Economic Study On Tampa Economy

The conservative Tampa Bay Partnership released a study a found the Tampa area ranked last in economic recovery amongst six cities. The other cities ar. Raleigh-Durham, N.C., Dallas, Charlotte, N.C., Atlanta and Jacksonville.

The study cites low wages causing Tampa residents to spender a greater amount of their income on living expenses. Unemployment is another problem. The Tampa area had 13.1 percent unemployment during the period when the study was taken. 54,133 jobs were lost from the first quarter of 2009 to the first quarter of 2010. To give an idea of how severe unemployment is; Tampa's job growth was -3.35 percent during first quarter of 2009 to the first quarter of 2010. Out of the six cities Tampa had the highest unemployment.

Tampa and Jacksonville ranked fifth and sixth in absolute average wage. Raleigh-Durham, N.C., Dallas, Charlotte, N.C., Atlanta all had an absolute average wage above $40,000. The AAW for Tampa is $38,527. Bottom line wages are low and there are not enough high paying jobs in the area.

Renters pay 22.3 percent of their yearly income for a two bedroom apartment. Other things the article does not mention is Tampa has no rent control. A person is either overcharged for a crappy apartment in a good neighborhood or choose to live in a bad part of town.

Reading the study makes it obvious that a family on a medium income cannot afford to buy a house in Tampa.

On this Scorecard update, Tampa Bay again ranks fourth for single home affordability. The data displayed represents the proportion of median sales price to median household income, or more colloquially, how much of the median-priced home can be had for the median household income. In Tampa Bay, the median household income of $47,094 purchases a little more than a third of the median-priced home. Atlanta led all comparison regions in single-family home affordability, where the median home sales price is less than twice median household income. Jacksonville recorded a third place ranking and the two North Carolinian regions finished in the bottom third.

Factor in paying off a mortgage and property insurance for a less than stellar house. People cannot afford to buy homes. More people rent which allows landlords to increase rent fees. It is a vicious cycle.

The study notes the need for light rail. (It should be noted Tampa Bay Partnership supports Moving Hillsborough Forward.) The average Tampa resident spends 25.12 minutes a day stuck in traffic. I am sure the numbers are even worse if a driver has to take I-275 or I-4. I noticed that buses need to run later on streets that are not Nebraska Ave. or Florida Ave. If Hartline wants increase their ridership it has to find ways to bring riders to Ybor City, SoHo and other popular places.

The good news is more students are graduating form high school. An increased number of workers have Associates and Bachelors degrees.