Want to Make More Money? These Are the 10 U.S. Cities Where the Average Worker's Pay Has Increased the Most Since 2019. Between 2019 and 2021, salaried workers — across all earnings levels — did see their incomes increase.
By Amanda Breen •
Recent inflation has left many Americans wishing they had more in the bank this year.
In fact, per a survey from Bankrate, 55% of them say their earnings aren't keeping up with the highest inflation in decades. But some salaried workers have been fortunate enough to see their incomes increase over the past couple of years: ADP researchers recently surveyed residents of the 53 biggest metro areas (those with more than one million residents) in the U.S. to see where the largest jumps took place, CNBC reported.
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ADP's Geography of Recent U.S. Wage Growth revealed that between 2019 and 2021, salaried workers — across all earnings levels — did see their incomes increase. Median monthly earnings rose by 6.77%, high-end monthly earnings by 8.02% and low-end pay by 10.36%.
What's more, the study found that high-end pay saw the greatest increases in expensive coastal cities, while low-cost cities saw outsized salary gains among low earners.
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Here are the 10 metro areas with the most significant increases for median-income earners, noting their percent gain and average monthly salaries in 2019 and 2021, per CNBC.
1. Austin-Round Rock, Texas
Percent gain: 9.40%
2019 monthly salary: $7,063
2021 monthly salary: $7,727
2. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-Pennsylvania
Percent gain: 9.51%
2019 monthly salary: $6,763
2021 monthly salary: $7,406
3. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California
Percent gain: 9.71%
2019 monthly salary: $6,987
2021 monthly salary: $7,666
4. Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Michigan
Percent gain: 9.97%
2019 monthly salary: $5,632
2021 monthly salary: $6,193
5. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD
Percent gain: 10.00%
2019 monthly salary: $6,275
2021 monthly salary: $6,902
6. New Orleans-Metairie, Louisiana
Percent gain: 10.57%
2019 monthly salary: $5,045
2021 monthly salary: $5,579
7. Providence-Warwick, Rhode Island-Massachusetts
Percent gain: 11.12%
2019 monthly salary: $6,156
2021 monthly salary: $6,841
8. Sacramento-Roseville-Arden-Arcade, California
Percent gain: 11.22%
2019 monthly salary: $6,600
2021 monthly salary: $7,340
9. Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, North Carolina-South Carolina
Percent gain: 12.36%
2019 monthly salary: $6,081
2021 monthly salary: $6,832
10. Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, New York
Percent gain: 14.01%
2019 monthly salary: $5,276
2021 monthly salary: $6,015
