Oregon·Office and Administrative Support Occupations·SOC 43-3051

Best Payroll programs in Oregon, ranked by enrollment

Compile and record employee time and payroll data. May compute employees' time worked, production, and commission.

14 schools in Oregon run programs that feed this job, graduating 397 people a year. The job pays a median of $60,980 in Oregon across about 2,890 jobs (BLS OEWS May 2025).

Also calledPayroll ClerkPayroll AssistantPayroll SpecialistPayroll CoordinatorCheckmanTime ClerkTimekeeperBonus Clerk
Graduates / yr
397
in Oregon
Median pay · Oregon
$60,980
BLS OEWS May 2025
Jobs in state
2,890
people employed
Schools
14
with a feeder program
Avg graduation rate
27%
across those schools
Median net price
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
CIP 52.0302In Oregon
397
100.0%
14$51,824$24,433

Top 14 schools in Oregon

Ranked by graduates per year into this job. Graduate earnings are reported for 2 of the 14 schools in this state.

Schools ranked by graduates per year into this occupation
#SchoolGraduates / yrTop feeder programGrad earnings (1 yr)Grad rateNet priceAcceptance
1Portland Community College
Portland, OR Public · 1 feeder programs
179Accounting Technology/Technician and Bookkeeping$40,81618%
2Klamath Community College
Klamath Falls, OR Public · 1 feeder programs
56Accounting Technology/Technician and Bookkeeping43%
3Mt Hood Community College
Gresham, OR Public · 1 feeder programs
39Accounting Technology/Technician and Bookkeeping24%
4Chemeketa Community College
Salem, OR Public · 1 feeder programs
27Accounting Technology/Technician and Bookkeeping$42,80821%
5Clackamas Community College
Oregon City, OR Public · 1 feeder programs
26Accounting Technology/Technician and Bookkeeping23%
6Lane Community College
Eugene, OR Public · 1 feeder programs
20Accounting Technology/Technician and Bookkeeping20%
7Linn - Benton Community College
Albany, OR Public · 1 feeder programs
16Accounting Technology/Technician and Bookkeeping29%
8Rogue Community College
Grants Pass, OR Public · 1 feeder programs
8Accounting Technology/Technician and Bookkeeping9%
9Southwestern Oregon Community College
Coos Bay, OR Public · 1 feeder programs
7Accounting Technology/Technician and Bookkeeping40%
10Central Oregon Community College
Bend, OR Public · 1 feeder programs
6Accounting Technology/Technician and Bookkeeping25%
11Oregon Coast Community College
Newport, OR Public · 1 feeder programs
6Accounting Technology/Technician and Bookkeeping36%
12Blue Mountain Community College
Pendleton, OR Public · 1 feeder programs
5Accounting Technology/Technician and Bookkeeping30%
13Columbia Gorge Community College
The Dalles, OR Public · 1 feeder programs
1Accounting Technology/Technician and Bookkeeping29%
14Treasure Valley Community College
Ontario, OR Public · 1 feeder programs
1Accounting Technology/Technician and Bookkeeping37%

All 14 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
Portland Community CollegePortlandPublic1791
Klamath Community CollegeKlamath FallsPublic561
Mt Hood Community CollegeGreshamPublic391
Chemeketa Community CollegeSalemPublic271
Clackamas Community CollegeOregon CityPublic261
Lane Community CollegeEugenePublic201
Linn - Benton Community CollegeAlbanyPublic161
Rogue Community CollegeGrants PassPublic81
Southwestern Oregon Community CollegeCoos BayPublic71
Central Oregon Community CollegeBendPublic61
Oregon Coast Community CollegeNewportPublic61
Blue Mountain Community CollegePendletonPublic51
Columbia Gorge Community CollegeThe DallesPublic11
Treasure Valley Community CollegeOntarioPublic11

What payroll and timekeeping clerks earn in Oregon

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

Median annual in Oregon
$60,980
Mean annual
$62,260
Jobs in state
2,890
What the range looks like
10th pct$42,430Median$60,98090th pct$82,080
Versus the national median
+4.7%

U.S. median $58,260. Oregon pays above the national figure.

Job concentration
1.49×

Concentrated here: Oregon employs more of this job per worker than the U.S. average.

Metro areas in Oregon

Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
$64,170median
1,850 jobs
Salem, OR
$61,590median
290 jobs
Bend, OR
$59,930median
160 jobs
Corvallis, OR
$60,400median
30 jobs
Grants Pass, OR
$58,270median
40 jobs
Eugene-Springfield, OR
$57,230median
220 jobs
Albany, OR
$56,480median
70 jobs
Medford, OR
$53,530median
150 jobs

Job outlook

Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections, 2024 to 2034.

Projected growth 2024–34
-16.7%
Decline
Openings per year
13,000
new jobs plus replacements
Employment change
-27,000
161,100 → 134,200
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
Plus moderate-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 Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks page.

How to become a Payroll

Job zone 3 of 5 · SVP 6.0 to < 7.0
Typical entry education
High school diploma or equivalent
On-the-job training
Moderate-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

Reading ComprehensionActive ListeningMathematicsCritical ThinkingWritingSpeaking

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 1 majors mapped to Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks1 of them graduated someone in the latest IPEDS year. NCES CIP 2020 → SOC 2018 crosswalk.+
  • 52.0302Accounting Technology/Technician and Bookkeeping

Common questions

Answers for people weighing payroll and timekeeping clerks programs in Oregon.

What degree do you need to become a Payroll?+

High school diploma or equivalent is the typical entry-level education BLS reports for this occupation. The most common program people actually graduate from is Accounting Technology/Technician and Bookkeeping, which awarded 397 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 Payroll?+

The NCES CIP-to-SOC crosswalk maps 1 programs to this occupation. The largest are Accounting and Related Services. Together they graduate about 397 people a year in Oregon.

How much do payroll and timekeeping clerks earn in Oregon?+

The median is $60,980 a year (BLS OEWS May 2025). That is 4.7% above the U.S. median of $58,260. 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 payroll and timekeeping clerks growing?+

BLS projects a -16.7% change in employment between 2024 and 2034, decline, with roughly 13,000 openings a year nationally once retirements and job changes are counted.

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

14 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 payroll and timekeeping clerks work under?+

Employers advertise this work under many names. O*NET records Payroll Clerk, Payroll Assistant, Payroll Specialist, Payroll Coordinator among the most commonly reported, all mapping to SOC 43-3051.

Payroll and Timekeeping Clerks in other statesCaliforniaFloridaGeorgiaWashingtonIndianaNew YorkWisconsinTexas

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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