PORTLAND — Oregon veterans are less likely to be unemployed than other workers and tend to earn about a fifth more than nonveterans, according to recent census data.

The median income of Oregon veterans was a little more than $47,000 last year. That compares to about $38,000 for nonveterans.

But the state’s 252,000 veterans are getting older as the nation’s largest wars fade into history. As veterans age, the relative gap between veterans’ incomes and those of the rest of the population is shrinking.

Veterans’ higher earnings may reflect skills and experience they developed in the military, and the fact that they’re typically older and further into their careers by virtue of already having served. More than 90% of Oregon veterans are over 35, compared to 60% of nonveterans.

The higher earnings come even though more than a third of veterans have some form of disability, a rate more than twice as high as nonveterans.

Veterans’ incomes have climbed 14.5% since 2020, reflecting an overall boost in Oregonians’ earnings. Federal stimulus payments pushed incomes up during the pandemic, and then the tight labor market that followed pushed up wages.

Overall, though, nonveterans’ incomes rose even faster — climbing more than 20% over the past two years. That extends a trend dating back about a decade, with growth in nonveteran incomes rising faster than veterans’ earnings.

In 2011, veterans earned 44% more than those who hadn’t served. The gap was half as large in percentage terms in 2022.

Veterans’ shrinking wage premium may reflect the pandemic and its aftermath, according to economist Luke Coury, who wrote a new analysis of Oregon veterans’ wages for the Oregon Employment Department.

A disproportionate of jobs lost to COVID-19 were in lower-wage sectors, Coury notes, such as hospitality and retail work. Given veterans’ experience in the military, he believes there were probably fewer of them working in such entry-level fields. And as low-paid jobs went away, that had the effect of skewing Oregon median wage upwards.

Veterans’ wage premium began shrinking long before the pandemic, though, and Coury thinks age may be a primary reason why. He notes that most Oregon veterans are over 65.

“As the share of veterans over 65 increases, more veterans will see their total income shift to retirement-based forms of income, which are likely lower than salaries or hourly earnings,” Coury said in an email.