Hourly wages for small businesses in Dallas are growing faster than anywhere else. Photo by Alexander London for Unsplash.
Dallas According to a recent study, U.S. cities lead the way in small business employment growth and worker hourly earnings growth.
According to the latest Paychex | Hourly wage growth for U.S. small business workers slowed in September. IHS Markit Small Business Employment Watch, but researchers report that the Dallas metro area outperformed other cities, with our median wage of $31.38, a 7.44% month-over-month increase. That puts Dallas ahead of the nation in growth rate for the seventh straight month.
That doesn’t mean our workers are earning as much as workers in places like Seattle ($36) or San Francisco ($39), but they’re increasing wages faster than any other area. (Plus our cost of living is more reasonable than those places, which I’ll get to later). As of September, our small business hourly earnings were slightly above the national average.
According to the study, high-performing industries for workers include leisure and hospitality, trade transportation and utilities, construction, manufacturing, professional and business services, financial activities, and education and health services.
Paychex chairman and chief executive Martin Mucci noted that workers across the country are working more hours. “As unemployment continues to be low, small businesses are relying on existing employees to do more, increasing hours worked,” he said.
Dallas was 19th in the September hour rankings.
Paychex Small Business Employment Watch
“Of particular note is the slowdown in hourly earnings growth, Mucci added, as this could indicate that the Fed’s actions could have an impact on fighting inflation.”
As we mentioned in this month’s cover story on affordable housing, as more developers take tax breaks in exchange for providing affordable housing for those 80% or below the area median income Starting from the unit, the income of Dallas residents will receive special attention. The median income in the Dallas area is $68,200. For a family of four in the Dallas metro area, the median income is $97,400.
For one person, 80% AMI is $54,560 per year. For a family of four, it’s $77,920.
Access the study here for methodology and full report. Visit this story to learn more about affordable housing.