Community Health Workers in Oregon
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,929
after federal, FICA and Oregon tax
Tax takes
$12,421
23.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,084
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
$53,350
Kept after tax
$40,929
Worth in national money
$39,084
State rank
17
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for community health workers is strong here. Oregon's middle earner gets $53,350, putting the state 17 of 51 — about 2.89% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations Oregon reports figures for, this is number 331.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $53,350, tax leaves $40,929 — and because Oregon is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $39,084 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $56,250, since top earners drag the number up.
- For community health workers, Oregon sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $53,350, ranking 17 of 51 and running about 2.89% 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.
- In Oregon's occupational distribution, community health workers sits at 331 of 489 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- After tax, $40,929 remains from the Oregon median of $53,350 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $39,084 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $56,250 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Community Health Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,000 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $53,350 |
| Top tenth earn over | $73,760 |
| This salary | $53,350 |
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 | $40,929 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $45,047 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,273 |
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 | $48,225 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,796 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 105 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $53,350 as a midpoint for Oregon, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $45,000 and the ninetieth is $73,760 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $40,929 take-home in Oregon comes from $53,350. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 331 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $39,084 uses one figure for the whole of Oregon. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 331.
- The Oregon median of $53,350 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $45,000 to $73,760. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $40,929, from $53,350, assumes a single Oregon filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 331 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 17 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $39,084, worked from $53,350, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Oregon address, on work sitting at 331 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 $56,250, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $45,000 at the bottom tenth to $73,760 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Oregon run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $39,084 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $40,929 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $56,250. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($45,000 to $73,760) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Oregon rather than a national figure.
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 $39,084 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 $40,929 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.