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- Oregon minimum wage rates for 2026–2027
- Why the Portland boundary matters
- How Oregon assigns a rate when work crosses zones
- Hourly pay is not the only compensation covered
- Important exemptions are narrower than the general rule
- Federal law remains part of the picture
- Records and enforcement
- What the Oregon system means in practice
- Sources
Key Facts
- Oregon state level: From July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027, Oregon’s hourly minimum wages are $16.80 in the Portland metro zone, $15.55 in the standard zone, and $14.55 in nonurban counties.
- Oregon state level: The Portland metro rate follows the metropolitan urban growth boundary, not simply a Portland mailing address or an entire three-county area.
- Oregon state level: Oregon adjusts its standard rate each July 1 for inflation; the Portland metro rate is $1.25 above the standard rate and the nonurban rate is $1 below it.
- Oregon state level: Tips do not count toward Oregon’s minimum-wage obligation, and the state rate is the same for adults and minors in ordinary covered employment.
- Federal and Oregon state: For workers covered by both systems, Oregon’s higher applicable rate controls over the federal $7.25 floor.
Oregon does not have one statewide dollar amount that applies in every workplace. Its minimum-wage system has three geographic rates: Portland metro, standard, and nonurban. The correct amount generally turns on where the work is performed and, in the Portland area, whether the worksite falls inside the metropolitan urban growth boundary.
That structure makes “the minimum wage in Portland” a more precise question than it first appears. A workplace can be in Clackamas, Multnomah, or Washington County without necessarily being inside the Portland metro wage zone. Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries, commonly called BOLI, provides an interactive map for checking the boundary.
Oregon minimum wage rates for 2026–2027
The rates in effect from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027, are:
- Portland metro: $16.80 per hour inside the metropolitan urban growth boundary, including parts of Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington Counties.
- Standard: $15.55 per hour in Benton, Clatsop, Columbia, Deschutes, Hood River, Jackson, Josephine, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Marion, Polk, Tillamook, Wasco, and Yamhill Counties, plus portions of Clackamas, Multnomah, and Washington Counties outside the urban growth boundary.
- Nonurban: $14.55 per hour in Baker, Coos, Crook, Curry, Douglas, Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Jefferson, Klamath, Lake, Malheur, Morrow, Sherman, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, and Wheeler Counties.
The statutory design keeps a fixed spread among the zones. Oregon calculates the standard rate from inflation, rounds it to the nearest five cents, and makes it effective each July 1. The Portland metro amount is then $1.25 higher than the standard amount, while the nonurban amount is $1 lower.
A shift that crosses midnight on June 30 can therefore include two legal rates. Hours worked before midnight use the old rate, while hours worked at or after 12:01 a.m. on July 1 use the new applicable rate.
Why the Portland boundary matters
The Portland metro minimum wage is tied to the urban growth boundary of a metropolitan service district. It is not a separate ordinance adopted by the City of Portland, and it does not cover every location in the three counties that contain parts of the boundary.
Oregon law generally preempts cities, counties, districts, and other local governments from setting their own minimum-wage requirements. Limited exceptions allow local wage requirements for public employers, public contracts, and certain arrangements involving direct tax abatements or subsidies. The Portland metro differential instead comes directly from Oregon state law.
How Oregon assigns a rate when work crosses zones
BOLI’s regional guidance distinguishes fixed-location work from work that moves among regions. When an employee works at an employer’s fixed location for at least half of the pay period, the rate for that fixed location applies to the on-site work. A delivery driver who begins and ends the day at the employer’s location is also generally assigned that location’s regional rate.
If an employee does not spend at least half of the pay period at the employer’s fixed Oregon location, pay can follow the region where each hour was worked. An employer may track the hours in each region and use the corresponding rates, or pay every hour in the pay period at the highest regional rate that applies. This prevents a single job title or payroll office from deciding the rate when the actual work occurs elsewhere.
Hourly pay is not the only compensation covered
The minimum wage is an hourly floor even when compensation is calculated another way. For a covered employee paid by commission, piece rate, day rate, or another production measure, total wages still must equal at least the applicable minimum wage for every hour worked during the relevant pay period.
Tips are different. Oregon does not permit an employer to use a tip credit, so customer tips cannot fill the gap between a lower cash wage and the state minimum. The employer-funded wage must independently reach the applicable Oregon rate. The separate guide to how minimum wage works for servers explains the federal tip-credit model and why state rules can produce a different result.
Oregon also does not create a generally lower wage for minors or for an ordinary training period. BOLI states that the regular minimum applies to adults and minors and throughout on-the-job training. Narrow statutory exemptions can still matter, especially in agriculture and for specific categories of workers.
Important exemptions are narrower than the general rule
Oregon Revised Statutes section 653.020 excludes several defined categories from the state minimum-wage provisions. Agricultural work illustrates why both state and federal rules must be checked: each system has exemptions, but their tests are not identical.
For example, Oregon’s small-farm rule can exempt certain hand harvesters and pruning workers paid on a customary piece-rate basis when the employer stayed within the statute’s 500 piece-rate-workday threshold in the preceding year. Separate rules address young hand harvesters, short-term commuter hand harvesters, and range-production livestock workers. A worker’s industry label alone does not establish that an exemption applies; the statutory conditions define its reach.
Executive, administrative, and professional employees may also fall outside minimum-wage and overtime protections when the applicable duties and compensation tests are met. Paying a salary or using a managerial title by itself does not resolve those tests.
Federal law remains part of the picture
The federal Fair Labor Standards Act sets a minimum of $7.25 per hour for covered, nonexempt employees. When both federal and Oregon law cover the same work, the higher protective standard governs, so the applicable Oregon rate is the practical floor.
The two systems do not always cover exactly the same workers. A federal exemption does not automatically prove an Oregon exemption, and an Oregon exclusion does not by itself eliminate federal protection. Coverage, employee status, and the elements of a claimed exemption remain separate questions.
Records and enforcement
Oregon law requires covered employers to keep records of employees’ actual hours worked each week and each pay period. Accurate location records can be especially important when work moves between the Portland metro, standard, and nonurban zones.
BOLI accepts wage claims involving alleged minimum-wage underpayments. Oregon law also allows recovery of unpaid wages and, depending on the provision and facts, may allow attorney fees or civil penalties. Those remedies are distinct from the dollar amount of the underlying wage shortfall.
What the Oregon system means in practice
The central question is not merely whether a job is “in Portland” or “in Oregon.” The applicable rate depends on the rate period, the legally defined region, where the work occurs, and whether a genuine exemption applies. Tips, commissions, or piece-rate calculations do not erase the hourly floor for covered work.
Because Oregon resets the rates every July 1, a reliable answer must pair the correct location with the correct effective period. BOLI’s current rate page and boundary map provide the operational figures, while Oregon Revised Statutes chapter 653 supplies the legal structure behind them.
Sources
- Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries: Oregon minimum wage rates and regional guidance
- Oregon Revised Statutes chapter 653: minimum wages and employment conditions
- Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries: wage-claim and complaint guidance
- Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries: agricultural minimum-wage and overtime exemptions
- U.S. Department of Labor: federal minimum wage
