Oregon Trail - Keeney Historic Site (29304390117) · Photo: BLM Oregon & Washington · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
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Malheur County, Oregon
31,954 residents · Updated Nov 12, 2026
Rental availability, asking rents against HUD Fair Market Rent, and community services in Malheur County, from the data behind Range Lab’s tools, refreshed daily.
Oregon Trail - Keeney Historic Site (29304390117) · Photo: BLM Oregon & Washington · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
13,368
▲ 1.5%
vs. a year ago · Q1 2026
$992
▲ 3.5%
vs. a year ago · $24.80/hr
$22.60/hr
36 hrs/week
at the average wage to afford it
4.7%
▼ 1.2 pts
vs. a year ago · July 2026
$54,519
17.6%
below the poverty line · ACS 2024
Wages over time
Average weekly wage, indexed to Q2 2023 = 100. Zillow publishes no rent index for this county.
+3.5%wages vs. a year ago
| Q2 2023 | Wages 100.0 |
|---|---|
| Q3 2023 | Wages 99.0 |
| Q4 2023 | Wages 98.1 |
| Q1 2024 | Wages 99.0 |
| Q2 2024 | Wages 103.7 |
| Q3 2024 | Wages 104.8 |
| Q4 2024 | Wages 112.3 |
| Q1 2025 | Wages 107.4 |
| Q2 2025 | Wages 111.8 |
| Q3 2025 | Wages 109.1 |
| Q4 2025 | Wages 117.8 |
| Q1 2026 | Wages 111.2 |
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 | 5.1% | 5.3% | 5.2% |
| February | 4.5% | 5.1% | 5.0% |
| March | 4.4% | 5.0% | 4.3% |
| April | 3.6% | 3.7% | 3.7% |
| May | 3.6% | 4.3% | 4.3% |
| June | 4.4% | 5.1% | 5.2% |
| July | 4.6% | 5.9% | 4.7% |
| August | 4.0% | 4.4% | — |
| September | 3.7% | 4.4% | — |
| October | 3.5% | — | — |
| November | 3.7% | 4.1% | — |
| December | 4.6% | 4.7% | — |
4.7%
▼ 1.2 pts
vs. July 2025
636
unemployed of a 13,448 labor force
July 2026
Who earns the housing wage?
Out of 100 Eastern Oregon nonmetro workers, how many are paid enough to afford each unit size at 30% of income. Estimated from BLS wage percentiles.
53 of 100
2 bedroom
$22.60/hr · $1,175 rent
30 of 100
3 bedroom
$31.73/hr · $1,650 rent
Hourly pay, all workers
10th$23.35
Median$47.67
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 | $50.07/hr | 3,340 jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Management Occupations | $47.80/hr | 3,550 jobs |
| Architecture and Engineering Occupations | $43.50/hr | 480 jobs |
| Legal Occupations | $39.01/hr | 290 jobs |
| Computer and Mathematical Occupations | $38.64/hr | 1,670 jobs |
| Protective Service Occupations | $36.79/hr | 2,890 jobs |
| Business and Financial Operations Occupations | $36.19/hr | 2,540 jobs |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations | $30.35/hr | 1,810 jobs |
| Community and Social Service Occupations | $29.62/hr | 2,550 jobs |
| Construction and Extraction Occupations | $29.19/hr | 3,360 jobs |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations | $28.68/hr | 3,550 jobs |
| Educational Instruction and Library Occupations | $26.74/hr | 5,420 jobs |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations | $25.00/hr | 510 jobs |
| Production Occupations | $24.06/hr | 4,030 jobs |
| Office and Administrative Support Occupations | $22.53/hr | 8,260 jobs |
| Transportation and Material Moving Occupations | $20.97/hr | 8,160 jobs |
| Personal Care and Service Occupations | $20.00/hr | 1,730 jobs |
| Healthcare Support Occupations | $19.54/hr | 2,790 jobs |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations | $18.11/hr | 2,230 jobs |
| Sales and Related Occupations | $17.48/hr | 5,730 jobs |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations | $16.88/hr | 6,630 jobs |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations | $16.08/hr | 2,220 jobs |
What different jobs pay vs. what’s needed for rent
Hourly pay range for each occupation group against the $22.60/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 Eastern Oregon nonmetro median against the statewide median, sorted by the gap.
- Eastern Oregon nonmetro$23.35
- Oregon$27.40
- United States$24.51
- Protective servicePays more by +29%
- ProductionPays more by +1%
- Personal care & serviceAbout the same: 0%
- Community & social serviceAbout the same: 0%
- Installation & repairPays less by −4%
- Transportation & movingPays less by −6%
- Food servicePays less by −7%
- Office & admin supportPays less by −7%
- Construction & extractionPays less by −8%
- Education & libraryPays less by −9%
- Farming, fishing & forestryPays less by −10%
- Cleaning & groundsPays less by −11%
- Business & financePays less by −11%
- LegalPays less by −12%
- Healthcare practitionersPays less by −12%
- Architecture & engineeringPays less by −13%
- SalesPays less by −13%
- Healthcare supportPays less by −14%
- Arts, media & sportsPays less by −19%
- ManagementPays less by −20%
- SciencePays less by −21%
- Computer & mathPays less by −27%
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
Farming, fishing & forestry
10.8× the U.S. share
Least concentrated here
Architecture & engineering
0.4× the U.S. share
- Farming, fishing & forestry10.8×
- Science2.6×
- Community & social service2.0×
- Protective service1.6×
- Education & library1.3×
- Transportation & moving1.3×
- Installation & repair1.2×
- Personal care & service1.1×
- Construction & extraction1.1×
- Cleaning & grounds1.0×
- Food service1.0×
- Production1.0×
- Office & admin support1.0×
- Sales0.9×
- Healthcare support0.7×
- Healthcare practitioners0.7×
- Management0.7×
- Computer & math0.7×
- Arts, media & sports0.5×
- Business & finance0.5×
- Legal0.5×
- Architecture & engineering0.4×
Key takeaways
What this means for Malheur County.
Wages are rising
The average weekly wage is $992, up 3.5% from a year ago.
The biggest job groups pay the least
Office & admin support, transportation & moving and food service are 31% of jobs; all have median pay under $23/hr.
Most workers earn the housing wage
About 53 in 100 workers earn the $22.60/hr needed to afford a 2-bedroom at 30% of income.
Unemployment is falling
4.7% in July 2026, 1.2 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, Eastern Oregon nonmetropolitan area, which covers 8 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.