Oregon · 2026 planning data
Oregon SUTA rate and employer cost for 2026
Oregon's sourced 2026 unemployment-insurance model uses a taxable wage base of $56,700 per employee and a 2.40% standard new-employer rate. The assigned rate can differ after an acquisition, experience rating, industry classification, or state assessment.
How the Oregon SUTA line is estimated
State unemployment tax applies only up to the annual UI wage base for each employee. For an employee earning at least $56,700, the planning calculation is:
min(UI-taxable wages, $56,700) × 2.40% = up to $1,361The standard sourced new-employer rate in the EmployerCost model is 2.40%. A transferred experience account, special industry rule, assessment, or employer notice can produce a different total.
What this Oregon estimate does not include
Oregon employers owe 3 mandatory costs that this calculator does not add to the total, 2 of which apply only inside a single locality, because they depend on facts the calculator never asks for — how many people the employer has, which city the work happens in, how much payroll it runs in a quarter. Adding them to every employer would overcharge the ones the rule does not reach, so they are named here instead of buried in a number.
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Paid Leave Oregon, employer share — about $240 a year for a $60,000 employee
40% of the 1.0% contribution, so 0.40% of wages up to the Social Security wage base
Applies when: Employers with 25 or more employees. Smaller employers withhold the employee share but owe no employer share.
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TriMet transit payroll tax TriMet district, Portland metro only — about $494 a year for a $60,000 employee
0.8237% of gross payroll for services performed inside the district, no wage cap. The Oregon Department of Revenue states the tax is imposed directly on the employer.
Applies when: Only wages for work performed inside the TriMet district, which covers most of the Portland metro area across Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties. An employer with nobody working in the district owes nothing. This is not the statewide transit tax, which is withheld from the employee and is not an employer cost.
Source: Oregon Department of Revenue: A guide to TriMet and Lane Transit payroll taxes (Rev. 11-18-25)
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Lane Transit District payroll tax Lane Transit District, Eugene-Springfield only — about $480 a year for a $60,000 employee
0.80% of gross payroll for services performed inside the district, no wage cap, employer-paid.
Applies when: Only wages for work performed inside the Lane Transit District, around Eugene and Springfield. A business is inside one Oregon transit district or the other, never both, and most Oregon employers are in neither.
Source: Oregon Department of Revenue: A guide to TriMet and Lane Transit payroll taxes (Rev. 11-18-25)
What changes the real employer cost
- Oregon uses Schedule 3 in 2026: the new-employer rate is 2.40% on the first $56,700, and experienced rates range from 0.90% to 5.40%.
- The 0.135% special payroll tax offset is already allocated within the published UI rate and is not added again.
- Employer Social Security, Medicare, and FUTA remain separate federal cost lines.
- Workers compensation in Oregon runs 82% of the national median — 18% below it, 38th of 51 jurisdictions at $0.89 per $100 of payroll (Oregon DCBS 2024 premium rate ranking). That is a relativity between states, not your rate: class code, carrier, payroll exposure and experience modifier decide what you actually pay.
- Health benefits, retirement contributions, payroll software, and HR administration depend on the employer's choices.
Use the calculator's custom SUTA field whenever an official notice supplies a different rate. Read the SUTA rate guide and employer payroll tax guide before relying on a planning result.
Oregon employer cost questions
What is the Oregon SUTA wage base for 2026?
The sourced taxable wage base used by EmployerCost is $56,700 per employee. Wages above that cap are not included in this SUTA line, but can still affect Social Security, Medicare, benefits, workers compensation, and other costs.
What rate should a new Oregon employer use?
The standard sourced new-employer rate in the EmployerCost model is 2.40%. A transferred experience account, special industry rule, assessment, or employer notice can produce a different total.
Is SUTA the full cost of an Oregon employee?
No. Start with salary, then add employer FICA, FUTA, SUTA, workers compensation, benefits, and payroll administration. The Oregon calculator keeps uncertain items as ranges.
Official sources
- Oregon Employment Department 2026 UI rates
- U.S. Department of Labor — Significant Provisions of State UI Laws, effective January 2026
Verified against official sources July 30, 2026.
General planning information only. Not payroll, tax, legal, insurance, or HR compliance advice.