Occupy Portland - Reference info-statistics
- OCCUPY PORTLAND PRESS INTERVIEWS
- PORTLAND AND OREGON ECONOMIC NUMBERS
- October 2011
- UNEMPLOYMENT
- U.S. rate: 9.1% (Aug 2011)
- Oregon unemployment 9.6% (Aug 2011); hardest hit jobs: construction, government, leisure and hospitality, trade, transport, utilities
- Portland (Vancouver-Hillsboro): 9.1%
- ENTRY LEVEL WAGES (PORTLAND)
Annual averages:
- Dishwasher/cafeteria/housekeeper ~$21k
- Retail/service/cook/custodial ~$25k
- Laborers/freight ~$27k
- Clerks/teacher asst/tellers ~$29K
- PROFESSIONAL LEVEL WAGES (PORTLAND)
Annual averages:
- Post-secondary teachers ~$83k
- Registered nurses ~$79k
- Civil engineers ~$78k
- Computer specialists ~$77k
- Landscape architects ~$67k
- Source: http://www.qualityinfo.org/olmisj/Regions?page=8&sort=W&areatype=05&area=000002&startnum=91#regoccs
- WAGE INCOME INEQUALITY (OREGON)
- (2009) The gap between people who earned $32,993 annually (50th percentile) to people who earned $152,576 (98th percentile) widened 4.62-to-1.
- Higher-earners have gained more since 2003 while lower-earners did not keep up with inflation and had a negative change in real wage values.
- COLLEGE TUITION INCREASES (2011)
Undergraduate, resident, 12 credits per term:
- University of Oregon 9% increase. Tuition, fees, room, board = $11,514
- Oregon State University 8.1% increase. Tuition, fees, room, board = $11,814
- Portland State University 9% increase. Tuition, fees, room, board = $9,735
- Eastern Oregon University 5.5% increase. Tuition, fees, room, board = $9,694
- Southern Oregon University 6.8% increase. Tuition, fees, room, board = $10,584
- Western Oregon University 5.1% increase. Tuition, fees, room, board = $9,741
- Oregon Institute of Technology 9% increase. Tuition, fees, room, board = $9,470
- STUDENT LOAN DEBT
- (2011) Half of Portland State's students graduate with debt, which averaged $22,440 two years ago.
- (2011) U.S. Bachelor's degree $28k avg in loan debt
- Student loan market is $1 trillion industry
- (Apr 2011) 64% of student loan borrowers in 2005 experienced some major problem making their full payments on time in the last six years, the study found.
- Student loan delinquency and failure rates rising every year for past 10 years.
- Tuition increasing at far greater rate than housing, energy, health care costs; and over inflation.
- HOMELESSNESS
- In 2009, Portland had nation's highest prop of homeless people (.54%)
- In 2010, Portland was 3rd (.45%) after DC and NV
- Oregon: 3% of homeless pop (7th most in U.S.)
- Largest shift from 2007-2010 from cities to suburbs and rural areas
- Increase in homelessness from 2007-2010 of 10.81% (between 2009-2010 increase was 12.61%)
- African-Americans, men between the ages of 31 and 50, and people with disabilities are all at higher risk of becoming homeless, compared to their representation in the U.S
- Half (53.4%) of homeless adults in U.S. have mental illness and/or substance abuse problems
- (2010) Hispanic and African Americans disproportionately homeless, nearly twice their % pop in U.S. (Hispanic: 16%, 9.9% respectively; African American: 22%, 12.4% respectively)
- Children under 18 (34.1% of poverty population; 24.3% of U.S. population)
- Women (58.3% of poverty population, 52.3% of U.S. population)
- Disabled (24.6% of poverty population, 15.3%)
- Source: 2010 Homeless Assessment Report to Congress
- FORECLOSURES
- (Sep 2011) Portland foreclosure rate up 36.8%, its highest in 3 yrs.
- Highest foreclosure rates are at perimeter of city
- BANKING
- (Aug 2011) The 29 Oregon-based banks posted a collective $33 million profit in the second quarter as bad loan levels continued to decline
- Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/morning_call/2011/08/profits-climb-as-oregon-banks-rebound.html
- (Oct 2011) BofA -- Portland's biggest bank by market share -- is instituting a new $5 per month debit card fee for banking customers at the beginning of next year.
- (Jul 2011) Lobbyists for large, out-of-state banks killed bills that would have protected families undergoing foreclosure, and reined in predatory lending practices.
- CORPORATE TAX BREAKS
- (Mar 2011) The Oregon Office of Economic Analysis, the state agency that forecasts revenue and expenses, said that for the 2011-2013 biennium, the lottery should net the state almost $1.1 billion compared with just under $900 million from the corporate income tax.
- Lotteries, by and large, are a (voluntary) tax on the poor.
- State with the lowest combined state and local business taxes as a share of the economy in 2009, according to the Council on State Taxation (COST): Oregon, tied with Delaware and North Carolina
- Intel revenues in 2010: $43.6 billion. (Amount of Oregon corporate income taxes Intel disclosed it paid in 2010: Intel hasn’t disclosed.)
- BUSINESS FACTS
- (2011) 23 of the 50 largest Oregon employers are located in Portland. (Healthcare, banking, business services, insurance, manufacturers, technology.)
- (2003) Portland is 3rd largest export tonnage port on West Coast with import and export shipments of $11.8 billion.
- There are more than 1,200 technology companies operating in Portland – largest is Intel Corporation.
- TAXES ON POOR
- Oregon ranks 6th highest in taxing the income of a family of four living at the poverty line in 2009
- HEALTH
Portland ranked as:
- #1 as unhappiest U.S. city
- #1 in depression
- #4 in divorce rates
- #12 in suicides because of severe financial stress