Kate Lorenz, CareerBuilder.com Editor
Let's face it, most of us wouldn't complain if we're offered a raise. Used to be, you could expect at least a cost of living raise once a year. But these days, that's not necessarily a given.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the average cost of living was in the U.S. grew by 4.1 percent in all of 2007. But average wage growth was 3.4 percent, according to CBsalary.com. This year, the BLS reports the cost per living has already grown 5.5 percent. These numbers, unfortunately, are troubling to the average worker.
So where do you have a better chance of earning a raise that at least matches the cost of living increase? And where is salary growth seriously lagging? We looked at top 200 metropolitan statistical areas in the United States and identified the 20 cities with the fastest wage growth and 20 cities with the slowest.
The results varied even within individual states. While wage growth in College Station and Waco, Texas grew at a healthy clip in 2007, development in its fellow Texan cities of Amarillo, Tyler and Victoria was sluggish. California had three cities among the 20 with the speediest growth. The Northwest (Idaho and Wyoming) and Southeast (Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas) regions had solid growth as well.
Here are the cities (among the country's top 200 MSAs) that had the fastest and slowest wage growth last year.
Fastest Wage Growth
College Station-Bryan, Texas
2007 salary growth: 9.5 percent
Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss.
2007 salary growth: 7.2 percent
New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, La.
2007 salary growth: 6.8 percent
Redding, Calif.
2007 salary growth: 5.9 percent
Merced, Calif.
2007 salary growth: 5.7 percent
Boise City-Nampa, Idaho
2007 salary growth: 5.5 percent
Dover, Del.
2007 salary growth: 5.4 percent
Pocatello, Idaho
2007 salary growth: 5.3 percent
Baltimore-Towson, Md.
2007 salary growth: 5.3 percent
Wilmington, Del.-Md.-N.J.
2007 salary growth: 5.2 percent
Jackson, Tenn.
2007 salary growth: 5.2 percent
Casper, Wyo.
2007 salary growth: 5.1 percent
Atlantic City, N.J.
2007 salary growth: 5.1 percent
Santa Rosa-Petaluma, Calif.
2007 salary growth: 5.1 percent
Lakeland, Fla.
2007 salary growth: 5.1 percent
Waco, Texas
2007 salary growth: 5.0 percent
Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, La.
2007 salary growth: 4.9 percent
Athens-Clarke County, Ga.
2007 salary growth: 4.9 percent
Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill.
2007 salary growth: 4.8 percent
Chico, Calif.
2007 salary growth: 4.8 percent
Slowest Wage Growth
Florence-Muscle Shoals, Ala.
2007 salary growth: 0.1 percent
Ocala, Fla.
2007 salary growth: 0.9 percent
Alexandria, La.
2007 salary growth: 0.9 percent
Kalamazoo-Portage, Mich.
2007 salary growth: 0.9 percent
Saginaw-Saginaw Township North, Mich.
2007 salary growth: 1 percent
Springfield, Ill.
2007 salary growth: 1.1 percent
Visalia-Porterville, Calif.
2007 salary growth: 1.1 percent
Brockton-Bridgewater-Easton, Mass.
2007 salary growth: 1.2 percent
Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Iowa
2007 salary growth: 1.2 percent
Decatur, Ala.
2007 salary growth: 1.4 percent
Dubuque, Iowa
2007 salary growth: 1.4 percent
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
2007 salary growth: 1.4 percent
Amarillo, Texas
2007 salary growth: 1.5 percent
Weirton-Steubenville, W.Va.-Ohio
2007 salary growth: 1.6 percent
Greenville, N.C.
2007 salary growth: 1.7 percent
Gainesville, Fla.
2007 salary growth: 1.7 percent
Victoria, Texas
2007 salary growth: 1.8 percent
Sheboygan, Wis.
2007 salary growth: 1.8 percent
Tyler, Texas
2007 salary growth: 1.8 percent
Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Penn.
2007 salary growth: 1.8 percent
Kate Lorenz is editor and career adviser for CareerBuilder.com. She researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues.
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