Optometrists in Oregon
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$90,451
after federal, FICA and Oregon tax
Tax takes
$41,569
31.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$86,373
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
$132,020
Kept after tax
$90,451
Worth in national money
$86,373
State rank
33
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Oregon is 33 of 51 states for optometrists, with a middle wage of $132,020. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Oregon. It ranks 26 out of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- The wage here flatters the reality. From $132,020 the take-home is $90,451. But Oregon costs more than the national average, so that money behaves more like $86,373 would elsewhere. Worth knowing before comparing offers across states. The average is lower, $127,920, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Oregon ranks 33 of 51 for optometrists at $132,020. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within Oregon, optometrists ranks 26 of 489 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Retained pay after federal, FICA and Oregon income tax is $90,451 for optometrists, from $132,020. The state's price level exceeds the national average, so the price-adjusted equivalent is $86,373. ⚠️ 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 $127,920 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Optometrists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $83,830 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $132,020 |
| Top tenth earn over | $161,480 |
| This salary | $132,020 |
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 | $90,451 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $101,502 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$18,079 |
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 | $116,021 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$25,263 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 105 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $132,020 as a midpoint for Oregon, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $83,830 and the ninetieth is $161,480 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Oregon the take-home figure of $90,451, from $132,020, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 26 of 489 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Oregon, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $86,373, the adjusted value of that $132,020 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 26 of 489 in the state.
- The Oregon median of $132,020 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $83,830 to $161,480. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Oregon is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $90,451 from $132,020. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 26 of 489 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Oregon, so $86,373 — the adjusted value of that $132,020 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 26 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 $127,920 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $83,830 and the top tenth $161,480, so most people doing this work in Oregon sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $86,373 rather than its face figure.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Oregon's own levy, $90,451 remains.
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 $127,920. 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 ($83,830 to $161,480) 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 $86,373 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 $90,451 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.