Rank #29 of 33
Portland, OR
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA
8.3
Tacos per hour at the local median wage
$3.40
Avg taco price
$28.38
Median hourly wage (2024)
$4.50
Fast-casual taqueria
$2.29
Taco Bell crunchy taco
Portland sits below the national average. An hour of local work buys 8.3 tacos here, compared with 9.3 tacos per hour across the 33-city index (−1.0 vs national average).
Local note
Portland's taco economy is dominated by food carts, with the bulk of the scene clustered in pods rather than traditional taquerias. Pacific Northwest cost pressures and a more design-forward operator base have pushed standard taco prices above the national norm.
Where the numbers come from
Fast-casual: Por Que No (above-average taqueria pricing), Taqueria Lindo Michoacan, Taco Pedaler, food-cart pods citywide; Portland Taco Week 2025 set $5 specialty as its discount benchmark. Chain: Taco Bell crunchy taco $2.29 (PNW tier).
Average taco price ($3.40) is $0.63 above the national average of $2.77.
How this is calculated. Tacos per hour = median hourly wage ÷ average taco price.
Average taco price is the mean of the fast-casual taqueria anchor and the local Taco Bell crunchy taco price.
Wages come from BLS OEWS, May 2024, MSA-level median for all occupations.
Full methodology.