May 4, 2026
Following the National Education Association’s release of its Rankings of the States 2025 and Estimates of School Statistics 2026 report and the Bureau of Labor Statics’ release of employment data, OBI updated related parts of The Oregon Scorecard:
Public school enrollment: Fall 2025 enrollment in Oregon public schools was 539,644, having dropped 1% since fall 2024. Enrollment in the state’s public schools has fallen steadily since 2019, and 2025 marks the sixth consecutive year of declines. Public school enrollment has declined nationally over the same period, but less steeply than in Oregon.
Per-student spending: During the 2025-26 school year, Oregon will spend an estimated $18,381 per student, ranking 20th nationally and just below the national average expenditure of $18,870.
Average teacher salary: Oregon’s estimated average public school teacher salary in 2025-26 is $83,727, ranking 9th nationally and above the national average of $76,552. The state’s 2025-26 salary represents a 2.5% increase over the previous year, slightly less than the 2.8% average national increase. Between 2023-24 and 2024-25, however, Oregon’s average teacher salary increased by 5.9%, the fourth highest rate among states.
Establishment births and deaths: OBI updated this section of The Oregon Scorecard, replacing plain-English terms with the exact terms used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and providing a full 20-years of data to better illustrate trends. Because BLS terminology is not entirely intuitive, OBI added a link to a definition document. Check it out if you want to know the difference between an establishment and a business or a death and a closure.
2024 births, deaths: Oregon experienced a 3.6% average quarterly establishment death rate in 2024, the 13th highest rate in the nation. The state’s 2023 rate ranked 12th. Oregon’s 2024 establishment death rate exceeded the national average of 3.3%. Oregon’s average quarterly establishment birth rate in 2024 was 3.2%, which ranked 28th nationally, a 16-place drop. The U.S. average establishment birth rate in 2024 was 3.5%.
2025 establishment births: Data on establishment births leads data on establishment deaths by about three quarters for reasons The Oregon Scorecard’s definition document explains. So, while the BLS only recently provided full-year 2024 data for deaths, it already has reported birth data for the first three quarters of 2025. At 2.67%, Oregon’s average quarterly establishment birth rate over this period is among the nation’s lowest, tied for 44th and a full percentage point below the national average of 3.67%.