10 Cities with the Fastest Increasing Income [2021 Update]

After several decades of stagnation, real earnings for full-time U.S. workers are on the upswing. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows that between 2015 and 2018, inflation-adjusted earnings for full-time wage and salary workers increased by more than 3.0 percent.

Similarly, newly released data from the Census Bureau shows that inflation-adjusted earnings across all full-time workers increased by 2.2 percent over the same time period. In this article, we look at wage growth by city to determine the top 10 metros where salaries and wages are increasing the quickest.

Despite wage gains at the national level, not all workers are seeing larger paychecks.

According to data from the BLS, flight attendants had a nearly 18 percent increase in inflation-adjusted earnings from 2015 to 2018, outranking all other occupations with at least 100,000 workers.

Farmworkers and laborers, food preparation workers, and dishwashers also experienced large increases in real earnings, ranging from nearly 11 to over 16 percent. At the opposite end of the spectrum, postal service workers and financial services sales agents experienced the largest declines in real earnings among the nation’s most popular occupations, at 11 percent and 15 percent respectively.

At the state level, Oregon and Iowa led the nation in earnings gains from 2015 to 2018, with workers in those states seeing wage increases of more than 5 percent after adjusting for inflation. This is in contrast to many states that had little or no significant changes in wages over the same three-year period.

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To find the U.S. metros where incomes are rising the fastest, our researchers here at CheapCarInsuranceQuotes.com analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the BLS over a three-year period. Income growth was measured as the inflation-adjusted percentage change in earnings for full-time workers from 2015 to 2018.

Our researchers also calculated the occupation with the most wage growth in each metro, out of all occupations with at least 100,000 workers nationally.

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In the frequently asked questions section of this article, we’ll also cover the best cities for job growth in 2020, cities that are hiring, a more general job outlook by city, and the worst cities for jobs in 2020.

Now, back to those metros. Everyone wants to know: What are the cities with the fastest increase in income or the cities with the fastest growth in income?

Here are the top 10 large metros where incomes are rising the fastest.

The 10 Metros with the Fastest-Growing Wages

#10 – Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC

• Change in earnings for full-time workers (inflation-adjusted): 4.5%
• 2018 median earnings for full-time workers (2018 dollars): $46,958
• 2015 median earnings for full-time workers (2015 dollars): $42,378
• Occupation with the most wage growth: Rehabilitation Counselors

#9 – Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA

• Change in earnings for full-time workers (inflation-adjusted): 4.6%
• 2018 median earnings for full-time workers (2018 dollars): $45,533
• 2015 median earnings for full-time workers (2015 dollars): $41,075
• Occupation with the most wage growth: Driver/Sales Workers

#8 – Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA

• Change in earnings for full-time workers (inflation-adjusted): 4.6%
• 2018 median earnings for full-time workers (2018 dollars): $50,380
• 2015 median earnings for full-time workers (2015 dollars): $45,434
• Occupation with the most wage growth: Chefs and Head Cooks

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#7 – Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI

• Change in earnings for full-time workers (inflation-adjusted): 6.1%
• 2018 median earnings for full-time workers (2018 dollars): $47,466
• 2015 median earnings for full-time workers (2015 dollars): $42,201
• Occupation with the most wage growth: Family and General Practitioners

#6 – Salt Lake City, UT

• Change in earnings for full-time workers (inflation-adjusted): 7.4%
• 2018 median earnings for full-time workers (2018 dollars): $48,009
• 2015 median earnings for full-time workers (2015 dollars): $42,176
• Occupation with the most wage growth: Mixing and Blending Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders

#5 – Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA

• Change in earnings for full-time workers (inflation-adjusted): 7.7%
• 2018 median earnings for full-time workers (2018 dollars): $49,555
• 2015 median earnings for full-time workers (2015 dollars): $43,428
• Occupation with the most wage growth: Health Specialties Teachers, Post-secondary

#4 – New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA

• Change in earnings for full-time workers (inflation-adjusted): 7.8%
• 2018 median earnings for full-time workers (2018 dollars): $60,424
• 2015 median earnings for full-time workers (2015 dollars): $52,873
• Occupation with the most wage growth: Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse

#3 – San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA

• Change in earnings for full-time workers (inflation-adjusted): 8.3%
• 2018 median earnings for full-time workers (2018 dollars): $81,036
• 2015 median earnings for full-time workers (2015 dollars): $70,591
• Occupation with the most wage growth: Graduate Teaching Assistants

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#2 – Austin-Round Rock, TX

• Change in earnings for full-time workers (inflation-adjusted): 8.6%
• 2018 median earnings for full-time workers (2018 dollars): $53,245
• 2015 median earnings for full-time workers (2015 dollars): $46,249
• Occupation with the most wage growth: Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products

#1 – San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward, CA

• Change in earnings for full-time workers (inflation-adjusted): 11.4%
• 2018 median earnings for full-time workers (2018 dollars): $76,274
• 2015 median earnings for full-time workers (2015 dollars): $64,572
• Occupation with the most wage growth: Health Specialties Teachers, Post-secondary

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Frequently Asked Questions: All About Wages

Now that we’ve covered the 10 metro areas with the fastest-growing wages, let’s get to your frequently asked questions. They include:

• Are real wages going up or down in 2020?
• Why are wages higher in cities?
• What are the 10 fastest-growing cities?

Scroll down for the answers to those questions and many more.

#1 – Are real wages going up or down in 2020?

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, real wages rose by 1.5% from March 2020 to March 2021. Although the coronavirus pandemic may have affected this statistic, the wage growth index goes along with positive signs in the U.S. economy.

#2 – What US city is growing the fastest?

According to RocketMortgage, Frisco, Texas, about 30 miles north of Dallas, is the fastest-growing city in America. A slower-paced lifestyle combined with low crime and access to the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area are key factors in its growth.

#3 – Why are wages higher in cities?

According to the study “Cities, Workers, and Wages: A Structural Analysis of the Urban Wage Premium,” cities make white-collar workers more productive and are actually attractive to white-collar workers who wish to grow their careers and earn more, creating the effect that wages are higher in cities.

#4 – What city has the most job openings?

Wondering what city is booming with jobs? According to CNBC, Columbia, South Carolina, has a job opportunity rate of over 4%, which is the highest in the country.

#5 – Are real wages increasing?

Real wages are in fact increased from 2020 to 2021, possibly due to the detrimental effects of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. However, there is some caution as the Consumer Price Index jumped in 2021 higher than it has in a decade, a result of inflation and the federal government pumping money into the economy.

#6 – What are the top 10 fastest growing cities?

While the 10 fastest-growing cities in the US vary from year to year, many of them are small towns that have a lower cost of living, a slower pace of life, and are closer to nature. Due to the movement towards remote work, many employees have moved away from big cities to smaller towns for these very reasons, resulting in small cities with job growth.

#7 – What is the largest city in the US?

New York, New York is the largest city in the United States with 9 million people throughout its five boroughs and a Metropolitan area that accounts for 18 million people.

#8 – What is the slowest-growing city in America?

Erie, Pennsylvania, has been ranked as the slowest-growing city in America, though it has a lot of company with other small industrial towns as workers gravitate to tech more than blue-collar industrial work and automation phases out a lot of blue-collar workers in factories.

#9 – How does location affect salary?

Location affects your salary due to livability factors. If you live in an area where the cost of living is low, your company may pay you less. But if you live in an area where the cost of living is high, your company will have to pay you more for you to have a liveable wage.

Location may also affect your wage depending on the job demand in the area. For example, if there is a great need for industrial workers in a city, you may expect higher wages as companies are trying to attract workers to the area.

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Methodology: Determining the Cities with the Fastest Increasing Incomes

To determine the metros where incomes are rising the fastest, our researchers analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2015 and 2018 American Community Survey and the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2015 and 2018 Occupational Employment Survey.

Income growth was measured as the inflation-adjusted percentage change in median earnings for full-time workers between 2015 and 2018. Occupations with the most wage growth were identified by their inflation-adjusted percentage change in median earnings from 2015 to 2018.

Only occupations with at least 100,000 workers nationally were considered. Inflation adjustments to 2015 earnings data were made using the CPI-U-RS index. Only the top 100 most populous metros were included in the analysis.

While real earnings for full-time workers are on the upswing, workers in some metros are experiencing much larger increases in their pay than others.

For example, workers in the San Francisco metro area, where median earnings are already some of the highest in the country, saw their real earnings go up by over 11 percent. While earnings either went up or didn’t change for the most populous 100 metros, the Memphis, Tennessee metro stood out as the only large metropolitan area with a significant decrease in earnings at -4.1 percent.

Among metros with the fastest-growing incomes, the occupations with the most wage growth are a diverse set.

For the San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles metro areas, workers in the education field (health specialties teachers and education, training, and library workers) experienced the largest increases in earnings.

For the other metros on the list, occupations that experienced the biggest gains varied from general practitioners to rehab counselors. Median earnings for these occupations range from the bottom to the top of the earnings distribution.

Whether you’re a resident of a metro with some of the fastest-growing wages or in one where wages are stagnant or declining, saving money on car insurance can be a big deal. To receive the best rates, just plug in your ZIP code into our FREE online quote generator. It’ll give you the best rates based on your demographic information and area.