Oregon·Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations·SOC 27-2031

Best Dancer programs in Oregon, ranked by enrollment

Perform dances.

4 schools in Oregon run programs that feed this job, graduating 22 people a year. The job pays a median of $30.80/hr in Oregon across about 70 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledDancerBallet DancerCompany DancerSoloist DancerBallerinaPerformerTap DancerLine Dancer
Graduates / yr
22
in Oregon
Median hourly · Oregon
$30.80/hr
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
70
people employed
Schools
4
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
64%
across those schools
Median net price
$30,571
per year, IPEDS

Fields of study in Oregon that lead to this job

Grouped at the 4-digit CIP level. Numbers are graduates per year in this state.

1 programs in Oregon that lead to this job

Ranked by graduates per year in Oregon (IPEDS completions). Graduate earnings and debt are national College Scorecard figures reported at the 4-digit CIP level, so specializations within one field share a figure. Each program also links to its own Oregon page.

Degree programs that lead to this occupation, ranked by graduates per year
#ProgramGraduates / yrShare of pipelineSchoolsGrad earnings (1 yr)Median debt
1
Dance, Generalmain feeder
CIP 50.0301In Oregon
22
100.0%
4$21,877$25,000

Top 4 schools in Oregon

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 0 of the 4 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1University of Oregon
Eugene, OR Public · 1 feeder programs
12Dance, General72%88%
2Pacific University
Forest Grove, OR Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
5Dance, General67%$30,57190%
3Reed College
Portland, OR Private not-for-profit · 1 feeder programs
3Dance, General71%$28,27225%
4Western Oregon University
Monmouth, OR Public · 1 feeder programs
2Dance, General47%98%

All 4 schools in Oregon

Every school in Oregon with a program that feeds this job, ordered by graduates per year. Earnings are shown for the ranked schools above; open a school profile for the rest.

All schools in Oregon that feed this occupation
SchoolCityControlGraduates / yrFeeder programs
University of OregonEugenePublic121
Pacific UniversityForest GrovePrivate not-for-profit51
Reed CollegePortlandPrivate not-for-profit31
Western Oregon UniversityMonmouthPublic21

What dancers earn in Oregon

What people already working in this job earn (BLS OEWS May 2025). Not graduate earnings.

Median hourly in Oregon
$30.80/hr
Mean hourly
$30.56/hr
Jobs in state
70

BLS publishes an hourly wage only for this occupation. The work is intermittent, so no annual figure is estimated.

Job concentration
0.67×

1.00× means the state has its expected share of these jobs.

Metro areas in Oregon, by employment

Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
50jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
+4.5%
About as fast as average
Openings per year
1,800
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
600
12,300 → 12,900
Typical entry education
No formal educational credential
Plus long-term on-the-job training

Growth and openings are national. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish employment projections at state level, so these figures describe the occupation across the whole U.S., not this state alone.

How to get in

The full skills, tools, and day-to-day breakdown lives on the national Dancers page.

How to become a Dancer

Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0
Typical entry education
No formal educational credential
On-the-job training
Long-term on-the-job training

Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.

Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.

Top skills

Active ListeningCritical ThinkingMonitoringSpeakingActive LearningReading Comprehension

The same job in other states

Where else this occupation employs the most people, and what it pays there.

Related careers in Oregon

Every major mapped to this job

The official federal mapping behind the rankings above.

All 5 majors mapped to Dancers5 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 50.0301Dance, General
  • 50.0302Ballet
  • 50.0399Dance, Other
  • 50.0509Musical Theatre
  • 50.0512Theatre and Dance

Common questions

Answers for people weighing dancers programs in Oregon.

What degree do you need to become a Dancer?+

No formal educational credential is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Dance, General, which awarded 22 degrees in Oregon in 2024-25, 100.0% of everyone graduating from a program that feeds this career.

Which college majors lead to becoming a Dancer?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Dance. Together they graduate about 22 people a year in Oregon.

How much do dancers earn in Oregon?+

The median is $30.80 an hour (BLS OEWS May 2025). This is pay for people already working in the occupation, not the same thing as graduate earnings one year after finishing a degree.

Is demand for dancers growing?+

BLS projects a +4.5% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, about as fast as average, with roughly 1,800 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

How many schools offer programs for this career in Oregon?+

4 institutions in Oregon reported graduates from at least one of the 1 programs that feed this occupation in IPEDS 2024-25. Rankings on this page use graduates per year, because the federal data publishes no enrollment count by program.

What other job titles do dancers work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Dancer, Ballet Dancer, Company Dancer, Soloist Dancer among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 27-2031.

Programs in OregonDance, General

About the data on this page

Rankings use IPEDS completions 2024–25, degrees awarded per year. That is the closest federal measure of how many people a program puts into a career, because no federal dataset publishes enrollment by program. Wages and employment come from BLS OEWS May 2025, growth and openings from BLS Employment Projections 2024-34, and which majors lead to which jobs from the NCES CIP 2020 to SOC 2018 crosswalk. Occupation descriptions, tasks, skills and tools are O*NET 30.3 (CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor/ETA).

  • BLS Occupational Employment & Wage Statistics

    May 2025

    Wages, employment counts, location quotients and metro breakdowns.

  • BLS Employment Projections

    2024–34

    Projected growth, annual openings and typical entry-level education.

  • IPEDS Completions

    2024-25 (provisional)

    Graduates per year by program and institution — the ranking metric.

  • College Scorecard, Field of Study

    2020-21 cohorts

    Median graduate earnings one year after completion, and median debt.

  • Census Post-Secondary Employment Outcomes

    latest available

    Graduate earnings 1/5/10 years out, where the state participates.

  • NCES CIP 2020 and the CIP-to-SOC 2018 crosswalk

    CIP 2020 / SOC 2018

    Which college programs officially lead to this occupation.

  • O*NET Database 30.3

    30.3

    Tasks, skills, knowledge, tools, job zone and alternate job titles.

    Official source →CC BY 4.0, U.S. Department of Labor / ETA

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