What's The Difference Between Minimum Wage and Living Wage in Portland?

Oregon is keeping ahead of the federal minimum wage requirement of $7.25 an hour. The state raised its minimum wage from $9.10 to $9.25 an hour in January 2015. In Portland, the minimum wage for city employees and contractors was raised to $15 an hour in February 2015. The increase affected about 173 full-time workers and contractors, according to The Oregonian.

Activists and some state legislators are pushing for legislation to increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour throughout the state with phased-in increases during the next few years.

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While proposals for more wage increases continue, the living wage for Portland and Multnomah County is estimated to be $11.25 an hour for an adult living alone, according to an analysis from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. For a working adult with one child, $23.11 an hour would be required for a living wage. An adult with two children would need $27.64.

MIT's living wage calculator factors in average costs in the area of such basic living expenses as food, housing and child care.

Many full-time workers remain above the poverty wage because of a minimum wage standard that’s above the federal minimum wage requirement. The estimated poverty wage is $5 an hour for one adult, $7 for an adult with one child, and $9 an hour for an adult with two children.

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Based on the figures from MIT, Oregon residents are in better financial shape than many workers in other states, which have lower minimum wages. The average salary for a full-time worker making minimum wage would be just over $19,000 while a living wage annual salary would be $23,400.

Typical annual salaries for many occupations in Oregon are above the living wage. Estimated yearly salaries for food preparers and servers are estimated at $19,900, just above the minimum wage but under the living wage estimates. Occupations in personal care and service are at about $22,700 a year. But many occupations, including sales and ground maintenance, are above the living wage, from $24,600 to $27,000.

Workers in office and administrative support make a typical salary of $33,830 while healthcare support workers earn about $31,620.

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