Mechanical Engineers in Oregon
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$73,118
after federal, FICA and Oregon tax
Tax takes
$30,352
29.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$69,821
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
$103,470
Kept after tax
$73,118
Worth in national money
$69,821
State rank
21
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Oregon sits in the middle of the pack for mechanical engineers. The median is $103,470, ranking 21 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Within Oregon this is well-paid work. Of 489 occupations with published figures in the state, mechanical engineers ranks 80 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Costs eat into it here. Of $103,470, tax leaves $73,118 — and because Oregon is dearer than average, that stretches only as far as $69,821 would nationally. Averages run higher here, $115,090, since top earners drag the number up.
- Oregon occupies the middle band for mechanical engineers: a median of $103,470, ranking 21 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Ranked against every occupation Oregon publishes a median for, mechanical engineers sits 80 of 489 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- After tax, $73,118 remains from the Oregon median of $103,470 for this occupation. Applying the state's above-average price parity yields $69,821 in national-average terms — the quantity relevant to a relocation decision, and the one absent from essentially every published wage comparison. Mean pay of $115,090 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mechanical Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $78,100 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $103,470 |
| Top tenth earn over | $162,550 |
| This salary | $103,470 |
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 | $73,118 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $81,621 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$14,173 |
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 | $91,383 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$19,577 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 105 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $103,470 as a midpoint for Oregon, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $78,100 and the ninetieth is $162,550 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $73,118 take-home in Oregon comes from $103,470. 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 80 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $69,821 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 80.
- The Oregon median of $103,470 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $78,100 to $162,550. 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 $73,118, from $103,470, 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 80 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 21 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $69,821, worked from $103,470, 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 80 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $115,090 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $78,100 and the top tenth $162,550 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $69,821 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Oregon then takes its own share, leaving $73,118.
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 $115,090. 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 ($78,100) and the ninetieth ($162,550) 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 $69,821 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 $73,118 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.