Which Oregon economics program has the lowest debt?

University of Oregon reports the lowest median federal debt, $19,305, with first-year pay of $45,941.

How much do economics graduates earn in Oregon?

The median across 6 Oregon economics bachelor's programs is $46,929 in the first year after graduating and $74,070 five years after.

How many economics bachelor's programs are in Oregon?

6 Oregon programs report first-year pay for their graduates, and 6 of them also report federal debt.

Economics (Bachelor's) Programs in Oregon, Ranked by Graduate Pay and Debt

6 programs report first-year pay
6 also report federal debt
Bachelor's in Economics

College Scorecard June 2026 release · BLS wages May 2025

The short answer

The median Oregon economics bachelor's program pays its graduates $46,929 in their first year, $4,796 less than the national median. Reed College reports the highest first-year pay ($53,110), and University of Oregon the lowest median debt ($19,305).

Median first-year pay$46,929National $51,725

Median pay after 5 years$74,070National $77,760

Median federal debt$23,346National $22,717

Debt-to-earnings47%National 43%

All 6 programs, ranked

Each figure is the median for the program's graduates. Programs that don't report a figure are listed last when you sort by it.

#	School	Year 1 pay	Year 5 pay	Debt	Debt to pay
1	Reed CollegePortland · private nonprofit	$53,110	Not reported	$22,842	43%
2	Lewis & Clark CollegePortland · private nonprofit	$49,576	$60,179	$25,246	51%
3	Portland StatePortland · public	$47,865	$61,635	$24,949	52%
4	Willamette UniversitySalem · private nonprofit	$45,993	$74,070	$19,500	42%
5	University of OregonEugene · public	$45,941	$77,115	$19,305	42%
6	Oregon StateCorvallis · public	$45,708	$76,531	$23,849	52%

Debt and first-year pay at every Oregon economics program

Programs in the upper left give graduates higher pay for less debt. Dashed lines mark the Oregon medians.

Hover over or tap a dot to see the school. Only the 6 programs that report both earnings and debt are shown.

Quick picks

Highest first-year pay

Lowest median debt

Lowest debt for the pay

"Debt for the pay" is median debt divided by first-year pay. Only programs that report both figures are included.

Careers this field leads to

These are the jobs that the federal crosswalk from fields of study to occupations links to economics, largest first. Pay is the median across all experience levels.

Secondary School Teachers, Except Special and Career/Technical Education

$79,570

Median pay in Oregon. 11,730 people work in this job in Oregon. Nationally, jobs are projected to stay about the same in number from 2025 to 2035, with about 63,500 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $49,640Top 10%: $101,310

Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists

$79,150

Median pay in Oregon. 11,310 people work in this job in Oregon. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 82,000 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $48,060Top 10%: $151,800

Data Scientists

$125,990

Median pay in Oregon. 2,140 people work in this job in Oregon. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 35% from 2025 to 2035, with about 24,800 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $78,110Top 10%: $206,550

Social Science Research Assistants

$56,770

Median pay in Oregon. 220 people work in this job in Oregon. Nationally, jobs are projected to grow 5% from 2025 to 2035, with about 4,900 openings a year. Typical education to start: bachelor's degree.

Bottom 10%: $48,150Top 10%: $85,110

Common questions

Reed College in Portland reports the highest median first-year pay, $53,110. Its median federal debt is $22,842.

Economics (Bachelor's) programs in the US, ranked338 programs by pay and debt

About this data

Earnings and debt only include students who received federal financial aid, and earnings only count graduates who were working and not enrolled in more school.
Debt only includes federal loans. Private loans and credit cards are not counted.
Some schools with several campuses report one combined figure for all of them. We count each of those schools once, and leave them out of Oregon rankings when their main campus is in another state.
Medians are across the economics bachelor's programs that report each figure, so the counts differ by figure. Scorecard figures describe graduating classes from several years ago. BLS wages are from May 2025.

Sources

U.S. Department of Education, College Scorecard, field of study and institution files, June 2026 release
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025 to 2035
NCES, CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk, and IPEDS institution directory, 2024