Hood Jeff ThreeFingeredJack BB 150509 · Photo: Johannes Menzel · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Jefferson County, Oregon
25,203 residents · Updated Nov 12, 2026
Rental availability, asking rents against HUD Fair Market Rent, and community services in Jefferson County, from the data behind Range Lab’s tools, refreshed daily.
Jefferson County
Oregon
25,203 residents
2 ZIP codes with listings
85 services listed
All Oregon countiesHood Jeff ThreeFingeredJack BB 150509 · Photo: Johannes Menzel · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
7,022
▲ 1.1%
vs. a year ago · Q1 2026
$1,099
▲ 1.9%
vs. a year ago · $27.48/hr
$26.83/hr
39 hrs/week
at the average wage to afford it
5.6%
▼ 0.5 pts
vs. a year ago · July 2026
$76,260
13.4%
below the poverty line · ACS 2024
Unemployment, year over year
Not seasonally adjusted, so each year gets its own line. A line above last year’s is the real signal. October 2025 was not published.
| Month | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 6.1% | 6.1% | 6.7% |
| February | 5.8% | 6.0% | 6.5% |
| March | 5.1% | 5.7% | 5.9% |
| April | 3.9% | 4.4% | 4.9% |
| May | 3.8% | 4.9% | 4.8% |
| June | 4.2% | 5.4% | 5.4% |
| July | 5.1% | 6.1% | 5.6% |
| August | 4.8% | 5.9% | — |
| September | 4.1% | 5.6% | — |
| October | 4.1% | — | — |
| November | 4.4% | 5.5% | — |
| December | 4.9% | 5.8% | — |
5.6%
▼ 0.5 pts
vs. July 2025
635
unemployed of a 11,321 labor force
July 2026
Who earns the housing wage?
Out of 100 Bend metro workers, how many are paid enough to afford each unit size at 30% of income. Estimated from BLS wage percentiles.
61 of 100
1 bedroom
$23.65/hr · $1,230 rent
49 of 100
2 bedroom
$26.83/hr · $1,395 rent
23 of 100
3 bedroom
$39.87/hr · $2,073 rent
Hourly pay, all workers
10th$26.24
Median$57.37
90th
The biggest job groups pay the least
Each bubble is an occupation group: median hourly wage across, jobs up, size by jobs. Red groups’ median worker can’t afford a 2-bedroom.
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations | $59.72/hr | 6,870 jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Management Occupations | $52.80/hr | 6,640 jobs |
| Computer and Mathematical Occupations | $50.60/hr | 2,430 jobs |
| Architecture and Engineering Occupations | $43.50/hr | 1,400 jobs |
| Business and Financial Operations Occupations | $38.51/hr | 5,980 jobs |
| Legal Occupations | $38.06/hr | 690 jobs |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations | $37.82/hr | 1,600 jobs |
| Protective Service Occupations | $31.91/hr | 1,730 jobs |
| Community and Social Service Occupations | $30.67/hr | 2,980 jobs |
| Construction and Extraction Occupations | $30.39/hr | 6,060 jobs |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations | $28.50/hr | 4,090 jobs |
| Educational Instruction and Library Occupations | $27.22/hr | 6,140 jobs |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations | $26.86/hr | 1,590 jobs |
| Office and Administrative Support Occupations | $24.08/hr | 12,150 jobs |
| Production Occupations | $23.55/hr | 6,210 jobs |
| Healthcare Support Occupations | $23.09/hr | 4,400 jobs |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations | $22.53/hr | 320 jobs |
| Transportation and Material Moving Occupations | $22.45/hr | 7,730 jobs |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations | $21.10/hr | 3,930 jobs |
| Sales and Related Occupations | $21.10/hr | 9,810 jobs |
| Personal Care and Service Occupations | $20.00/hr | 3,320 jobs |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations | $18.47/hr | 12,170 jobs |
What different jobs pay vs. what’s needed for rent
Hourly pay range for each occupation group against the $26.83/hr housing wage. The last column is the weekly hours the median worker needs to afford a 2-bedroom.
Pay compared with Oregon and the U.S.
Median hourly wage for all occupations, then each group’s Bend median against the statewide median, sorted by the gap.
- Bend metro$26.24
- Oregon$27.40
- United States$24.51
- Farming, fishing & forestryPays more by +26%
- Protective servicePays more by +12%
- Healthcare practitionersPays more by +5%
- SalesPays more by +5%
- Cleaning & groundsPays more by +4%
- Community & social servicePays more by +3%
- Food servicePays more by +2%
- Healthcare supportPays more by +1%
- Transportation & movingPays more by +1%
- Personal care & serviceAbout the same: 0%
- Office & admin supportPays less by −1%
- ProductionPays less by −2%
- SciencePays less by −2%
- Computer & mathPays less by −4%
- Installation & repairPays less by −4%
- Construction & extractionPays less by −4%
- Business & financePays less by −5%
- Education & libraryPays less by −7%
- ManagementPays less by −12%
- Architecture & engineeringPays less by −13%
- Arts, media & sportsPays less by −13%
- LegalPays less by −14%
What sets local work apart?
Every occupation group’s share of local jobs compared with its U.S. share (location quotient). 2× means twice as common here; 0.5× means half as common.
Most concentrated here
Community & social service
1.6× the U.S. share
Least concentrated here
Protective service
0.7× the U.S. share
- Community & social service1.6×
- Science1.6×
- Personal care & service1.5×
- Construction & extraction1.4×
- Food service1.3×
- Cleaning & grounds1.2×
- Arts, media & sports1.1×
- Farming, fishing & forestry1.1×
- Sales1.1×
- Production1.0×
- Healthcare practitioners1.0×
- Office & admin support1.0×
- Installation & repair1.0×
- Education & library1.0×
- Management0.9×
- Business & finance0.8×
- Transportation & moving0.8×
- Healthcare support0.8×
- Architecture & engineering0.8×
- Legal0.8×
- Computer & math0.7×
- Protective service0.7×
Key takeaways
What this means for Jefferson County.
Wages are rising
The average weekly wage is $1,099, up 1.9% from a year ago.
The biggest job groups pay the least
Food service, office & admin support and sales are 32% of jobs; all have median pay under $25/hr.
Most workers fall short of the housing wage
About 49 in 100 workers earn the $26.83/hr needed to afford a 2-bedroom at 30% of income.
Unemployment is falling
5.6% in July 2026, 0.5 points below a year earlier.
Sources: BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics (through July 2026) · BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (Q1 2026) · BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (May 2025, Bend, OR metro area, which covers 3 counties; BLS doesn’t publish occupational wages for single counties) · Census ACS 2024 · Range Lab RST listings. The housing wage follows the National Low Income Housing Coalition method: rent × 12 ÷ 0.30 ÷ 2,080 hours. About the data.