Posted on 09/19/2014 9:21:07 AM PDT by Iron Munro
Median household income in Tampa Bay has sunk lower than it was in 2010, the early days of recovery from the Great Recession, cementing the bay area's dead-last ranking in income among the country's 25 biggest metro areas.
Things aren't much better across the state. Miami, the only other Florida city on the list, comes in at second lowest. Tampa Bay and Miami are the only two metro areas with median household income languishing below $50,000. (Median income means half are above that and half below.)
"I'm not surprised," said Mark Vitner, a senior economist with Wells Fargo, who has tracked Florida since the 1980s. "There's no getting around that a lot of the jobs we've added in the past five years are in leisure/hospitality and in the retail trade, and they tend to pay lower wages."
Those sobering statistics on household income — in tandem with other economic and demographic data released by the U.S. Census Bureau this week — paint a grim portrait: Despite a significant drop in unemployment, working families across Tampa Bay are still being squeezed.
Based on the latest census figures, the bay area's poverty rate hasn't budged since 2010, while the percentage of residents receiving food stamps has risen.
"You're not seeing a full recovery because the wage growth isn't there," said Scott Brown, chief economist for Raymond James Financial in St. Petersburg. A widening income gap pushing down many in the middle class means "people are running in place just to stay where they are in their standard of living," he said.
Both Vitner and Brown cited the housing collapse and subsequent mixed recovery — in which prices of high-end homes have risen much stronger than those of modest homes — as a key reason for Tampa Bay's fiscal funk. Before the recession, many families counted on their home as not only their biggest asset but a retirement nest egg. That's not the case anymore.
Tampa Bay's wages have always been on the low side, particularly when compared with the biggest metros in the country. A year ago, the area also had the lowest household income among the top 25.
On the plus side, Tampa Bay has been much more affordable than other major cities. Tampa and Jacksonville have the lowest cost of living of any metro areas along the eastern seaboard, Vitner noted. Being affordable, however, also means Tampa is viewed as an attractive option for back-office or call center jobs, which tend to pay less.
Since the end of the recession, "I don't think anything has substantially changed in terms of the kinds of jobs Florida attracts," University of Florida economist Chris McCarty said. "I can't really point to any big initiatives that will attract high-paying jobs. There's no dramatic shift."
McCarty, who gauges the state's consumer confidence every month, said many Floridians are still wary of spending as they fret about their finances.
"Typically five years out from a recession, we would be a point lower (in unemployment) and consumer confidence would be 10 points higher," he said.
Tampa Bay's brightest economic sign has been its stunning drop in unemployment, which has tumbled from a peak of 12.5 percent in January 2010 to 6.8 percent as of July. There is cause for concern in that, too, though: Florida's unemployment rate has remained largely static throughout the year.
Plus, the drop in unemployment masks a persistent problem within the workforce: a glut of people who work part time because they're unable to find full-time jobs and those who have temporarily given up looking out of discouragement.
The unemployment rate for August comes out Friday.
But how do they rank in cost of living?
Without knowing that the other information doesn’t mean much.
I work with two guys who are from the Tampa area. They get upset when you call the city Tampa Bay. They tell us that only the NFL team and the water around Tampa are called Tampa Bay.
Convenient report, Charlie Crist will be all over this, just an honest report from the Tampa Times, no agenda here. /s
Well, the Tampa Bay area voted ‘FOR” Bowbama! That’s all that needs to be said.
I heard they had an NFL team too, but after watching the first quarter my nephew and brother in law went outside to watch the storm
Pravda West Coast!
From the article:
"On the plus side, Tampa Bay has been much more affordable than other major cities. Tampa and Jacksonville have the lowest cost of living of any metro areas along the eastern seaboard, Vitner noted."
Generally speaking, The middle class is getting wiped out. All the good manufacturing, assembly, small local business is fading quickly. These used to be the source of good paying blue collar jobs. The kind of job that you don't need a college degree but could still feel good about yourself, raise a family, take vacations and even put a little money aside.
In their brain dead ideologically driven heads, Lib-tards are prioritizing “The Poor” (whatever that means) and thus creating an ever expanding and permanent class of do-nothing sheep.
“The Rich” will always be insulated from economic downturns. But the middle class is paycheck to paycheck riding the tide up and down...always hoping tomorrow will be at least as good as today...but having no guarantees.
Bottom line TampaBay will always be Home Sweet Home and a Beautiful place to be...but then I was raised and moved from Flint Michigan in 1974.
Well, your wages are stagnant, but you’re now saving $2,500 a month on your health insurance due to 0bamacare, so you’re ahead of the game. /S /S /S
From the article:
On the plus side, Tampa Bay has been much more affordable than other major cities. Tampa and Jacksonville have the lowest cost of living of any metro areas along the eastern seaboard, Vitner noted.
There are also Tampa Bay Rays and Tampa Bay Lightning. Why are all of sports team called Tampa Bay ________, rather than just Tampa, if the term Tampa Bay is so resented in that area????
To those who know Tampa only as a vacation spot, it may come as a surprise to learn that the city is a thriving agribusiness center. Hillsborough County markets an abundance of citrus fruit, beef cattle, dairy products, eggs, vegetables, ornamental plants and flowers, and tropical fish. As a result, many agriculture-related industries have been attracted to the area, including food processing firms; feed, fertilizer, and insecticide companies; and paper and metal container manufacturers. Two breweries, Anheuser-Busch and Pabst, also have facilities in Tampa.
Tampa has attained the status of a foreign trade zone, an area where goods can be unloaded for repacking, storage, or transshipment without being subject to import duties.
It looks like Housing construction peaked around 2005 and even now is still at 1995 levels according to city-data.
Don”t forget Yeungling
I should think the large number of retirees in Florida would drag income figures down.
The professional sports teams are supported by the entire Tampa Bay metro area which includes the cities of Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater, etc.
We just don’t like it when some no nothing says Tampa Bay FL because there exists no place, except the body of water between Hillsborough & Pinellas counties
I think it was Forbes who recently voted Tampa was a great city for millenials
Tampa Bay sounds classier. Some of the dumpier small cities in South Florida have added Beach to their names to make them sound like nicer places.
Both Vitner and Brown cited the housing collapse and subsequent mixed recovery...
...
Whatever you do, don’t blame our Dear Leaders.
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