Oregon’s minimum wage has gone up, from $13.50 per hour to $14.20 per hour. The increase of 70 cents this year is based on inflation between March 2022 and March 2023, which was 5%. The increase was announced in April and went into effect Saturday.
By state law, workers in the Portland metro area earn $1.25 more than the baseline minimum wage. So the new minimum wage in the Portland area is $15.45 an hour.
The minimum wage for workers in rural counties is $1 less than the baseline. They’ll now earn $13.20 per hour.
Oregon adopted the tiered approach to its minimum wage with three different rates seven years ago, based on employer location. Since 2016, the baseline rate has increased by just about $5.
In 2022, about 5% of hourly workers in Oregon earned the minimum wage.
The federal minimum wage remains $7.25 an hour.
Copyright 2023 Oregon Public Broadcasting. To see more, visit Oregon Public Broadcasting.