Economic Data

Salem is home to a wide range of industries and private employers, with business-friendly taxes and fees and proven strengths in traded industry sectors. Abundant in natural resources, the Mid-Willamette Valley is the greatest producer of agricultural products in Oregon. The area is also a strong manufacturing and distribution region with a prime location on Interstate 5 between California and Washington. The addition of high-tech industry to the local economy has provided steady growth in manufacturing.

Quick facts

• Largest employer – State of Oregon (City of Salem CAFR Report FY 2019)
• Largest private employer – Salem Health (City of Salem CAFR Report FY 2019)
• Unemployment rate – 10% (US Bureau of Labor Statistics)
• Businesses within a 20-mile radius – 15,915 (Business Oregon Prospector)
• Approximately 1M workers in the Salem Commute (Business Oregon Prospector)

Taxes and fees

Business tax structure is an important item for deciding where to expand or locate a business. Unlike most states, Oregon corporate income taxes are calculated solely on relative Oregon sales, according to Business Oregon.

Tax rates

• Retail sales tax  – None (tax-rates.org)
• Corporate income tax – 6.6% to 7.6% (Business Oregon)
• Personal income tax – 5% to 9.9% (Business Oregon)
• Property tax  – 1.5% of real market value (Business Oregon)
• Corporate Activity Tax – $250 plus 0.57% of taxable Oregon commercial activity of more than $1 million. Some exceptions apply (Business Oregon)

Salem business license fees

Salem does not require businesses to pay a general license fee. However, you need a business license to operate certain types of businesses in Salem. 

Proven strengths in traded industry sectors

Traded industries are businesses who produce goods and services that are sold in a location outside where they were made.

The importance of traded industry sectors

Roy Williams, President and CEO of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, is widely viewed as an expert on the traded-sector and how it drives growth in a region. In the video below, he explains this connection.

Salem’s top industry groups

Source: Strategic Economic Development Corporation (SEDCOR) 

Top Willamette Valley traded sector employers

According to the SEDCOR website:

• Truitt Bros., Inc.

• T-Mobile USA Inc.

• NORPAC Foods, Inc.

• Wells Fargo Phone Bank

• May Trucking Company

• Don Pancho Authentic Mexican Foods

• Kettle Foods Inc. / Diamond Foods

• United Technologies

• Cascade Steel

• Harris Thermal

• SP Fiber

• Willamette Valley Pie Co.

• Truitt Family Foods

• RainSweet Inc.

• Panasonic Eco Solutions Solar America

• Garmin AT Inc.

• Portland General Electric

•  Willamette Valley Fruit Company LLC

• Summit Sportswear Inc.

• Oregon Fruit Products Co Inc.

• Hanard Machine Inc.

• Columbia Helicopter

• A-Dec

• Meggitt Polymers

• 3-D Plastics