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Data: U.S. Census Bureau; Note: 2020 data is an estimate; Chart: Axios Visuals

The share of Americans who say college is "very important" plummeted over the past decade, new Gallup polling finds.

Why it matters: College may not live up to the American Dream that it promised in the past, and there are other paths for success becoming more appealing for Gen Z, but in terms of lifetime earnings, a college degree is still incredibly important.

By the numbers: Median yearly earnings for a college grad in Portland topped $76,000 between 2015-2024, per data from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Those with graduate degrees pulled in nearly $94,000, compared to just over $45,000 for workers whose education stopped at high school.

The big picture: Higher education has taken a reputational hit for a variety of reasons: It's expensive, doesn't always result in job security and there has been growing interest in skilled trades — especially as AI appears to threaten white collar work.

The bottom line: "It feels bad right now to be a recent college graduate, but it doesn't necessarily feel better to be someone with a high-school diploma who's just going onto the labor market either," says Chris Martin, lead researcher on jobs site Glassdoor's economic research team.

"While there may be declines in the returns to a college education, you're still better off."

Why college is still worth it, monetarily

Fewer Americans say college is essential — but grads still outearn others by far.

A line chart showing median earnings by educational attainment for residents of the Portland metro area. In 2024, residents aged 25 and older with a college degree earned about $31k more than those with just a high school diploma. The median income was $39k in 2015 and $61k in 2024.

The share of Americans who say <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="college" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2025/09/09/college-blue-collar-gen-z" data-vars-content-id="296469f3-d7a3-427d-845f-e842f71d9f17" data-vars-headline="Why college is still worth it, monetarily" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2025/09/09/college-blue-collar-gen-z" target="_self">college</a> is &quot;very important&quot; plummeted over the past decade, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="new Gallup" data-vars-click-url="https://news.gallup.com/poll/695003/perceived-importance-college-hits-new-low.aspx" data-vars-content-id="296469f3-d7a3-427d-845f-e842f71d9f17" data-vars-headline="Why college is still worth it, monetarily" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/695003/perceived-importance-college-hits-new-low.aspx" target="_blank">new Gallup</a> polling finds.Why it matters: College may not live up to the American Dream that it promised in the past, and there are other paths for success becoming more appealing for Gen Z, but in terms of lifetime earnings, a college degree is still incredibly important.

Education

Here's a puzzle: Working from home appears to make people feel more alone, but forcing them back to the office full time doesn't necessarily make them feel better, according to new research published in the Harvard Business Review.

Why it matters: Loneliness is a huge societal issue with often devastating health and cultural fallout, as the U.S. surgeon general has warned — and in the workplace it can be particularly damaging.

Lonely workers are less productive, rack up higher health care costs, and are more likely to quit their jobs, says Constance Noonan Hadley, a professor at Boston University's Questrom School of Business, who co-authored the study.

By the numbers: The percentage of people who work from home in the Portland region is considerably higher than in most of the country (including our West Coast neighbors), according to 2023 census estimates analyzed by Coworking Mag. 

In a ranking of 109 U.S. metros, Portland came in sixth for its 21% share of remote workers. 

San Francisco and Seattle trailed behind, with roughly 20% each.

Flashback: More than 27% of people reportedly worked from home in the Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro metro area in 2021.

The big picture: In the study, researchers defined work loneliness as "the distressful experience of having a higher desire for social connection than what is subjectively experienced while working." 

They surveyed 1,000 full-time office workers, aged 22-50, working in "knowledge" fields like finance, software engineering and consulting.

After taking an assessment (you can take it here), respondents were divided by levels of loneliness: high, medium and low. A smaller group was then asked more qualitative questions.

What they found: Lonely workers want to feel closer or more connected to colleagues. 

Yes, but: Surprisingly, the loneliest workers are getting a lot of face-to-face contact, but it doesn't seem to help: 47% of the loneliest respondents said they conducted nearly half of their prior month's work in person.

There was no difference in loneliness between those in office full time and those working a hybrid schedule. While fully remote workers, on average, were slightly lonelier — other factors were more impactful.

Portland's lonely remote workers

There are more remote workers in Portland metro than other West Coast cities.

Illustration of a lone keyboard key with a briefcase icon on it. 

Remote work

Here&#x27;s a puzzle: Working from home appears to make people feel more alone, but forcing them back to the office full time doesn&#x27;t necessarily make them feel better, according to new research published in the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Harvard Business Review" data-vars-click-url="https://hbr.org/2024/11/were-still-lonely-at-work" data-vars-content-id="50ac1f6e-87ce-4513-a411-e3b49ea2a4ba" data-vars-headline="Portland&#x27;s lonely remote workers" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://hbr.org/2024/11/were-still-lonely-at-work" target="_blank">Harvard Business Review</a>.Why it matters: Loneliness is a huge societal issue with often devastating health and cultural fallout, as the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="U.S. surgeon general has warned" data-vars-click-url="https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf" data-vars-content-id="50ac1f6e-87ce-4513-a411-e3b49ea2a4ba" data-vars-headline="Portland&#x27;s lonely remote workers" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf" target="_blank">U.S. surgeon general has warned</a> — and in the workplace it can be particularly damaging.

Latest news on Wall Street, Corporate America and financial regulation.

Business

Office vacancies are on the rise in Portland, much like other major U.S. cities. 

Why it matters: It's unusual for vacancy rates to grow while the economy has remained on solid ground.

Between the lines: The pandemic changed the way we work, and companies don't need as much space as they once did.

State of play: Across the U.S., vacancy rates reached a record 20.1% in the second quarter — the highest since at least 1979, when Moody's began tracking.

Long-term leases are taking a long time to unwind, says Moody's associate economist Nick Luettke. 

And these vacancy rates are likely to continue to climb for the next few years, peaking at the end of 2026, per Moody's projections. 

The bottom line: There's "just going to be pain over the next coming years," Luettke says.

Portland office vacancies keep ticking up

The pandemic changed the way we work, and companies don't need as much space as they once did.

chart showing office vacancies rising in select U.S. cities

Office vacancies are on the rise in Portland, much like other major U.S. cities. Why it matters: It&#x27;s unusual for vacancy rates to grow while the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="economy" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/economy" data-vars-content-id="b97e638b-9821-4fd0-95b3-89b13d586c43" data-vars-headline="Portland office vacancies keep ticking up" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/economy" target="_self">economy</a> has remained on solid ground.

News

Adapted from a McKinsey report; Chart: Axios Visuals

The office is back: The share of people who reported working mostly in person doubled in 2024 from the previous year, according to a national survey from McKinsey released last week.

Why it matters: With hiring slowing and workers feeling stuck, employers are using their newly strengthened upper hand to get people back to the office, including in Portland.

Zoom in: After some back-and-forth, Portland's executive branch is moving to bring city managers and supervisors back to City Hall by April.

Between the lines: In an email to employees, Mayor Keith Wilson wrote that the return is necessary because "working face-to-face cultivates the collaboration, camaraderie and innovation our city deserves."

But requiring city staff to return to City Hall is also an indirect way to juice the downtown economy, which has continued to flag since the pandemic.

At a meet-and-greet with constituents last week, city councilors from District 4 — Olivia Clark, Mitch Green and Eric Zimmerman — also said they supported the mayor's directive as a way to increase foot traffic in the city's core.

Other large companies in the Portland area — like Nike and Intel — have also clamped down on remote work.

Where it stands: "There is a perception among senior leaders that productivity is better accomplished in office," says Brooke Weddle, a senior partner at McKinsey. (Research paints a more complicated picture.)

The big picture: This survey of 8,426 employees across 15 industries was conducted last October; the return-to-office (RTO) push has only intensified since then.

On President Trump's first day in office, he ordered federal employees back to in-person work.

Reality check: We aren't all the way back to 2019 levels. Even with more RTO mandates, there tends to be "wiggle room," says Weddle. "Most policies have some kind of flexibility built in."

For that reason, instead of asking if people were in-office or remote, McKinsey asked if people were "mostly" in-person or remote.

Other recent studies reflect that asterisk. Nationally, average office occupancy on Fridays is just 36.7% of pre-pandemic levels, compared to around 63% on Tuesday, per recent data from Kastle.

Portland joins the in-office rebound

More employers are asking, or forcing, workers to ditch remote work.

A line chart shows the change in the share of U.S. workers who say they're working mostly in person, remote or hybrid in surveys conducted in 2023 and 2024. In 2024, 68% said they were working mostly in person, an increase from 34% in 2023. 

The office is back: The share of people who reported working mostly <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="in person" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2025/01/01/back-to-work-office-companies" data-vars-content-id="c9e8b6ca-6241-47ce-9e5c-1de9b16fe9dc" data-vars-headline="Portland joins the in-office rebound" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2025/01/01/back-to-work-office-companies" target="_self">in person</a> doubled in 2024 from the previous year, according to a national survey from <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="McKinsey" data-vars-click-url="https://mckinsey.com/capabilities/People-and-Organizational-Performance/Our-Insights/Returning-to-the-office-Focus-more-on-practices-and-less-on-the-policy" data-vars-content-id="c9e8b6ca-6241-47ce-9e5c-1de9b16fe9dc" data-vars-headline="Portland joins the in-office rebound" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://mckinsey.com/capabilities/People-and-Organizational-Performance/Our-Insights/Returning-to-the-office-Focus-more-on-practices-and-less-on-the-policy" target="_blank">McKinsey</a> released last week.Why it matters: With hiring <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="slowing" data-vars-click-url="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/JTSHIL" data-vars-content-id="c9e8b6ca-6241-47ce-9e5c-1de9b16fe9dc" data-vars-headline="Portland joins the in-office rebound" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/JTSHIL" target="_blank">slowing</a> and workers <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="feeling stuck" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2024/11/20/american-workers-stuck-jobs-resentment" data-vars-content-id="c9e8b6ca-6241-47ce-9e5c-1de9b16fe9dc" data-vars-headline="Portland joins the in-office rebound" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2024/11/20/american-workers-stuck-jobs-resentment" target="_self">feeling stuck</a>, employers are using their newly strengthened upper hand to get people back to the office, including in Portland.

Why homeownership costs are so high

National

Monthly cost of ownership of a median-priced home

Data: Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies tabulations of Freddie Mac, Primary Mortgage Market Surveys, National Association of Realtors, Existing Home Sales, Moody's Analytics estimates; Note: Assumes 30-year fixed-rate loan, 3.5% down payment, 0.55% mortgage insurance, 0.35% property insurance, and 1.15% property tax rates; Chart: Emily Peck/Axios

How markets reacted to the new Fed chairman's policy committee debut

A line chart that tracks the U.S. two-year Treasury yield per minute from 3 a.m. to 5 p.m. ET on June 17, 2026. The yield rose from a low of 4.0432% at 3 a.m. to 4.19% by 5:05 p.m., within a daily range of 4.0432% to 4.2181%.

U.S. 2-year Treasury yield

Axios Markets

Anthropic export ban sounds alarms for AI industry

The women who run the markets

U.S. oil stockpile falls to 43-year low

A line chart that tracks weekly crude oil held in the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve from Aug. 20, 1982, to June 5, 2026. Stocks range from 270.5 million barrels to 726.6 million. The reserve reached 665.7 million in August 2004 and stood at 349.2 million in June 2026.

Emily Peck

Featured stories

Why homeownership costs are so high

How markets reacted to the new Fed chairman's policy committee debut

Anthropic export ban sounds alarms for AI industry

The women who run the markets

U.S. oil stockpile falls to 43-year low