jQuery get selected option value (not the text, but the attribute 'value')

Answer 1

04/2020: Corrected old answer

Use :selected psuedo selector on the selected options and then use the .val function to get the value of the option.

$('select[name=selector] option').filter(':selected').val()

Side note: Using filter is better then using :selected selector directly in the first query.

If inside a change handler, you could use simply this.value to get the selected option value. See demo for more options.

//ways to retrieve selected option and text outside handler
console.log('Selected option value ' + $('select option').filter(':selected').val()); 
console.log('Selected option value ' + $('select option').filter(':selected').text());

$('select').on('change', function () {
  //ways to retrieve selected option and text outside handler
  console.log('Changed option value ' + this.value);
  console.log('Changed option text ' + $(this).find('option').filter(':selected').text());
});