Bartenders in Oregon
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,583
after federal, FICA and Oregon tax
Tax takes
$8,317
21.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,204
Oregon costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Oregon — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$38,900
Kept after tax
$30,583
Worth in national money
$29,204
State rank
10
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for bartenders is strong here. Oregon's middle earner gets $38,900, putting the state 10 of 51 — about 13.28% ahead of the national figure.
- Within Oregon this is lower-paid work. Of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, bartenders ranks 459. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $38,900 the take-home is $30,583. But Oregon costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $29,204 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is higher, $46,080, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For bartenders, Oregon sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $38,900, ranking 10 of 51 and running about 13.28% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Against every occupation Oregon reports, bartenders ranks 459 of 489, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Oregon income tax is $30,583 for bartenders, from $38,900. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $29,204. ⚠️ This is purchasing power and not a wage; cross-state offer comparisons that stop at the nominal figure systematically overvalue high-cost states. The mean of $46,080 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Bartenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,900 |
| Top tenth earn over | $68,980 |
| This salary | $38,900 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Oregon | $30,583 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,436 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,204 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $35,349 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,294 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 105 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Oregon earn less than $38,900. The published range is $31,200 up to $68,980, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Oregon's $30,583, worked from $38,900. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 459 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Oregon, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $29,204, the adjusted value of that $38,900 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 459 of 489 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for bartenders in Oregon the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $31,200 to $68,980. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Oregon take-home of $30,583, on $38,900 for work ranking 459 of 489 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 459 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Oregon, so $29,204 — the adjusted value of that $38,900 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 459 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $46,080, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $31,200, the highest tenth $68,980, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Oregon costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $29,204 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Oregon adds its own income tax on top — which is why $30,583 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Oregon is $46,080. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($31,200) and the ninetieth ($68,980) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Oregon's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $29,204 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $30,583 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Oregon income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.