Oregon Employment Department Holds 2026 Employer Tax Rates Steady Amid Economic Uncertainty

The Oregon Employment Department (OED is not increasing either Unemployment Insurance (UI) or Paid Leave Oregon in 2026.

Director Andrew R. Stolfi says keeping rates unchanged is important for the state’s economy in increasingly uncertain economic times.

“Both of our trust funds are healthy and stable, and we remain committed to operating these programs as efficiently as possible to minimize the impact on employers,” says Stolfi.

Tax Levels Will Remain at Schedule Three

UI will remain based on Schedule 3 tax levels, while the Paid Leave Oregon rate also remains unchanged at 1%.

The Employment Department has informed employers of the rates, and individual rate information can be viewed on Frances Online accounts.

Oregon employers pay payroll taxes that are channeled into the Oregon Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund and from which Unemployment Insurance benefits are paid. Employees do not contribute to the fund.

OED uses a statutory formula to calculate the annual average wage, which tends to rise annually due to inflation.

The Taxable Wage Base Will Increase from $54,300 to $56,700

Following the increase in Oregon’s annual average wage, the taxable wage base will rise 4.4 percent, from $54,300 per employee in 2025 to $56,700 in 2026.

For employers with less than 12 months of reported payroll, the Unemployment Insurance payroll base tax rate will remain unchanged at 2.4% for 2026.

Director Stolfi says the fact that the same tax schedule applies to 2026, even as the unemployment rate has steadily increased, is proof of how well Oregon’s system works compared to other states.

“As a self-balancing fund, Oregon’s Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund is one of the healthiest in the country.”

The four-year-old Paid Leave Oregon trust fund continues to cover benefits, as well as the administrative costs to run the program, despite the fact that the contribution rate will remain unchanged at 1% next year. Employees pay 60 percent of the rate, and those with 25 or more employees pay 40 percent.

Inflation will push Paid Leave Oregon Contributions to 4.7%

The level of subject wages for Paid Leave Oregon contributions, set by the annual Social Security taxable maximum wage amount, will rise 4.7 percent to $184,500 of wages per employee in 2026, also generally due to inflation.

The overall UI tax and Paid Leave Contribution rates for 2025 and 2026 are posted on the Employment Department website at employers.oregon.gov.