The Oregonian/OregonLive has updated its Oregon Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) database, adding nearly 6,628 beneficiaries who retired in 2023 and the first two months of 2024. The database now includes the names and monthly benefits of all PERS beneficiaries, along with their length of service, retirement formula, and how their benefit compares to their final salary.
The newsroom has maintained the database since 2011, when the PERS system agreed to release the names and monthly benefits of what were then 110,000 beneficiaries. The database now includes the names of 146,062 individuals receiving retirement benefits.
The data includes each beneficiary’s length of service; the retirement formula their benefit calculation was based on; the monthly and annual equivalent benefit; and how that compares to their final salary. It does not include beneficiaries who received lump sum payments or spouses or other relatives of public employees who are receiving a survivor benefit.
Pensions for beneficiaries who retired in 2023 ranged from about $1,100 annually to more than $200,000, with a median of $23,873, according to a newsroom analysis. The median benefit for 2023 retirees with 30 or more years, which PERS defines as a career employee, was $54,635 annually. The median benefit for all beneficiaries in the updated database is $29,989 annually, the newsroom found. For career employees, the median benefit is $61,306.
Readers can search the database by name or view a list of all beneficiaries. The database is available at https://www.oregonlive.com/public-employee-retirement-system-database/.
