Social and human service assistants job market in Oregon

Industry trends, wages and hiring signals.

The headline

Oregon industry employment tracked close to the U.S. benchmark

A data-driven view of the industries that employ Social and human service assistants in Oregon.

Verified QCEW 2026 Q1January to March 2026 · State coverage 100% · BLS QCEWCitationEvidence record

Occupation pay

What Social and human service assistants earn in Oregon

BLS OEWS occupation-level pay estimates for this role — separate from the industry wage trends used elsewhere in this report.

BLS OEWS source

Median annual wage

$51,230Oregon
Middle 50% of published wages
$46,130 – $59,010
U.S. median annual wage
$45,930
Reference period
May 2025

The middle 50% is the 25th-to-75th percentile wage range, not an experience-level band. Suppressed or unavailable BLS values remain unpublished rather than being estimated.

Pay around Oregon

How median pay varies by metro area

Published BLS OEWS metro estimates for Social and human service assistants, compared with the Oregon median of $51,230.

Oregon median$51,230
Salem, OR$57,560+12.4% vs. state
Middle 50%$47,840 – $67,170Published employment1,200
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA$51,710+0.9% vs. state
Middle 50%$47,220 – $57,650Published employment5,930
Grants Pass, OR$50,650−1.1% vs. state
Middle 50%$43,120 – $60,840Published employment160
Bend, OR$49,520−3.3% vs. state
Middle 50%$45,780 – $58,200Published employment480
Eugene-Springfield, OR$49,260−3.8% vs. state
Middle 50%$44,310 – $57,200Published employment900
Medford, OR$49,090−4.2% vs. state
Middle 50%$43,980 – $59,540Published employment500
View 2 more published metro areas
Albany, OR$47,370−7.5% vs. state
Middle 50%$41,980 – $58,200Published employment170
Corvallis, OR$45,590−11.0% vs. state
Middle 50%$44,830 – $55,730Published employment460

Areas are ordered by published median wage for readability, not as an overall job-market ranking. The vertical marker is the Oregon median. Some BLS metropolitan areas cross state lines, so a metro estimate can cover workers in more than one state.

Verified snapshot

Market at a Glance

Key changes in Oregon’s weighted industry mix.

+1.7%Industry employmentOregon industry employmentU.S. +1.5%vs. +1.5% U.S.
-3.9%Establishments in weighted industriesOregon establishments in weighted industriesU.S. +5.0%vs. +5.0% U.S.
+4.1%Avg. weekly industry wageOregon avg. weekly industry wageU.S. +2.6% · not occupation payvs. +2.6% U.S. · not occupation pay
+0.2 ppGap vs. U.S. industry employmentState minus U.S. industry employment change

Percentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.

Published coverage: 29,338 represented establishments, 84.82% of the published industry mix.

Local research

What the data shows for social and human service assistants in Oregon

Findings describe the published observation periods shown below. Research published Oct 11, 2026.

This occupation is more concentrated in the state

OEWS May 2025 places Oregon's share of employment in social and human service assistants at 2.03 times the corresponding national share. The published location quotient expresses that comparison. The state estimate is 11,260 jobs, 2.6% of the national employment estimate for this occupation. It represents 5.72 jobs per thousand jobs in the state's OEWS employment universe. Employment concentration does not establish future growth; it describes employment share, not current hiring.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

OEWS employment estimates describe covered wage-and-salary jobs and exclude self-employed workers; location quotients do not measure vacancies or worker demand.

The highest-paying metro has a smaller employment market

Among 8 comparable metro estimates associated with Oregon in OEWS May 2025, the pay leader and employment-size leader differ. Salem, OR has the highest median annual pay at $57,560, with estimated employment of 1,200. Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA has the largest employment estimate at 5,930, with median pay of $51,710. The pay leader's median is 11.3% higher; estimated employment describes existing jobs, not available vacancies.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Some metro estimates cross state lines. Higher nominal pay does not establish better living standards or better chances of finding a job.

Private education and health services has the largest positive weighted contribution

Among the leading industry groups associated with this occupation in Oregon, Private education and health services has the largest positive weighted contribution in January to March 2026. It accounts for 100.0% of the positive weighted contributions, and its own employment changed +3.1% year over year. The proxy uses each group's share of the occupation's national industry mix; the groups examined cover 99.8% of that mix. Weighted contributions do not count occupation jobs created.

January to March 2026 · BLS QCEW

Published median pay is above the U.S. median

Oregon's published median annual wage for social and human service assistants is 11.5% above the national median in OEWS May 2025. The state estimate is $51,230, compared with $45,930 across the U.S. These medians are not adjusted for living costs and do not describe every worker.

OEWS May 2025 · BLS OEWS

Industry measures describe the industries associated with this occupation. They are not direct occupation employment, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. Findings describe published data and do not establish causes. Methodology

Employment trends

Year-over-year change in the weighted industries. The U.S. line is the latest-quarter benchmark because a comparable national quarterly history is not published here.

Latest published values
  • Oregon · 2026 Q1+1.7%
  • U.S. · latest-quarter benchmark+1.5%

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View every published value
Quarterly Oregon industry employment changes and coverage
QuarterOregonCoverage
2024 Q2+4.1%100%
2024 Q3+3.9%100%
2024 Q4+4.1%100%
2025 Q1+3.7%100%
2025 Q2+3.3%100%
2025 Q3+2.6%100%
2025 Q4+2.6%100%
2026 Q1+1.7%100%

How to read this chart

State trend and national reference

The solid line follows Oregon’s published year-over-year industry employment changes by quarter. The dashed U.S. line is a latest-quarter reference, not a second time series.

Published quarters
8
Earliest quarter
2024 Q2
Latest quarter
2026 Q1
U.S. benchmark
+1.5%

Quarters with no published value are omitted rather than interpolated.

Industry context

Where Social and human service assistants Work

The occupation mix determines which Oregon industries are weighted into this view.

Industries weighted into the Oregon Social and human service assistants context
Industry groupOccupation mixEmployment changeEstablishmentsAvg. weekly industry wage
Private education and health services66.0%+3.1%24,378$1,308
State and local18.8%0.0%4,960$1,573
Other services10.2%-1.3%14,856$1,061
Professional and business services2.8%-3.4%35,722$1,915
Financial activities1.7%-1.7%14,259$2,210
Federal0.3%-8.3%863$2,129

Which industries are growing?

One weighted industry is growing

Only weighted industries with a published positive Oregon employment change are listed.

  • Private education and health services+3.1%

The remaining weighted industries published a flat or negative change in January to March 2026.

Current Oregon context

Current Oregon Market Signals

Statewide indicators for all occupations in Oregon. They are not Social and human service assistants demand and are not part of the Job Market Health score.

Statewide job postings

Indeed job postings · Oregon

Recent hiring-demand context · separate from the health score

91.7Postings index · February 1, 2020 = 100Observation: Oct 23, 2026
-8.3%Versus the February 2020 baseline
+0.9%Change over about four weeksSep 25, 2026 to Oct 23, 2026

Total postings index (seasonally adjusted) by observation date · baseline 100

The chart will load automatically. Published values remain available in this report.

View values: Indeed postings index
Indeed postings index
Observation dateIndex (Feb 2020 = 100)
Jul 24, 202689.52
Jul 31, 202689.39
Aug 7, 202688.96
Aug 14, 202688.73
Aug 21, 202689.11
Aug 28, 202689.29
Sep 4, 202689.77
Sep 11, 202690.38
Sep 18, 202690.46
Sep 25, 202690.81
Oct 2, 202690.97
Oct 9, 202691.52
Oct 16, 202691.41
Oct 23, 202691.67

This is statewide demand across all occupations, not demand for this specific job. Postings are not a count of vacancies or hires, and Indeed does not cover the entire labor market.

Source: Indeed Hiring Lab · CC BY 4.0. Seven-day average, seasonally adjusted; publisher refreshes weekly and may revise history. Retrieved Nov 1, 2026 · saved source copy. JobMarketHealth calculates the displayed changes and samples weekly observations for the chart.

Explore states and career fields · Methodology and limits

Statewide layoff notices

Statewide layoff-notice filings

Oregon statewide

10 notices in this source

772 positions reported in these notices

Notice dates from Aug 5, 2026 to Nov 2, 2026 (UTC), a rolling 90-calendar-day period.

Monthly comparisonLatest two completed calendar months, by notice date (UTC).
MonthNoticesPositions reported
October 2026: Notice dates Oct 1, 2026 to Oct 31, 2026 (UTC)4308
September 2026: Notice dates Sep 1, 2026 to Sep 30, 2026 (UTC)2167
Change: October 2026 compared with September 2026+2+141

These monthly totals are separate from the rolling 90-day total above. Source revisions can change either month.

What this means: These are statewide totals from notices dated in this period in Oregon’s official tracking system. Reported positions are the counts published in those notices, not a count of people confirmed to have lost their jobs. No employer is identified.

Notices describe planned workforce changes, not confirmed job losses. Notices may be amended or withdrawn. This statewide context is not occupation-specific and does not affect the Job Market Health score. Oregon’s state tracking system also records smaller Rapid Response events that fall below federal WARN thresholds, so it is not a list of federal WARN filings only.

Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission, Office of Workforce Investments About WARN data

Source last checked

Career context

Related roles from the occupation’s published O*NET profile.

Questions answered by this release

Social and human service assistants in Oregon FAQs

Each answer is limited to what QCEW 2026 Q1 actually publishes for this state.

Is employment growing for Social and human service assistants in Oregon?

The available QCEW measure is not direct occupation employment. Employment across the Oregon industries weighted to Social and human service assistants changed +1.7% year over year in January to March 2026, compared with +1.5% nationwide.

Are wages for Social and human service assistants rising in Oregon?

QCEW does not publish pay for Social and human service assistants in this view. Average weekly wages across the weighted industries changed +4.1% year over year; that must not be read as an occupation salary change.

How complete is this Oregon industry view?

The three core state trends each meet the site’s coverage floor; the minimum published coverage is 100% of the occupation’s industry mix.

Does this page show current Social and human service assistants openings?

No. QCEW measures industry employment, establishments and wages. Any postings, news or WARN figures shown here are statewide context and are not occupation-specific openings.

Methodology & sourcesQCEW 2026 Q1 · coverage 100% · full evidence record

Methodology & Sources

Derived by JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix. This is occupation-weighted industry context, not direct occupation employment and not a count of current job openings.

Occupation
Social and human service assistants
SOC code
21-1093
State
Oregon
QCEW release label
QCEW 2026 Q1
Data period
2026 Q1
State industry employment, year over year
+1.7%State data coverage 100%
U.S. benchmark, year over year
+1.5%
Difference from U.S. benchmark
+0.2 percentage pointsPercentage-point gaps use the original published values and are rounded once; subtracting the rounded percentages can give a slightly different result.
Establishments, year over year
-3.9%State data coverage 100%
Average weekly industry wage, year over year
+4.1%State data coverage 100%
Industry mix vintage
EP-2025-2035
BLS publication date
Aug 28, 2026
Source verification
Verified against the committed source snapshotVerified Sep 17, 2026
Canonical record URL
https://jobmarkethealth.com/occupations/social-and-human-service-assistants/oregon#evidence-record
Derived by
JobMarketHealth from BLS QCEW + published occupation industry mix

Weighted industry conditions are not direct occupation employment, occupation wages, current openings or a state-level Job Market Health score. No causal explanation is inferred.

Social and human service assistants in other states