Survey Offers In-Depth Picture of the Lives, Families and Jobs of Oregonians

Every two years since 1990, state agencies has utilized the Oregon Population Survey to ask Oregonians questions that cover such topics as child care, employment, technology use, and many other facets of life in the state.

Salem's Buch Park Salem-News.com photo by Tim King

(SALEM, Ore.) - Today, the Oregon Progress Board released the findings of the 2008 Oregon Population Survey. The survey provides a wealth of data on income, employment, education, child care, disability status, and internet usage.

The telephone survey, conducted during the summer and fall of 2008 also provides information on Oregonians' perceptions of issues like health care access and the effectiveness Oregon's government.

Key Findings Oregon Households:

Self-reported median household income increased from $44,610 to $47,320 between 2005 and 2007 (2007 dollars).

Roughly 13 percent of Oregon households report incomes below the poverty level in 2007, about the same rate as 2005.

Seventy-nine percent of households have personal computers and 74 percent have Internet access, slightly up from 2006.

Households with high-speed Internet access grew significantly from 46 percent in 2006 to 61 percent in 2008.

Education:

Roughly a third of Oregon adults 25 and over have a four-year college degree or higher, up slightly from 2006.

The percent of Oregonians with an Associate's or occupation-related certificate remained steady at approximately 26 percent.

Over 80 percent of school-age children attended public schools, up slightly from the 2006 survey.

About 10 percent attended private schools and roughly 5 percent attended charter schools or were home-schooled.

In-Migration:

In-migration has slowed to 17 percent, six percentage points lower that the 2006 rate.

The decline was most pronounced in southern and eastern Oregon and the central Willamette valley.

Health and Well-being:

Seventeen percent of Oregonians report suffering from a long-lasting disability, similar to 2006.

About half of seniors 75 and over live with a disability.

Oregonians' Perceptions Perceptions about their state and community:

Roughly 86 percent feel somewhat or very positive about the state, similar to 2006.

Half of all Oregonians feel connected to their community.

Fifty-four percent feel Oregon is doing a good job in assuring affordable access to health care, an increase of 11 percentage points from the 2006 survey. However, respondents' perception of how well Oregon creates jobs dropped sharply from 60 percent in 2006 to 47 percent in 2008.

Perceptions about government services in general:

More Oregonians feel very or somewhat positive about government services—up from 60 percent in 2004 to 67 percent in 2008.

This includes positive perceptions about the state's efforts to manage growth and prevent sprawl, which increased from 61 percent in 2006 to 66 percent in 2008.

Perceptions about government services in education:

The following percentages of Oregonians feel the state is doing somewhat or very well with Oregon's education system: community colleges (86 percent); public four-year colleges and universities (80 percent); kindergarten through 12th grade (70 percent).

The K-12 rate is a 10-percentage-point improvement over the 2006 survey. Perceptions for post-secondary education are about the same.

Perceptions about government services in environment:

Oregonians continue to feel that the state is doing a good job in preserving natural resources and the environment.

Over 80 percent rated Oregon as somewhat or very good on all four questions pertaining to conservation efforts.

With a 91-percent approval rating, providing parks and open spaces continues to be the highest-rated service.

Survey Background:

Every two years since 1990, a consortium of 18 state agencies has utilized the Oregon Population Survey to ask Oregonians a battery of questions that cover such topics as child care, employment, technology use, and many other facets of life in the state.

The result is an in-depth picture of the lives, families and jobs of Oregonians and the state's quality of life.

The 2008 Oregon Population Survey was conducted under contract to the Oregon Progress Board by Opinion Research Northwest. Approximately 4,100 household representatives were interviewed statewide. Some questions were answered by a smaller number of respondents.

PLEASE NOTE: The questionnaire and PowerPoint slide show summarizing the findings are available at oregon.gov/DAS/OPB/popsurvey.shtml.

The complete 2008 Oregon Population Survey data is online at oregon.gov/DAS/OEA. The data are provided statewide and are organized by region and race/ethnicity.

More in-depth analyses of the data will be released by collaborating partners throughout the spring and summer of 2009. The Oregon Population Survey "feeds" data to about ten of the 91 Oregon Benchmarks at benchmarks.oregon.gov, including some in economy, education, civic engagement, social support.