Oregon's rent is unremarkable. Oregon's rent burden is second-worst in the country.
The statewide two-bedroom fair market rent is $1,346 a month — eighteenth-highest of the fifty states, below Nevada, Arizona and Maryland, and barely above Washington's $1,354.
And at a landlord's 3x income screen, that rent is 43.1% of take-home — higher than every state except Hawaii, and higher than California, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey, all of which have far more expensive rent.
The whole of that difference is Oregon's income tax, which is the highest in the country at ordinary salaries.
A note before you start. This is general education, not housing, legal or financial advice. Rent figures come from HUD's Fair Market Rents for FY2026, published under 24 CFR 888.113. An FMR is the 40th percentile of GROSS rent — rent plus tenant-paid utilities — for standard-quality units in a defined rent area, so roughly 60% of units cost more. Take-home figures are computed by this site's own tax engine for tax year 2026 on a single filer taking the standard deduction. Oregon's rent stabilisation law and landlord-tenant rules are outside this dataset and are not covered here.
1. What HUD says renting costs in Oregon
| Unit size | Statewide fair market rent |
|---|---|
| Studio | $940 |
| 1 bedroom | $1,026 |
| 2 bedroom | $1,346 |
| 3 bedroom | $1,768 |
| 4 bedroom | $2,103 |
Mid-table on every line. Oregon's two-bedroom sits between Washington's $1,354 and Vermont's $1,354 at the top of that band, and above Maryland's $1,314.
Nothing about those figures suggests a rent problem. The problem is in the next section.
Work out what rent your own income actually supports in Oregon2. Middling rent, top-of-range burden
This is the most useful thing on this page, and it is the clearest illustration in this series of why rent comparisons that stop at the rent figure mislead.
| State | 2-bedroom FMR | Rent as % of take-home at a 3x screen |
|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | $2,492 | 44.7% |
| Oregon | $1,346 | 43.1% |
| Massachusetts | $2,067 | 43.0% |
| New Jersey | $1,950 | 41.9% |
| California | $1,625 | 40.9% |
| Texas | $1,015 | 38.6% |
| North Dakota | $873 | 38.2% |
Oregon's rent is 46% below Hawaii's and its burden is within 1.6 points of it.
Oregon's rent is 35% below Massachusetts's and its burden is higher.
Why
Oregon has the highest state income tax of any state at ordinary salaries. On $85,000 it takes $6,864 — $2,208 more than second-placed Hawaii and nearly double what California takes.
| On $85,000 | |
|---|---|
| Oregon income tax | $6,864 |
| Take-home | $61,764 — the lowest of any state |
| 30% of gross | $2,125 |
| 30% of take-home | $1,544 |
| The gap | $581 — the largest of any state |
$581 a month appears in the 30%-of-gross calculation and never appears in an Oregonian's account.
And a landlord's 3x screen measures the gross figure, which is why passing it in Oregon leaves you further from 30% than almost anywhere.
The honest counterweight: Oregon has no sales tax. It is one of only five states without one. That is a real and substantial offset — a household spending $45,000 a year would pay nothing in Oregon that would cost $3,150 at a 7% rate elsewhere. It does not appear anywhere in a rent-burden calculation, and it should appear in your own.
3. Three things a fair market rent is not
It is the 40th percentile, not the median. Roughly 60% of standard-quality units rent for more than the FMR.
It is GROSS rent, including tenant-paid utilities. HUD builds the figure to cover rent plus the utilities a tenant pays.
It is per rent area, not per county. Oregon has a clean illustration of this in section 6.
4. The spread
| Measure | Oregon |
|---|---|
| Distinct rent areas | 31 |
| Cheapest 2-bedroom area | $1,008 |
| Dearest 2-bedroom area | $1,922 |
| Internal spread | 91% |
| Statewide median | $1,346 |
Oregon has no rent area at $973. Its cheapest area is $1,008, which is just above that administered minimum and higher than the statewide median in 17 states.
The 91% internal spread is moderate. The Portland metro at $1,922 is roughly double the cheapest Oregon rent area.
5. What the two-bedroom actually requires
| Statewide | Portland metro | |
|---|---|---|
| 2-bedroom | $1,346 | $1,922 |
| Gross income a 3x screen demands | $48,456 | $69,192 |
What passing that screen leaves
| Statewide 2-bed | |
|---|---|
| Gross income required | $48,456 |
| Oregon take-home, single filer | About $37,448 |
| Take-home per month | $3,121 |
| Rent | $1,346 |
| Rent as a share of take-home | 43.1% |
Someone who exactly passes an Oregon landlord's income screen is spending 43.1% of what reaches their account on rent — on a rent that is mid-table nationally.
6. Multnomah and Washington counties are the same number
| County | Studio | 2 bedroom | 3 bedroom | Rent area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multnomah County | $1,570 | $1,922 | $2,619 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA MSA |
| Washington County | $1,570 | $1,922 | $2,619 | Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA MSA |
Every figure is identical, because both counties are inside the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro MSA rent area, and every county in a rent area carries the same published number.
Note the rent area's name. It spans Oregon and Washington — Clark County, Washington is in the same rent area as Multnomah County, Oregon, and carries the same $1,922.
That is a genuinely useful fact for anyone in the Portland metro, because the two sides of the Columbia River have very different tax positions:
| Portland side (Oregon) | Vancouver side (Washington) | |
|---|---|---|
| 2-bedroom FMR | $1,922 | $1,922 |
| State income tax on $85,000 | $6,864 | $0 |
| Take-home | $61,764 | $68,628 |
| Rent as % of take-home | 37.3% | 33.6% |
| Sales tax | None | Yes |
Same rent, same rent area, a $6,864 annual difference in income tax and no sales tax on one side.
That trade is the defining feature of the Portland metro, and the arithmetic depends entirely on how much you spend: a high earner who saves heavily does better in Washington; a household spending most of what it earns may do better in Oregon. Nobody can tell you which without your own spending figure.
One caution: Oregon taxes income earned by nonresidents working within the state, so living in Vancouver and working in Portland does not by itself avoid Oregon income tax on that work. That is worth professional advice rather than assumption, and it is the single most consequential question for a Portland-metro household.
7. 30% of gross, and 30% of what you actually get
| Annual salary | 30% of gross | 30% of Oregon take-home | The gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| $45,000 | $1,125 | $874 | $251 |
| $60,000 | $1,500 | $1,143 | $357 |
| $85,000 | $2,125 | $1,544 | $581 |
Every one of those gaps is the largest of any state, because Oregon's income tax is the heaviest.
What the two-bedroom costs at real salaries
| Annual salary | Statewide | Portland metro |
|---|---|---|
| $45,000 | 46.2% | 65.9% |
| $60,000 | 35.3% | 50.5% |
| $85,000 | 26.2% | 37.3% |
Rent as a share of take-home pay.
At $85,000 the statewide figure is 26.2% — comfortably inside the rule. Portland's is 37.3%, past it.
At $60,000 Portland is 50.5%, which is severely cost-burdened territory by HUD's threshold applied to take-home.
8. Rent versus buy in Oregon
Three things decide it, and the rent is not one of them:
Appreciation. Backward-looking, county-specific, and not a forecast. This site's calculator uses FHFA House Price Index measurements.
Selling costs. Around 7% of the sale price, and it never comes back.
How long you stay. The break-even is measured in years, not months.
Oregon's specific position has two features worth naming:
Property tax is constrained by Measures 5 and 50, which cap rates and limit growth in assessed value. That is favourable to a long-term owner, because assessed value can lag market value substantially over a long hold — and it does nothing for a new buyer at purchase.
And the income tax is not a factor in the rent-versus-buy comparison at all, which is worth stating because it dominates everything else on this page. Renting and owning both happen after tax. Oregon's income tax makes both more expensive equally, and it does not tip the comparison either way.
Run the Oregon rent-versus-buy calculator with your own county.
9. What you can actually control
Understand that your rent problem may be a tax problem. Oregon's rent is mid-table and its burden is near the top. If the number that feels wrong is what is left at the end of the month, the income tax line is doing more of the work than the rent line.
Which means the pre-tax lever is worth more in Oregon than anywhere. A $10,000 traditional 401(k) contribution saves an $85,000 earner $875 in Oregon income tax on top of the federal saving — the largest state-level deferral saving of any state. An HSA contribution through payroll does the same and also cuts FICA.
Get the landlord test and the budget test straight. 3x gross gets you approved. 30% of take-home is what you can carry. On the statewide $1,346 those are $48,456 of income and, at that income, $936 of rent — $410 less than the rent itself.
Existing debt does not appear in the landlord's test.
Count the absence of sales tax in your own budget. It does not appear in any rent-burden figure and it is worth a four-figure sum annually for most households. Oregon's rent burden looks worse than its cost of living is.
And if you are in the Portland metro, run the Washington comparison properly — including whether Oregon would tax your income anyway. Section 6 sets out why.
10. How HUD's cost-burden thresholds actually work
The 30% and 50% figures quoted throughout this article are not rules of thumb. They are regulatory definitions, and knowing where they come from tells you what they are and are not good for.
HUD defines a household as "cost-burdened" when it spends more than 30% of gross income on housing, and "severely cost-burdened" above 50%. The threshold traces back to the National Housing Act, and HUD uses it to measure housing need and to set programme eligibility.
Three things follow from that origin, and all three matter to a renter:
It is measured against gross income because a housing programme can verify gross income. A caseworker can read a W-2. They cannot easily verify what your actual tax withholding, retirement deferrals and health premiums leave you. Gross is administratively tractable, not economically correct.
It counts housing costs, not just rent. HUD's measure includes utilities, which is precisely why the fair market rent is defined as gross rent. If you are comparing your own situation against the 30% threshold, include your utility bills — otherwise you are measuring a smaller number against the same line.
It is a population statistic before it is personal advice. The threshold exists to answer "how many households in this county are struggling," and it does that job well. It was never designed to tell one household what it can afford, and it does not account for household size, debt, childcare, medical costs, or the tax rate where you live.
Which is why this article reports both figures. In Oregon a two-bedroom at $1,346 against a $48,456 income is exactly at HUD's 30% line by HUD's own measure. Against what actually reaches that household's account it is closer to 40%. Both numbers are correct; they answer different questions.
If you want one number to plan around, use 30% of take-home. It is the more conservative of the two, it is the one that reflects what you can actually spend, and it is what this site's calculator reports alongside the conventional figure.
11. What a landlord checks besides your income
The 3x income screen is the most visible test, and it is not the only one. None of the following is a legal requirement — they are common industry practice, and individual landlords differ.
Credit score. Most professionally managed buildings run a credit check, and many publish a minimum. A low score does not automatically disqualify you, but it commonly triggers a larger deposit or a guarantor requirement.
Rental history and references. Previous landlords, length of tenancy, and any eviction filings. An eviction filing can appear on a tenant screening report even where the case was dismissed, which is worth knowing if you have one.
The security deposit. How much a landlord may ask for, when it must be returned, and what may be deducted are all governed by state law, and those rules vary enormously. Check Oregon's own statute — this site's rent dataset covers HUD fair market rents and does not cover landlord-tenant law, so nothing on this page should be read as describing it.
Application fees. Charged per applicant in most markets, and often non-refundable. Applying to several places at once is a real cost.
Guarantors and co-signers. Where an applicant fails the income screen, many landlords will accept a guarantor — commonly at a higher multiple, such as 80x the monthly rent in annual income rather than 36x. That is a much larger number than the tenant's own test, and it is the usual route for students and recent graduates.
Proof of income. Pay stubs, an offer letter, or tax returns for the self-employed. Self-employed applicants are frequently asked for two years of returns, which is a materially higher bar than a salaried applicant faces on the same income.
The practical point: the 3x screen decides whether you clear the first filter. Everything above decides whether you get the apartment, and several of those items cost money to fail.
12. When these figures change
HUD publishes fair market rents annually, effective at the start of the federal fiscal year on 1 October. The figures in this article are FY2026.
Three ways your area's number can move:
Re-measurement. HUD builds FMRs from American Community Survey data with more recent trend adjustments. A rent area whose measured market has moved will see its figure move with it.
Redefinition. HUD occasionally redraws rent areas — splitting a metro, adding a county to one, or creating a small-area FMR where ZIP-level figures replace a single metro figure. When that happens, a county's published rent can change substantially without any change in its actual market. Oregon has 31 rent areas today; that count is not fixed.
The $973 cluster. Seventeen states have their cheapest rent area at exactly $973 for a two-bedroom — the same dollar figure in seventeen separate states, which is a minimum HUD applies to some class of areas rather than seventeen markets coincidentally agreeing. It is not a universal floor: twenty states have rent areas below it, running down to $776 in Alabama. This site has not confirmed the mechanism against HUD's methodology and does not guess at it. What matters practically is that an area sitting at $973 is carrying an administered figure rather than a measured one, and it moves when that administered figure moves.
What that means for planning. A fair market rent is a well-sourced annual snapshot, not a forecast. If you are signing a twelve-month lease, the figure that matters is the rent in the lease, and the FMR is context for judging whether that rent is reasonable for the area and the unit size.
Voucher holders should note one thing more. FMRs set the basis for Housing Choice Voucher payment standards, and a public housing agency may set its standard within a range around the FMR rather than exactly at it. Your agency's payment standard is the operative number, not the published FMR.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average rent in Oregon? HUD's statewide fair market rent for a two-bedroom is $1,346 a month for FY2026 — eighteenth-highest of the fifty states, squarely mid-table.
Why is Oregon's rent burden so high if its rent is mid-table? Because Oregon has the highest state income tax of any state at ordinary salaries — $6,864 on $85,000. At a 3x landlord screen the rent is 43.1% of take-home, second-worst in the country behind Hawaii, despite the rent itself being unremarkable.
What income do I need to rent a two-bedroom in Oregon? A 3x landlord screen needs $48,456 on the statewide figure and $69,192 in the Portland metro.
Why do Multnomah and Washington counties show the same rent? They are both inside the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro MSA rent area, which also includes Clark County, Washington. Every county in a rent area carries the same published figure.
Is it cheaper to live in Vancouver, Washington and work in Portland? The rent is identical — same rent area, $1,922. Washington has no income tax and Oregon does, but Oregon taxes income earned by nonresidents working within the state, so the saving is not automatic. That question is worth professional advice.
Does Oregon's lack of a sales tax offset the income tax? Partly, and it depends entirely on your spending. A household spending $45,000 a year on taxable goods would pay nothing in Oregon against $3,150 at a 7% rate elsewhere. It never appears in a rent-burden calculation.
Is 30% of income a realistic rent budget in Oregon? 30% of gross on $85,000 is $2,125. 30% of Oregon take-home is $1,544 — the lowest of any state at that salary. The $581 gap is the largest in the country.
Should I buy in Oregon instead? Measures 5 and 50 constrain property tax growth, which favours a long-term owner. The income tax does not tip the comparison either way, since renting and owning both happen after tax. Run the calculator.
What to do next
Oregon's rent is ordinary and its burden is not. The lever that matters most here is the pre-tax deferral, because Oregon's income tax is the largest single reason the arithmetic feels tight.
- Oregon rent affordability calculator — the landlord's test and the budget test, side by side.
- Oregon take-home pay — the lowest of any state at $85,000, and why.
- Oregon rent vs buy — the break-even year, computed rather than assumed.
- The 30% rule is measured against the wrong number — the full argument.
- Renting in the USA in 2026 — all fifty states, county by county.
Every figure on this site is sourced and dated. How we source every number.
Rent figures are HUD Fair Market Rents for FY2026, from HUD User, published under 24 CFR 888.113. An FMR is the 40th percentile of gross rent including tenant-paid utilities for standard-quality units in a defined rent area — not a market median, and not comparable to an advertised rent excluding utilities. Statewide figures are the median across Oregon's 31 distinct rent areas, unweighted by population. Take-home figures are computed by this site's own tax engine for tax year 2026 on a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependents or pre-tax deferrals, using federal figures from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32 and Oregon rates from this site's sourced 50-state dataset; local transit taxes levied in some Oregon jurisdictions are not included. The 3x landlord screen is a common industry practice, not a legal standard. Oregon's rent stabilisation law, landlord-tenant rules and the detailed operation of Measures 5 and 50 are outside this dataset. This is general education and not housing, legal or financial advice.