The Deschutes County minimum wage is $15.05 per hour from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026.1State of Oregon. Oregon Minimum Wage That rate applies to every employer in the county and covers hourly, daily, commission, and piece-rate workers alike. If your pay divided by hours worked falls below $15.05 in any workweek, your employer owes you the difference.
Why the Rate Is $15.05
Oregon does not use one statewide minimum wage. The state splits its 36 counties into three tiers based on population density and cost of living: Portland Metro at $16.30, Standard at $15.05, and Non-Urban at $14.05.1State of Oregon. Oregon Minimum Wage Deschutes County sits in the Standard tier.
The $15.05 figure applies uniformly across Deschutes County. Neither the county nor the City of Bend can set its own wage floor, because Oregon law blocks local governments from doing so.2Oregon Revised Statutes. Oregon Code 653.017 – Local Minimum Wage Requirements If you work across county lines, the rate that applies is the one for the county where you physically perform the work. A shift in Deschutes pays Standard; a shift in neighboring Crook or Jefferson, both Non-Urban, pays $14.05.
When the Rate Changes
Oregon adjusts all three regional rates on July 1 each year. The Commissioner of the Bureau of Labor and Industries compares the March U.S. City Average Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers to the prior year’s March figure, and any increase flows through to the wage, rounded to the nearest five cents.3Oregon Revised Statutes. Oregon Code 653.025 – Minimum Wage Rate; Rules The rate can only go up through this process, never down, even if prices fall.
The next figure, effective July 1, 2026, has not been announced. BOLI must publish it by April 30, 2026, which gives employers roughly two months to update payroll before the new rate takes effect.4State of Oregon. Minimum Wage Increase Schedule
Tips Do Not Count Toward the Wage
Oregon bans tip credits outright. Your employer must pay the full $15.05 regardless of how much you earn in gratuities, and any employer who deducts tips from base pay or uses them to offset the hourly rate is committing a wage violation.1State of Oregon. Oregon Minimum Wage Tips belong to you.
Tip pooling among tipped employees is legal, but employers, managers, and supervisors cannot take from the pool, and the pool can only include workers who customarily receive tips. Back-of-house staff like dishwashers and line cooks are excluded.
Service charges work differently. A mandatory charge added to a restaurant bill is legally the employer’s money, not the employee’s. Even when an employer distributes service charge revenue to workers, those payments are not tips and cannot substitute for the required hourly wage.
Oregon also does not allow a sub-minimum wage for minors. Workers under 18 are entitled to the same $15.05 as any other employee in Deschutes County.
Overtime at the Deschutes Rate
Most Deschutes County employers must pay overtime at 1.5 times your regular hourly rate for every hour worked beyond 40 in a workweek.5State of Oregon. Overtime At $15.05, that comes to $22.58 per overtime hour. Only hours you actually work count toward the 40-hour threshold; paid time off such as sick leave, vacation, or holidays does not count unless your contract or a collective bargaining agreement says otherwise.
Salaried executive, administrative, and professional employees can be exempt from overtime if they meet both a duties test and a salary test. Oregon’s salary floor for these exemptions is calculated by multiplying the regional minimum wage by 2,080 hours and dividing by 12, which at $15.05 works out to roughly $2,609 per month. Employers must satisfy whichever threshold is higher between the state figure and the federal $684 per week.6State of Oregon. Salaried Exempt Employees Separate overtime rules apply in manufacturing, hospitals, canneries, bakeries, and certain agricultural and government settings.
Breaks During the Shift
Oregon requires paid rest breaks and unpaid meal periods, and employers cannot skip them because of a busy day.7State of Oregon. Meals and Breaks The schedule scales with shift length:
- Up to 2 hours: no breaks required.
- 2 to 6 hours: one paid 10-minute rest break.
- 6 to 10 hours: two paid rest breaks and one unpaid 30-minute meal break.
- 10 to 14 hours: three rest breaks and one meal break.
- 14 to 18 hours: four rest breaks and two meal breaks.
For shifts longer than seven hours, the meal period must start after your third hour of work and before the start of your sixth. During a meal break, you must be completely relieved of all duties. If your employer requires you to keep working through what was supposed to be a meal break, the entire period becomes paid time.7State of Oregon. Meals and Breaks
If You’re Being Paid Less Than $15.05
An employer who pays below the required minimum is liable for the full amount of unpaid wages plus civil penalties.8Oregon Revised Statutes. Oregon Code 653.055 – Liability of Noncomplying Employer When nonpayment is willful, penalty wages accrue at eight times the employee’s regular hourly rate for each day the wages remain unpaid, up to 30 days. Sending the employer written notice of nonpayment caps the penalty at 100 percent of the unpaid amount if the employer pays in full within 12 days; ignore the notice, and the daily penalty keeps running.9Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 652 – Hours; Wages; Wage Claims; Records BOLI can also impose a separate civil penalty of up to $1,000 per violation, along with costs, interest, and attorney fees for willful nonpayment.10State of Oregon. Paychecks
You have two routes to recover the money. File a wage complaint with BOLI through its online Complaint Resolution Center, and the agency will investigate and can sue on your behalf at no cost to you. Or file a private lawsuit in court. Oregon gives you six years for most wage claims and two years for overtime claims.
Document everything either way. Keep your own records of hours worked, pay stubs, and any communications about your wages. Employers must maintain payroll records, but your own backup strengthens the claim if the employer’s records are disputed or missing.