Sept. 21, 2026
Oregon needs a healthy economy, led by a thriving private sector, to create jobs, drive innovation and generate revenue for government services. Yet the state’s economy remains mired in a lengthy slump as other states compete aggressively for investment and residents:
- In 2025, Oregon’s economy grew by only 1%, less than half the national rate. Oregon’s economy has grown more slowly than the national average for five straight years.
- In 2025, employment in Oregon fell by 0.5% even as employment nationally increased by 0.5%. Employment growth in Oregon has trailed the national average for six consecutive years.
- Per capita personal income – a key indicator of prosperity – grew more slowly in Oregon in 2025 than in the nation as a whole. Despite significant gains in prior years, Oregon per capita personal income has been stalled at about 96% of the national average since 2020.
- Oregon ranked 35th in the nonpartisan Tax Foundation’s 2026 State Tax Competitiveness Index. Oregon has fallen 28 places since 2019.
- CNBC in 2026 dropped Oregon to 42nd in its annual America’s Best States for Business ranking. Oregon has plummeted 25 places since 2017.
As The Bulletin noted in an Aug. 27 editorial, “If you have the feeling the Oregon economy is not doing particularly well, there is plenty of data to support it.”
Oregon’s economic and competitive condition is dire, but there is reason for hope. Increasingly, policymakers from both major parties recognize the state’s challenges. And to address some of them, Gov. Kotek in 2025 released the Oregon Prosperity Roadmap, followed shortly thereafter by the Governor’s Prosperity Council.
Hope, acknowledgement and government reports aren’t enough to reverse Oregon’s slide, however. For the state to recover the economic momentum it enjoyed only a decade ago, policymakers will have to act. They must improve Oregon’s tax structure and its regulatory environment while saying “no” to new policies that erode the state’s economic competitiveness even further.
OBI’s 2027-28 Oregon Competitiveness Agenda identifies four areas on which policymakers must focus urgently:
- Prioritize economic and business development
- Improve affordability for residents and businesses
- Create a solutions-oriented regulatory environment
- Make tax and budget policies sustainable and competitive
These imperatives are followed by dozens of policy proposals that will make Oregon more attractive and affordable to businesses, individuals and families. Many of these proposals will be familiar to state policymakers, and some echo the recommendations of the Governor’s Prosperity Council, including replacing the state’s disastrous Climate Protection Program with a market-based cap-and-invest program.
The familiarity of these proposals is evidence, if any were needed, that Oregon’s path to renewed competitiveness is not mysterious. Taking it simply requires courage.
“Oregon is on the wrong track,” said OBI President and CEO Angela Wilhelms. “We can once again become an economic force and a beacon of opportunity. But that won’t happen without the right policy environment and determination to compete.”