Wages in this California metro area at bottom of US pay scale

Riverside's $1,081 average weekly wage and San Bernardino's $1,117 are lowest of the 50 largest US counties.

There’s a dirty secret about the fast-growth Inland Empire economy – low pay.

Consider what my trusty spreadsheet found when looking at employment data for the nation’s 50 largest county job markets contained in a federal quarterly study of workplace filings by bosses. The two counties that comprise the Inland Empire had the lowest average weekly wages for the 12 months ending in September 2023.

Riverside: $1,081 weekly wage (last of the 50) – off 0.6% in a year (No. 27 wage change) for 818,100 jobs – staffing that’s up 1.7% (No. 18 job growth).

San Bernardino: $1,117 wage (No. 49) – off 0.4% (No. 22) for 835,200 jobs – off 1% (fourth-worst performance).

The Inland Empire has become a major hub for the rapidly expanding logistics industry, which moves goods from Southern California ports and factories across the region and the nation. Unfortunately, this warehouse work is rarely high-paying employment.

In addition, the Inland Empire also serves as a low-cost alternative to nearby coastal communities for bosses seeking staffing. Ponder the pay in three counties closer to the Pacific …

Los Angeles: $1,481 weekly wage (No. 20 of the 50) – up 0.5% in a year (No. 16 wage change) for 4.46 million jobs – staffing that’s off 0.9% (No. 46).

San Diego: $1,464 wage (No. 21) – off 1.7% (No. 42) for 1.53 million jobs – up 0.7% (No. 34).

Orange: $1,441 wage (No. 23) – off 1.1% (No. 36) for 1.65 million jobs – up 0.4% (No. 39).

Still, it’s noteworthy that the average wages in these coastal communities are mid-range pay among big US job markets when the cost of living is so high in Southern California. It’s no wonder so many households have at least two paychecks coming in.

Yet, the nation’s highest wages remain in the Bay Area, though that region has struggled with job cuts …

Santa Clara: $3,105 weekly wage (highest of the 50) – up 4.3% in a year (largest wage change) for 1.12 million jobs – staffing that’s off 0.4% (No. 45).

San Francisco: $2,969 wage (No. 2) – up 2.9% (No. 2) for 723,500 jobs – off 2.6% (No. 48).

Alameda: $1,797 wage (No. 9) – off 0.8% (No. 30) for 796,600 jobs – up 0.2% (No. 42).

Sacramento: $1,449 wage (No. 22) – up 0.8% (No. 10) for 713,700 jobs – up 1.5% (No. 22).

Bottom line

Let’s drill down on these nine big California job markets – with 12.7 million workers – compared with 41 elsewhere in the US in this top 50 analysis that had a combined 39.7 million employees.

Wages in California run $1,671 a week vs. $1,554 elsewhere – only an 8% difference. Though Golden State workers got an average 0.6% raise in a year vs. an 0.5% wage cut elsewhere.

But California employment fell by 0.2% in 12 months vs. a 1.3% gain elsewhere.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com