Oregon energy profile

Manufacturing energy costs in Oregon

As of Aug 2026, industrial electricity in Oregon runs 8.75 cents per kWh. That is 9.2% cheaper than the U.S. average and places the state 19 of 51 nationally.

Current prices in Oregon

  • Industrial electricity: 8.75 cents per kWh (Aug 2026, EIA).
  • Commercial electricity, the rate a warehouse or distribution center in Oregon typically pays: 10.72 cents per kWh.
  • Industrial natural gas: $7.06 per Mcf (Aug 2026), 62.7% above the national average.
  • Just below Oregon on the price ladder: Nebraska at 8.37, Kansas at 8.49, Utah at 8.56 cents. Just above: Wyoming at 8.8, Florida at 8.93, Michigan at 8.99 cents.

What the rate does to operating cost

  • A 10 kW machine running a 4,000 hour year costs about $3,500 in electricity at Oregon rates versus $3,856 at the national average; at 50 kW the gap is $17,500 versus $19,280, and at 200 kW it is $70,000 versus $77,120.
  • With rates near the national middle, Oregon plants can use U.S.-average defaults for rough estimates, then refine against the utility tariff. The bigger lever is usually consumption, not the rate.

Cost to manufacture in Oregon

  • Oregon scores 105.0 on the MFG Calcs State Cost-to-Manufacture Index, where the U.S. is 100: the 33rd lowest of 51 (Aug 2026).
  • Its labor factor (manufacturing wages) is 109.8 and its energy factor (industrial electricity) 90.8; the index weighs wages at 75% and electricity at 25% and leaves out taxes, land and incentives.

What factory labor pays in Oregon

  • Industrial engineers: $61.68/hr median in Oregon versus $49.25 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Industrial production managers: $57.41/hr median in Oregon versus $60.61 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Industrial machinery mechanics: $36.38/hr median in Oregon versus $31.02 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Tool and die makers: $35.54/hr median in Oregon versus $30.79 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Production supervisors: $35.38/hr median in Oregon versus $35.79 nationally (OEWS 2025).
  • Machinists: $30.68/hr median in Oregon versus $28.24 nationally (OEWS 2025).

Manufacturing jobs in Oregon

  • Oregon had 176,800 manufacturing jobs in Sep 2026, the 25th most of 51 (BLS State and Metro Area Employment, not seasonally adjusted).
  • That is down 1.2% from Sep 2025.

Manufacturing base in Oregon

  • Oregon has 5,231 manufacturing establishments employing about 175,491 workers (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).
  • Average pay per manufacturing employee is $77,985, 7% above the U.S. average of $73,202.
  • Largest sectors by establishment count: fabricated metal products (875), food manufacturing (679), wood product manufacturing (388), machinery manufacturing (324), printing and related support (324).

Manufacturing economy in Oregon

  • Manufacturing added $34.8B to Oregon's economy in 2025, 10.1% of the state's GDP, the 28th largest of the 50 states and DC (BEA).

Sources and update cadence

  • Prices come from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, jobs from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, establishments and payroll from the Census Bureau and GDP from the Bureau of Economic Analysis; each refreshes automatically when the agency publishes, and this page archives every month and year it shows so the Oregon history keeps deepening.

Last reviewed 2026-11-13.