Are We Still Stuck in the Middle?: An Updated Analysis of Wages in Metro Atlanta For more information:

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1 Are We Still Stuck in the Middle?: An Updated Analysis of Wages in Metro Atlanta For more information:

2 In Sum Nationally, metro Atlanta has fairly high wages, especially when considering its low cost-ofliving. But overall wage growth has stagnated since 2010 especially in middle-wage jobs. In fact, when compared to a set of peer metro areas, growth in middle-wage occupations in metro Atlanta is lagging significantly. But, over the past year, metro Atlanta has experienced growth in both wages and jobs in these middle-wage occupations.

3 How does metro Atlanta earnings compare to other U.S. metros? Average Hourly Earnings for All Employees, 2016 In terms of average hourly earnings, metro Atlanta is in the top 25 when compared to the top 100 U.S. metros. The Atlanta MSA has-as of average hourly earnings of $ Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, via Neighborhood Nexus

4 How have metro Atlanta earnings changed since 2012? Change in Average Hourly Earnings, When compared to the top U.S. Metros, Atlanta records one of the largest positive changes in average hourly earnings since 2012, increasing by 2.8 percent. Hourly earnings have increased by about $0.70 (in constant dollars) between 2012 and Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, via Neighborhood Nexus

5 Cost of Living Index New York (Manhattan) NY San Francisco CA Washington DC San Diego CA Boston MA Seattle WA Los Angeles CA Portland OR Philadelphia PA Chicago IL Baltimore MD Miami FL Denver CO Minneapolis MN Atlanta GA Pittsburgh PA Orlando FL Houston TX Charlotte NC Dallas TX Phoenix AZ Detroit MI St. Louis MO-IL Tampa FL San Antonio TX We can t discuss wages in each metro area without also discussing cost of living. This chart ranks the cost of living index in large U.S. cities. Cities with the largest index are the most expensive, while cities with the lowest are the least expensive. So, as mentioned before, Atlanta ranks relatively well in terms of average hourly earnings, and it also has a fairly low cost of living, when compared to the 25 largest metro areas. Conversely, while New York and San Francisco have the highest wages, they also have the highest cost of living. Source: C2ER, Cost of Living Index, 2015 Annual Average

6 450, , , , , , , ,000 50,000 0 Total Employment by Major Occupation Groupings, 2015 Total Employment in 2015 High-Wage Mid-Wage Low-Wage This chart looks at total employment among the major occupational groupings in metro Atlanta for The bars are color-coded based on whether they are low-, middle- or high-wage occupations, as we classify them.

7 Job Growth in Middle-Wage Occupations Lagging in ATL Low, Middle, and High Income EMPLOYMENT CHANGE, Employment Change by Wage Levels, % 20.0% 15.0% 10.0% 19.3% 17.2% 7.6% 18.7% 17.4% 20.2% 13.3% 12.9% 20.0% 13.8% 7.3% 15.4% 10.5% 13.4% 5.0% 2.9% 2.7% 3.6% 0.0% -5.0% -10.0% -5.7% Atlanta Chicago Dallas Houston Minneapolis US Low Mid High Across these selected metro areas, jobs in low- and high-wage occupations have increased significantly, with Chicago being the exception. In the middle-wage occupations, however, all metro areas have experienced slower employment growth. Atlanta has among the slowest growth rates, while Chicago has seen a decline in middle-wage jobs since 2010.

8 Job Change by Occupation Grouping, Median Annual Wage, 2015 Job Change, Management Legal Computer and Mathematical Architecture and Engineering Business and Financial Operations Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Life, Physical, and Social Science Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Education, Training, and Library Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Construction and Extraction Protective Service Office and Administrative Support Production Transportation and Material Moving Sales and Related Healthcare Support Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Personal Care and Service Food Preparation and Serving Related This chart once again splits out all occupations into either high-wage, middlewage or low-wage jobs. While the groupings are somewhat arbitrary, the chart shows that jobs for the seven occupations in the middle wage category have grown relatively slowly since 2010, especially when compared to job growth in the lower-wage and higher-wage occupations. $0 $50,000 $100,000 $150,000-20,000-10, ,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000

9 Job Change by Occupation Grouping, Median Annual Wage, 2015 Job Change, Management Legal Computer and Mathematical Architecture and Engineering Business and Financial Operations Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Life, Physical, and Social Science Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Education, Training, and Library Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Construction and Extraction Protective Service Office and Administrative Support Production Transportation and Material Moving Sales and Related Healthcare Support Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Personal Care and Service Food Preparation and Serving Related So, the seven occupations in the middle have seen very little growth during the period. But in the year between , the rate of job growth among these middle-wage occupations increased, approaching the growth rates of highwage occupations. $0 $50,000 $100,000 $150,000-2, ,000 4,000 6,000 8,000 10,000 12,000 14,000

10 Wage Change by Major Occupations, Median Annual Wage, 2015 Wage Change, ($2015) Management Legal Computer and Mathematical Architecture and Engineering Business and Financial Operations Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Life, Physical, and Social Science Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Education, Training, and Library Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Construction and Extraction Protective Service Office and Administrative Support Production Transportation and Material Moving Sales and Related Healthcare Support Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Personal Care and Service Food Preparation and Serving Related $0 $20,000 $40,000 $60,000 $80,000 $100,000 $120,000 $(8,000) $(6,000) $(4,000) $(2,000) $- $2,000 $4,000 $6,000 Shifting from change in the number of jobs to change in real wages, this graph shows that the only occupations to experience any significant increase in wages since 2010 are those in the high-wage category. During that same time, wages in the middle- and lowwage occupations experienced dramatic declines.

11 Wage Change by Major Occupations, Median Annual Wage, 2015 Wage Change, ($2015) Management Legal Computer and Mathematical Architecture and Engineering Business and Financial Operations Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Life, Physical, and Social Science Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Education, Training, and Library Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Construction and Extraction Protective Service Office and Administrative Support Production Transportation and Material Moving Sales and Related Healthcare Support Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance But when we look at real wage change between over the single year of , we do see some moderate wage growth in both the middle- and lower-wage occupations. Still, inflation-adjusted wage growth can characterized as sluggish for both middle-wage and lower-wage occupations. Personal Care and Service Food Preparation and Serving Related $0 $20,000 $40,000 $60,000 $80,000 $100,000 $120,000 -$3,000 -$2,000 -$1,000 $0 $1,000 $2,000 $3,000 $4,000 $5,000

12 Job Change: What Has Happened to Metro Atlanta s Strategically Advantageous Occupations since 2010? Business Ops. Specialist Wage: $66,290 Laborers/Movers Wage: $23,950 Mgmt. Analysts Wage: $83,150 Software Devs Wage: $94,030 - $95,780 Sales Reps Wage: $49,650 Comp. Systems Analysts Wage: $80,270 Accts./Audits Wage: $70,820 Sales Mgrs Wage: $115,760 Wage Change: ($2015) G&O Mgrs Wage: $104,990 Financial Mgrs Wage: $129,660 This chart shows both job and wage change for the top 20 strategically advantageous occupations in metro Atlanta. These occupations have the highest location quotients (LQs) in the region. LQs measure the region s share of employment in an occupation relative to the national share of employment for that same occupation. Metro Atlanta has a higher concentration of these strategically advantageous occupations when compared to the nation. Occupations in the top right quadrant of the chart have both gained jobs and increased wages since 2010, while occupations in the bottom right have increased wages, but lost jobs. Occupations in the top left quadrant have gained jobs, but have seen decreased wages, while occupations in the lower left have experienced both a loss in jobs and a drop in wages. Most of the strategically advantageous occupations fall in the top left quadrant, meaning that while they have added jobs, wages are declining.