John Day River from hill · Photo: Jsayre64 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Wheeler County, Oregon
1,485 residents · Updated Nov 12, 2026
The community services in Wheeler County, from the data behind Range Lab’s tools, refreshed daily.
John Day River from hill · Photo: Jsayre64 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
355
▲ 6.6%
vs. a year ago · Q1 2026
$825
▼ 3.2%
vs. a year ago · $20.63/hr
—
Needs a 2-bedroom rent
No published median yet
3.8%
▼ 0.7 pts
vs. a year ago · July 2026
$55,284
10.8%
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.
−3.2%wages vs. a year ago
| Q2 2023 | Wages 100.0 |
|---|---|
| Q3 2023 | Wages 91.4 |
| Q4 2023 | Wages 89.8 |
| Q1 2024 | Wages 91.1 |
| Q2 2024 | Wages 97.9 |
| Q3 2024 | Wages 95.0 |
| Q4 2024 | Wages 100.1 |
| Q1 2025 | Wages 99.9 |
| Q2 2025 | Wages 110.8 |
| Q3 2025 | Wages 101.4 |
| Q4 2025 | Wages 103.2 |
| Q1 2026 | Wages 96.7 |
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 | 4.6% | 6.0% | 5.8% |
| February | 4.1% | 6.5% | 5.2% |
| March | 4.2% | 4.6% | 5.0% |
| April | 2.9% | 3.5% | 4.2% |
| May | 3.2% | 3.8% | 3.9% |
| June | 3.8% | 3.3% | 4.3% |
| July | 4.3% | 4.5% | 3.8% |
| August | 3.6% | 4.2% | — |
| September | 3.6% | 4.4% | — |
| October | 3.4% | — | — |
| November | 3.7% | 4.8% | — |
| December | 5.1% | 4.9% | — |
3.8%
▼ 0.7 pts
vs. July 2025
26
unemployed of a 679 labor force
July 2026
How pay is spread
Hourly pay of all workers in the Central Oregon nonmetro, BLS wage percentiles.
Hourly pay, all workers
10th$23.10
Median$49.40
90th
The biggest job groups pay the least
Each bubble is an occupation group: median hourly wage across, jobs up, size by jobs.
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations | $53.25/hr | 2,800 jobs |
|---|---|---|
| Management Occupations | $49.20/hr | 2,730 jobs |
| Architecture and Engineering Occupations | $45.42/hr | 640 jobs |
| Computer and Mathematical Occupations | $42.45/hr | 720 jobs |
| Legal Occupations | $35.88/hr | 210 jobs |
| Business and Financial Operations Occupations | $35.81/hr | 2,010 jobs |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations | $31.77/hr | 1,070 jobs |
| Protective Service Occupations | $30.56/hr | 1,150 jobs |
| Construction and Extraction Occupations | $29.22/hr | 2,280 jobs |
| Community and Social Service Occupations | $28.53/hr | 1,740 jobs |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations | $28.30/hr | 2,430 jobs |
| Educational Instruction and Library Occupations | $24.47/hr | 3,460 jobs |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations | $23.34/hr | 400 jobs |
| Production Occupations | $23.14/hr | 2,600 jobs |
| Office and Administrative Support Occupations | $22.34/hr | 5,680 jobs |
| Healthcare Support Occupations | $20.70/hr | 2,350 jobs |
| Personal Care and Service Occupations | $19.30/hr | 1,380 jobs |
| Transportation and Material Moving Occupations | $19.14/hr | 4,530 jobs |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations | $18.26/hr | 1,650 jobs |
| Sales and Related Occupations | $17.88/hr | 4,130 jobs |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations | $17.47/hr | 560 jobs |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations | $17.37/hr | 5,640 jobs |
What different jobs pay
Hourly pay range for each occupation group: 10th–90th percentile, middle half and median.
Pay compared with Oregon and the U.S.
Median hourly wage for all occupations, then each group’s Central Oregon nonmetro median against the statewide median, sorted by the gap.
- Central Oregon nonmetro$23.10
- Oregon$27.40
- United States$24.51
- Protective servicePays more by +7%
- Farming, fishing & forestryPays less by −2%
- ProductionPays less by −3%
- Personal care & servicePays less by −3%
- Community & social servicePays less by −4%
- Food servicePays less by −4%
- Installation & repairPays less by −5%
- Healthcare practitionersPays less by −6%
- Office & admin supportPays less by −8%
- Construction & extractionPays less by −8%
- Architecture & engineeringPays less by −9%
- Healthcare supportPays less by −9%
- Cleaning & groundsPays less by −10%
- SalesPays less by −11%
- Business & financePays less by −12%
- Transportation & movingPays less by −14%
- Education & libraryPays less by −17%
- SciencePays less by −18%
- ManagementPays less by −18%
- LegalPays less by −19%
- Computer & mathPays less by −20%
- Arts, media & sportsPays less by −25%
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
4.0× the U.S. share
Least concentrated here
Computer & math
0.4× the U.S. share
- Farming, fishing & forestry4.0×
- Science2.3×
- Community & social service2.0×
- Personal care & service1.3×
- Food service1.3×
- Installation & repair1.2×
- Education & library1.2×
- Cleaning & grounds1.1×
- Construction & extraction1.1×
- Transportation & moving1.0×
- Office & admin support1.0×
- Sales0.9×
- Protective service0.9×
- Production0.9×
- Healthcare support0.9×
- Healthcare practitioners0.9×
- Management0.8×
- Architecture & engineering0.8×
- Arts, media & sports0.6×
- Business & finance0.6×
- Legal0.5×
- Computer & math0.4×
Key takeaways
What this means for Wheeler County.
Wages are falling
The average weekly wage is $825, down 3.2% from a year ago.
The biggest job groups pay the least
Office & admin support, food service and transportation & moving are 32% of jobs; all have median pay under $23/hr.
Unemployment is falling
3.8% in July 2026, 0.7 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, Central Oregon nonmetropolitan area, which covers 7 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.