730
United States	Annual	$31,200	$37,590	$50,980	$80,520	$128,560	$69,770	155,495,730

Annual wage at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles across all occupations in the metro; the line marks the US median. The same numbers are in the table above.

433 detailed occupations publish a median in this area. State profile: Oregon. Compare any occupation across every area in the wage explorer.

20 highest-paying occupations in Salem, OR

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Physicians, All Other	$373,970	$179.79	330
2	Family Medicine Physicians	$295,170	$141.91	180
3	Chief Executives	$261,650	$125.79	120
4	Pediatricians, General	$256,710	$123.42	60
5	Dentists, General	$212,310	$102.07	140
6	Nurse Anesthetists	$174,260	$83.78	40
7	Pharmacists	$169,210	$81.35	300
8	Compensation and Benefits Managers	$163,270	$78.49	**
9	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$162,640	$78.19	140
10	Nurse Practitioners	$162,600	$78.17	320
11	Computer and Information Systems Managers in Oregon	$158,390	$76.15	490
12	Lawyers in Oregon	$156,070	$75.04	780
13	Sales Managers in Oregon	$152,090	$73.12	270
14	Physician Assistants	$144,190	$69.32	190
15	Clinical and Counseling Psychologists	$143,980	$69.22	130
16	Financial Managers in Oregon	$141,400	$67.98	620
17	Healthcare Diagnosing or Treating Practitioners, All Other	$140,670	$67.63	30
18	Computer Network Architects	$138,930	$66.79	180
19	Medical and Health Services Managers	$137,400	$66.06	660
20	Human Resources Managers	$136,990	$65.86	200

Ranked by median; an occupation whose median BLS withholds or top-codes in this area cannot appear here, however well it pays.

20 largest occupations in Salem, OR

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in Oregon	7,040	37.32	1.35	$45,200
2	Fast Food and Counter Workers in Oregon	5,880	31.17	1.26	$34,520
3	Retail Salespersons in Oregon	4,550	24.11	0.96	$35,760
4	Registered Nurses in Oregon	4,010	21.24	0.98	$131,750
5	Stockers and Order Fillers in Oregon	3,950	20.96	1.15	$41,520
6	Management Analysts in Oregon	3,740	19.82	3.43	$99,090
7	General and Operations Managers in Oregon	3,490	18.53	0.82	$114,430
8	Cashiers in Oregon	3,480	18.46	0.93	$34,340
9	Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in Oregon	3,220	17.05	1.55	$55,660
10	Office Clerks, General in Oregon	3,160	16.75	1.06	$50,650
11	Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in Oregon	3,050	16.16	1.77	$38,950
12	Personal Care and Service Workers, All Other	2,870	15.21	39.13	$41,600
13	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Oregon	2,550	13.52	0.95	$38,340
13	Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse	2,550	13.52	7.92	$33,450
15	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Oregon	2,250	11.94	0.63	$40,360
16	Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks in Oregon	2,230	11.83	1.34	$54,420
17	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Oregon	2,170	11.53	0.87	$60,580
18	Customer Service Representatives in Oregon	2,140	11.35	0.68	$47,790
19	Waiters and Waitresses in Oregon	1,850	9.79	0.67	$48,720
20	Carpenters in Oregon	1,720	9.10	2.11	$59,730

Most concentrated occupations in Salem, OR

The 10 occupations with the highest location quotient among those employing at least 100 people in the area. A quotient of 2.00 means the occupation's share of local jobs is twice its national share.

Rank	Occupation	Location quotient	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Median annual
1	Personal Care and Service Workers, All Other	39.13	2,870	15.21	$41,600
2	Psychiatric Aides	21.02	910	4.80	$50,580
3	Foresters	8.31	110	0.56	$89,220
4	Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse	7.92	2,550	13.52	$33,450
5	Food Science Technicians	7.31	130	0.69	$45,200
6	Budget Analysts	6.34	360	1.92	$98,110
7	Statisticians	6.32	220	1.18	$93,620
8	Directors, Religious Activities and Education	5.76	150	0.82	$46,840
9	Soil and Plant Scientists	5.59	110	0.57	$93,620
10	Clergy	5.55	380	2.04	$78,220

Occupation groups in Salem, OR

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$124,190	$133,120	10,410	55.19	0.77
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$115,350	$127,540	11,040	58.55	0.93
Computer and Mathematical	$102,650	$104,470	5,000	26.53	0.78
Architecture and Engineering	$96,610	$102,120	1,950	10.34	0.61
Legal	$89,220	$114,380	1,620	8.57	1.02
Business and Financial Operations	$89,160	$91,450	15,250	80.82	1.19
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$86,640	$89,920	1,860	9.87	1.04
Protective Service	$66,840	$70,070	4,080	21.65	0.89
Community and Social Service	$64,130	$67,680	4,910	26.01	1.52
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$62,400	$70,860	1,910	10.14	0.77
Construction and Extraction	$61,770	$69,740	9,880	52.39	1.27
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$60,280	$65,500	6,270	33.26	0.85
Educational Instruction and Library	$57,980	$64,230	13,440	71.26	1.22
Office and Administrative Support	$51,130	$54,390	21,840	115.80	1.01
Healthcare Support	$47,130	$48,330	12,370	65.60	1.29
Production	$46,220	$49,210	6,810	36.11	0.66
Transportation and Material Moving	$45,520	$48,640	15,780	83.64	0.95
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$43,370	$44,560	5,650	29.93	1.02
Personal Care and Service	$41,600	$44,340	5,790	30.69	1.47
Sales and Related	$37,520	$48,600	13,370	70.89	0.82
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$36,490	$41,140	16,230	86.04	0.98
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$33,660	$37,250	3,150	16.71	5.97

Every occupation in Oregon, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 433 published occupations for this area are in the wage explorer; other metros are on the metros hub.

Source and notes

Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: OEWS Salem, OR estimates (area 41420).

*: Wage estimate not available.
**: Employment estimate not available.

Annual wages assume 2,080 hours a year at the hourly rate; occupations BLS publishes on one basis only show an en dash (–) on the other.
Employment is rounded to the nearest 10 by BLS. Where BLS withholds a cell, nothing is estimated in its place.
Jobs per 1,000 is the occupation's employment per 1,000 jobs in the Salem, OR area; the location quotient is that share divided by the national share.
The concentration table keeps only occupations with employment of 100 or more in the area, so a quotient built on a handful of rounded jobs cannot top it.