Orlando ranks dead last again in average wage (Miami, Tampa: low crime, how much)

[allenk893]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

I know you're joking but the "brain drain" has also been an issue the past 20-30 years. Consider the enrollment at UCF alone and how many graduate every year. There are nowhere near enough jobs for college-educated professionals here, never mind the abysmal salaries not likely to keep many staying versus higher-paying cities with lower costs of living.

What part of Florida is a retirement state don't you understand? FL was never meant to be or going to be Massachusetts.

[foodyum]

Originally Posted by 9162

Not sure if you’re aware, but there are almost 1000 people per day moving to Florida every day. Some Florida real estate markets are up over 250% over last year.

Doesn’t mean they are well paid. Some are actually retired- I know that seems really odd but it is true.

[Arcenal813]

Numbers skewed severely due to the over abundance of service and retail jobs based around tourism. Shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.

That said, if you’re a nurse, an engineer, dental hygienist, etc., pay is not “dead last.”
Depends on what you do for a “living.”

[Roger Lessman]

Originally Posted by allenk893

What part of Florida is a retirement state don't you understand? FL was never meant to be or going to be Massachusetts.

Of all the states to imagine Florida aspiring to be, why choose Massachusetts?

[boy3365]

Originally Posted by allenk893

What part of Florida is a retirement state don't you understand? FL was never meant to be or going to be Massachusetts.

But the municipalities and state supposedly want its big cities (Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa, Miami) to play in the same leagues as Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Charlotte, Austin, San Francisco, the northeastern cluster, etc., which they don't. Those cities attract the young and ambitious who build things, whether it's their own companies or their careers. It seems like many young people come here with the same aspirations, but they end up leaving for better opportunities elsewhere.

I guess the correct life formula is to go to those places, especially the Northeast, to make your money, and then come here later in life to protect it. Also, our ratio of retirement-age people to working-age people is out of whack compared to the rest of the country. What if we get to the point where there are more retirement-age people than working-age people to support them?

It doesn't hurt to think of ways to diversity our economy. When I was a child, Los Angeles was the place to go for TV/film. I never would have imagined GA eclipsing GA in film production. Change over time is possible, but with our state's constant influx of tourists and new residents with money (which is also a mega talking point victory for the ruling party of 20+ years), I don't think there's much pressure to think much about it. Possible solutions just keep getting pushed down the road.

Originally Posted by Arcenal813

Numbers skewed severely due to the over abundance of service and retail jobs based around tourism. Shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.

That said, if you’re a nurse, an engineer, dental hygienist, etc., pay is not “dead last.”
Depends on what you do for a “living.”

Yes. I've said that even if you're in medicine or engineering, you're probably still making less than you would elsewhere, but the salaries are still high enough to live comfortably here.

[brinkofsunshine]

Originally Posted by allenk893

What part of Florida is a retirement state don't you understand? FL was never meant to be or going to be Massachusetts.

But Orlando isn’t a retirement city. It has a lower median age compared to much of the state (Orlando’s is 33, compared to a place like Naples which is 66).

[9162]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

Those are 2019-2020 numbers, not to mention you apparently don't realize those are solely inbound migration numbers, and there are also outbound migration numbers resulting in a net gain. That net gain is what is being referenced to in terms of overall growth. Besides that what do you suppose happened to all of the people that sold their homes among the +250% in sales?

Perhaps, bought more homes in Florida? Homes up north are even more. Do you honestly think people are leaving Florida because they miss the snow?

[Arcenal813]

The article states that the ~$36k is the MEDIAN salary. Elsewhere, I’m seeing that the AVERAGE is over $60k.
https://www.payscale.com/research/US...ando-FL/Salary
All that the median salary is saying is that half of the jobs pay less than $36k, which again, is due to the high number of service and retail jobs catered around tourism. There are more of those jobs in Orlando than in most places.
The average sits right where it should. If anything, it means that there isn’t much of a middle/lower-middle class in the region. You have service jobs (where the high volume of students in the area work) that pay poorly, and then you have high-paying jobs that being the average up.

[boy3365]

Originally Posted by Arcenal813

The article states that the ~$36k is the MEDIAN salary. Elsewhere, I’m seeing that the AVERAGE is over $60k.
https://www.payscale.com/research/US...ando-FL/Salary
All that the median salary is saying is that half of the jobs pay less than $36k, which again, is due to the high number of service and retail jobs catered around tourism. There are more of those jobs in Orlando than in most places.
The average sits right where it should. If anything, it means that there isn’t much of a middle/lower-middle class in the region. You have service jobs (where the high volume of students in the area work) that pay poorly, and then you have high-paying jobs that being the average up.

I was curious the reasoning for using median vs. average for listing incomes, and based on my short unscientific research , median tends to be the common measurement used when determining the incomes of a geographic area. Using averages would allow outliers like Magic players, the owner of a mega-mega law firm, and the founder/owner of a growing local restaurant chain or phone repair shop as well as the college student doing Uber a couple of times a week to skew the numbers.

https://www.sapling.com/8092419/diff...ome-vs-average

https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/central.html

Median vs Average Household Income:* What is the Difference Between These Indicators, and How to Interpret Them - Manitoba Collaborative Data Portal

[Arcenal813]

Originally Posted by boy3365

I was curious the reasoning for using median vs. average for listing incomes, and based on my short unscientific research , median tends to be the common measurement used when determining the incomes of a geographic area. Using averages would allow outliers like Magic players, the owner of a mega-mega law firm, and the founder/owner of a growing local restaurant chain or phone repair shop as well as the college student doing Uber a couple of times a week to skew the numbers.

https://www.sapling.com/8092419/diff...ome-vs-average

https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/central.html

Median vs Average Household Income:* What is the Difference Between These Indicators, and How to Interpret Them - Manitoba Collaborative Data Portal

Makes sense.
Either way, Florida in general is not a hotbed for one to start a career. It’s a solid place for one who is mid-career and earning an average (national) professional salary. Two incomes at $75k is a $150k household income — that can be earned in a myriad of fields, many requiring only 2-year degrees, from dental hygienists to engineering technologists.
It’s why I roll my eyes at the abundant “want to move to Florida, but don’t know what kind of job to look for” threads that plague these boards.