Salem, OR Salaries
Highest published occupation medians in Salem, OR - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Salem, OR moved from $50,810 in May 2024 to $55,310 in May 2025 (+8.9%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Salem, OR sits +5.8 pp ahead of that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Registered Nurses shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Salem, OR
Registered Nurses publishes $131,750 here versus $97,550 nationally (+35.1%; 4,010metro-area jobs). Next is Home Health and Personal Care Aides at $45,200 locally versus $35,800 nationally (+26.3%).
- Registered Nurses$131,750 in Salem, OR sits 35.1% above the national Registered Nurses median of $97,550 (4,010 published local jobs).
- Home Health and Personal Care Aides$45,200 in Salem, OR sits 26.3% above the national Home Health and Personal Care Aides median of $35,800 (7,040 published local jobs).
- Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive$55,660 in Salem, OR sits 17.1% above the national Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive median of $47,540 (3,220 published local jobs).
- Office Clerks, General$50,650 in Salem, OR sits 12.5% above the national Office Clerks, General median of $45,010 (3,160 published local jobs).
Registered Nurses and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Salem, OR; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 41420 · Salem, OR $67K mean
MEAN-HIGH · RPP-MID · OCC-MOST · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-AHEAD · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-HIGH #69/528
- RPP-MID 103.6
- OCC-MOST 433 occs
- TOP-LEAD Physicians, Al… · $374K
- EMP-MIX Lawyers
- TREND-AHEAD +5.8 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Cincinnati, OH-K…
- BOOK-FULL 427 rows · May 2025
Read with Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN ($44 on published-row mean) · Highest-paying careers
Instrument codes from this MSA’s OEWS published-row mean, BEA RPP, occupation book, employment lead, All Occupations pay change, and nearest peer — not a moving recommendation.
Published-row mean neighbourhood around Salem, OR
Employment scale inside Salem, OR's top-pay list
Lawyers and Medical and Health Services Managers lead published employment inside Salem, OR's top-pay sample — order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Lawyers 780 jobs · $156,070
- 2. Medical and Health Services Managers 660 jobs · $137,400
- 3. Financial Managers 620 jobs · $141,400
- 4. Computer and Information Systems Managers 490 jobs · $158,390
- 5. Physicians, All Other 330 jobs · $373,970
- 6. Nurse Practitioners 320 jobs · $162,600
- 7. Pharmacists 300 jobs · $169,210
- 8. Sales Managers 270 jobs · $152,090
- 9. Human Resources Managers 200 jobs · $136,990
- 10. Physician Assistants 190 jobs · $144,190
- 11. Family Medicine Physicians 180 jobs · $295,170
- 12. Computer Network Architects 180 jobs · $138,930
- 13. Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers 180 jobs · $134,500
- 14. Marketing Managers 170 jobs · $132,770
- 15. Dentists, General 140 jobs · $212,310
- 16. Architectural and Engineering Managers 140 jobs · $162,640
- 17. Clinical and Counseling Psychologists 130 jobs · $143,980
- 18. Natural Sciences Managers 130 jobs · $136,150
Occupations Tracked
433
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$67,285
employment-weighted, 427 complete rows
Top Salary
$373,970
Physicians, All Other
Cost of Living
103.6
4% above US avg
Highest Paying Jobs in Salem, OR
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Physicians, All Other | $373,970 |
| 2 | Family Medicine Physicians | $295,170 |
| 3 | Chief Executives | $261,650 |
| 4 | Pediatricians, General | $256,710 |
| 5 | Dentists, General | $212,310 |
| 6 | Nurse Anesthetists | $174,260 |
| 7 | Pharmacists | $169,210 |
| 8 | Compensation and Benefits Managers | $163,270 |
| 9 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $162,640 |
| 10 | Nurse Practitioners | $162,600 |
| 11 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $158,390 |
| 12 | Lawyers | $156,070 |
| 13 | Sales Managers | $152,090 |
| 14 | Physician Assistants | $144,190 |
| 15 | Clinical and Counseling Psychologists | $143,980 |
| 16 | Financial Managers | $141,400 |
| 17 | Healthcare Diagnosing or Treating Practitioners, All Other | $140,670 |
| 18 | Computer Network Architects | $138,930 |
| 19 | Medical and Health Services Managers | $137,400 |
| 20 | Human Resources Managers | $136,990 |
| 21 | Natural Sciences Managers | $136,150 |
| 22 | Purchasing Managers | $136,050 |
| 23 | Optometrists | $134,590 |
| 24 | Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers | $134,500 |
| 25 | Marketing Managers | $132,770 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Salem, OR
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers | $31,760 |
| Driver/Sales Workers | $32,850 |
| Cooling and Freezing Equipment Operators and Tenders | $33,180 |
| Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse | $33,450 |
| Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers | $33,570 |
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $33,760 |
| Cooks, Fast Food | $33,870 |
| Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants | $34,100 |
| Cashiers | $34,340 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $34,520 |
Other BLS Wage Areas in OR
Other metropolitan or nonmetropolitan OEWS areas assigned to the same state. Cross-state pay and employment peers live in Nationwide similar metros below.
Nationwide metros with similar published-row mean pay or employment scale
Two OEWS peer sets outside OR. Same-state wage areas above stay geographic; these neighborhoods are cross-state nearest neighbors on employment-weighted published-row mean wage ($67,285 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
Similar employment scale
Nearest headcount peers (floor 100,000 summed published jobs), distinct from the mean-wage column.
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on BLS OEWS employment-weighted published-row mean wage and summed occupation employment. Employment peers exclude metros already listed in the mean-wage column so the two link sets stay distinct. Mean wage here is not a worker-level median.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Related federal data
Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Occupation rows use BLS OEWS May 2025. The metro benchmark is WageDex's employment-weighted mean of published occupation means; where BEA RPP is available, the price-level figure divides that benchmark by the published area parity. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.