Educational Instruction and Library

Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary Salary in Portland, OR (2024)

Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA metro area earn a median of $38,060 per year based on 12,770 jobs counted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2024. That is +8.0% against the national median of $35,240 for this occupation.

Median annual
$38,060
annual
Average annual
$40,830
mean, pulled up by top earners
Employment
12,770
10.52 per 1,000 local jobs
Local median, all jobs
$59,040
this job pays -35.5% vs that

Pay distribution

The median is a single point on a wide curve. The table below shows where teaching assistants, except postsecondary actually sit across the pay range in Portland, OR, from the bottom decile to the top.

Annual and hourly wages for Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA, 2024. Hourly figures for percentiles are annual ÷ 2,080 hours.
Percentile Hourly Annual Note
10th percentile $14.22 $29,570
25th percentile $16.94 $35,230
Median — $38,060 half earn more, half earn less
75th percentile $22.58 $46,960
90th percentile $24.83 $51,650
Average (mean) — $40,830
10th pct$29,57025th pct$35,230Median$38,06075th pct$46,96090th pct$51,650
Annual wage by percentile, Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary, Portland, OR. Source: BLS OEWS 2024.

How Portland, OR compares

The local median of $38,060 runs +8.0% above the US median of $35,240 for this occupation; it pays 35.5% less than the metro-wide median across all jobs ($59,040); within the metro it ranks 630th of 664 detailed occupations by median pay.

Benchmarks for Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary, 2024
Benchmark Median annual Difference
Portland, OR — this occupation $38,060 —
US median, same occupation (all areas) $35,240 +8.0%
Portland, OR — all occupations $59,040 -35.5%
Highest metro in the US for this job $49,980 -23.8%
Reading this data

The location quotient of 1.18 is close to 1.0: the occupation's share of local employment tracks the national average.

High confidence The relative standard error on this estimate is 1.7%, which is a tight margin — the figure is stable enough to plan around.

Ranked 630th of 664 detailed occupations in the metro by median annual wage.

Highest-paying jobs in Portland, OR

To put $38,060 in context, these are the best-paid detailed occupations in the same metro area. This occupation sits 630th.

Top 10 occupations by median annual wage, Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
Occupation Median annual Employment
Dentists, General $184,420 760
Pediatricians, General $181,990 600
Computer and Information Systems Managers $178,210 —
Judges, Magistrate Judges, and Magistrates $174,100 130
Architectural and Engineering Managers $170,410 —
Medical Dosimetrists $170,220 30
Pharmacists $169,520 2,420
Computer and Information Research Scientists $169,510 650
Marketing Managers $165,000 4,440
Lawyers $161,420 5,600

Where teaching assistants, except postsecondary earn the most

Across the 25 metro areas with released data for this occupation, medians run from $27,540 to $49,980. These are the top markets.

Top metros by median annual wage, Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary
Metro area Median annual Employment
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA $49,980 20,120
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA $47,630 17,140
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA $46,070 21,130
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA $45,420 50,760
San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA $43,010 11,530
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI $42,010 22,780
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV $38,580 27,250
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA $38,060 12,770
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH $37,980 25,480
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ $37,070 123,210

See the full national picture on the Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary salary by metro page.

Frequently asked questions

What is the median salary for teaching assistants, except postsecondary in Portland, OR?

The median annual wage is $38,060. That means half of the teaching assistants, except postsecondary working in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA metro area earn more than this figure and half earn less. The average is $40,830.

What do the highest and lowest paid teaching assistants, except postsecondary in Portland, OR earn?

The bottom 10% earn $29,570 or less, while the top 10% earn $51,650 or more — a spread of $22,080 between the two ends of the distribution. The middle half of workers sit between $35,230 and $46,960.

Is teaching assistants, except postsecondary pay in Portland, OR above the local average?

Yes, it is 35.5% below the all-occupation median for the metro, which is $59,040. That comparison is the fairer one for judging local purchasing power, because it holds the metro's overall cost and wage level constant.

How does Portland, OR pay compare with the rest of the US for this job?

At $38,060 the metro median is 8.0% higher than the US median of $35,240 for teaching assistants, except postsecondary. Across the 25 metro areas covered here, this occupation ranges from $27,540 to $49,980.

How many teaching assistants, except postsecondary work in Portland, OR?

BLS counts about 12,770 people in this occupation in the metro area, or 10.52 jobs per 1,000 total jobs. The location quotient of 1.18 is close to 1.0: the occupation's share of local employment tracks the national average.

About these figures

Method and limits

Figures come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey for 2024 (employment relative standard error 6.0%). OEWS measures what employers pay, not what any individual earns; it excludes self-employed workers, and it does not adjust for local cost of living.

Read the full methodology, or the original data at bls.gov/oes.