Oregon iirc, isn't a particularly cheap state. Even then, you're still making less in absolute terms, which reduces your mobility and long-term ability to move

Oregon iirc, isn't a particularly cheap state. Even then, you're still making less in absolute terms, which reduces your mobility and long-term ability to move to another state if/when your logging job disappears. At $18/hr, it's hard to argue that any of those risks are built into the compensation. That is approx. ~37,000/yr for the most dangerous job in the country, apparently. If one is inclined towards the trades, it's not hard to see why they would pick something other than logging.