Central Oregon Economic Insights—October 2024

Published on Dec 5, 2024

Economy in Central Oregon

By Andrew Grimoldby | Workforce Analyst/Economist, East Cascades Oregon Employment Department

October in View:

The nation’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate remained steady at 4.1% from September to October, and at the statewide level, the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.0%.

In Deschutes County, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased from 3.8% in October 2023 to 4.0% in October 2024. Crook County decreased from 5.9% to 5.6%, and Jefferson County remained steady at 4.7%.

Topic of the Month: Commuting Patterns in the City of Bend, 2022

In 2022, 39.9% (15,032) of workers living in Bend commuted or were employed outside of the city. This is up from previous years: 38.7% (14,129) in 2021 and 36.5% (12,759) in 2020.

The U.S. Census Bureau’s OnTheMap data shows where workers are employed and where they live, including the commuting patterns of workers within a community, such as the number of workers commuting into a community, the number of workers commuting out of a community for work, and the number of individuals that work and live within a community. OnTheMap only includes those in the labor market (either currently employed or actively looking for a job and unemployed).

In 2022, 37,697 people in the labor force lived in Bend. During this time, 47,752 people were employed in Bend. This means that there is a net inflow of 10,055 workers. Simply put, outflow means that workers living inside Bend work elsewhere; inflow means workers living outside of Bend come to Bend for work. The net inflow of workers has remained around 10,000 in recent years.

We also have information on the characteristics of inflow and outflow workers. For both inflow and outflow workers, approximately 54% of them are between the ages of 30 and 54. Furthermore, for outflow workers, 60.5% (9,099) earn more than $3,333 per month, while 58.7% (14,723) of inflow workers earn more than $3,333 per month. Interior workers (workers who live and work inside Bend) are like inflow and outflow workers, with 56.9% (12,893) of them being aged 30 to 54 and 59.3% (15,394) earning more than $3,333 per month.