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A new survey has put San Francisco and Los Angeles among the top three cities with the fastest pay growth in the country. That's compared to the same time last year. Andrew Chamberlain, the Chief Economist at the job site Glassdoor says the three cities all have things in common.
"San Francisco, Seattle and Los Angeles really have the top pay growth in the nation. All three cities are tech hubs, they have booming economies."
Wages went up in San Francisco by 2.1% for a median base annual salary of more than $68,000. Los Angelenos saw a 2% increase in pay for a median salary above $59,000. Chamberlain explains tech has been a big part of driving growth in California cities.
"You do have low unemployment and a very strong job market. Of course in San Francisco, you've got the booming technology sector and all of the feed-off from Silicon Valley. And in Los Angeles, you've got booming entertainment, the ports, and its own small startup and tech community."
That's good news for workers who find themselves caught in the red-hot real estate markets of the Bay Area and Los Angeles. A recent survey by Business Insider showed a family's income needed to be over six figures to afford a home in either market.
On average, 87% of the 150 housing markets tracked by NAR experienced rising home prices in 2016, up from an average of 75% in 2014. More than half of the markets (52%) now have a median sale price either at or above their previous record high.
Chamberlain says the industries that were seeing the strongest pay gains were tech related.
"Some of the fastest pay gains we're seeing are jobs affected by e-commerce. Warehouse associates, delivery drivers, and truck drivers. Another area where we're seeing strong pay growth is in the healthcare sector. We're also seeing strong pay gains among the tech jobs, software engineers, and web developers."