Economy

Oregon’s inflation-tied minimum wage offers Oklahoma a warning

November 5, 2025

Curtis Shelton

Visit www.sq832killsjobs.com to learn more about SQ 832.

An Oklahoma ballot proposal, State Question 832, would significantly increase the state’s minimum wage by tying it to the cost of living in expensive urban areas. The measure is on the ballot on June 16, 2026.

In 2023, Oregon enacted a similar minimum-wage policy. It ties the state’s minimum wage to inflation. For Oregon, that law set in stone something the state had been practicing for years, and it gives Oklahoma a good idea of what to expect.

Since 2000, Oregon has raised its minimum wage almost annually from $6.50 to $15.95, according to the Federal Reserve. Since then, Oregon’s overall labor participation rate has fallen from 68.6 percent to 62.7 percent. It’s been even worse for people between 16 and 24 years old. The labor participation for that age group in Oregon was a robust 70.7 percent in 2000 and has fallen to 61.9 percent. 

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

Oregon has fewer young people looking for work in 2024 than it did in 2000, despite the population of young people having grown by 31,000. If the participation rate had stayed the same since 2000, Oregon would have 63,000 more 16– to 24-year-olds in the workforce than it does now.

Meanwhile, even as fewer people in Oregon are looking for work, everyone is paying more for what they need or want. Since 2008 (the earliest available data), Oregon’s cost of living compared to the rest of the country has risen 7 percent. Oregon has moved from the 23rd most expensive state to live in to the 9th most expensive.

Oregon, along with Washington and California, gives Oklahoma a clear picture of what an ever-increasing minimum wage means: fewer opportunities and more expensive living.