LABOR COSTS
Wage and salary survey data do not exist for Starke County. But reference to surveys for larger communities in Starke County's labor market region can provide an indicator of wage and salary levels prevailing for County-based employers. As outlined in section 4 above, almost one half of the working age population in the County works outside the county in this labor market region. Wages and salaries in this northern Indiana region would be a very good indicator of levels expected by the workforce for Starke County-based jobs.
A large contingent of workers living in Starke County commutes to jobs in Elkhart, Gary, and South Bend, Indiana each day. Data are available from two national surveys to provide an estimate of the wage and salary levels by occupation for these communities. Pay levels are also provided for the same occupations in other cities in the country.
Tables 15 and 16 provide wage and salary levels comparisons for four occupations between Elkhart, Gary, and South Bend, and other selected communities in the Midwest and the nation. Comparison communities are chosen to be representative of other communities in their class. Chicago is considered typical of large metropolitan areas in the Midwest. Peoria, IL and Lansing, MI are considered as typical mid-sized metropolitan areas in the Midwest, similar to South Bend and Elkhart. And Sacramento, CA, Atlanta, GA, Charlotte, NC, and Phoenix, AZ are examples of cities in the west and south that have sustained high growth during the 1990s.
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Table 15 - WAGE AND SALARY COST COMPARISONS FOR SELECTED OCCUPATIONS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starke County, Indiana Region (representative communities) |
Accountant Index | Electrician Index | Heavy Truck Driver Index | Machine Operator Index |
| Elkhart, IN | 43,358 99.48 | 42,286 99.48 | 31,098 99.59 | 28,999 99.62 |
| Gary, IN | 46,416 106.49 | 44,495 105.86 | 32,989 105.65 | 30,736 105.59 |
| South Bend, IN | 43,586 100.00 | 42,505 100.00 | 31,226 100.00 | 29,110 100.00 |
| Midwest Comparisons (representative communities) |
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| Chicago, IL | 48,352 110.93 | 47,174 110.98 | 34,883 111.71 | 32,577 111.91 |
| Peoria, IL | 45,216 103.74 | 44,104 103.76 | 32,495 104.06 | 30,317 104.15 |
| Lansing, MI | 47,342 108.62 | 46,204 108.70 | 34,334 109.95 | 32,107 110.30 |
| National Comparisons (representative communities) |
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| Sacramento, CA | 48,782 110.92 | 47,594 111.97 | 35,201 112.73 | 32,876 112.94 |
| Atlanta, GA | 44,464 102.01 | 43,374 102.04 | 32,004 102.49 | 29,871 102.61 |
| Charlotte, NC | 43,831 100.56 | 42,752 100.58 | 31,495 100.86 | 29,384 100.94 |
| Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ | 44,166 101.33 | 43,094 101.39 | 31,906 102.18 | 29,807 102.39 |
Sources: Cost of Living (1) is from Economic Research Institute, "The Geographic Reference Report, 2001", Redmond, WA. A cost of living budget of $48,000 is for an average US family of four, renting a three bedroom home. Cost of Living (2) is calculated from "homefair.com" salary (cost of living equivalent) calculator. A cost of living budget of $47,761 for South Bend is used to calculate an equivalent salary to provide an equal standard of living at the other communities. The two cost of living indexes are estimated for each index by dividing the community's cost of living by the cost of living for South Bend. | ||||
The Economic Research Institute (ERI) data in Table 15 suggest that the wage scale in the Chicago area is about 10 percent higher than for the Starke County region, using South Bend, IN as the reference point. The US Department of Commerce (DOC) "Occupational Employment Survey" data in Table 16 point out that the wage differential could be somewhat higher than 10 percent, in the case of heavy truck drivers, the wage level is 30 percent higher in Chicago.
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Table 16 - WAGE AND SALARY COST COMPARISONS FOR
SELECTED OCCUPATIONS | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starke County, Indiana Region (representative communities) |
Accountant Index | Electrician Index | Heavy Truck Driver Index | Machine Operator Index |
| Elkhart, IN | 19.52 93.04 | 22.17 110.41 | 15.77 102.20 | 9.95 98.13 |
| Gary, IN | 20.75 98.90 | 22.26 110.86 | 17.78 115.23 | 10.50 103.55 |
| South Bend, IN | 20.98 100.00 | 20.08 100.00 | 15.43 100.00 | 10.14 100.00 |
| Midwest Comparisons (representative communities) |
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| Chicago, IL | 22.60 107.72 | 26.19 130.43 | 18.27 118.41 | 11.27 111.14 |
| Peoria, IL | 20.02 95.42 | 23.45 116.78 | 16.91 109.59 | 11.40 112.43 |
| Lansing, MI | 23.33 111.20 | 21.09 105.03 | 17.49 113.35 | 14.07 138.76 |
| National Comparisons (representative communities) |
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| Sacramento, CA | 23.66 112.77 | 22.46 111.85 | 17.40 112.77 | 11.16 110.06 |
| Atlanta, GA | 23.33 111.20 | 20.03 99.75 | 18.10 117.30 | 12.21 120.41 |
| Charlotte, NC | 22.29 106.24 | 15.54 77.39 | 16.32 105.77 | 11.22 110.65 |
| Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ | 22.41 106.82 | 16.63 82.82 | 17.02 110.30 | 9.88 97.44 |
Notes: for each occupation, the index is calculated by dividing the Wage of the community by the wage for South Bend. Source: US Department of Commerce, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment Statistics. | ||||
Both the ERI and DOC data generally show a wage scale for the smaller metropolitan areas of the Midwest that is 4 percent to 13 percent higher than South Bend. With a few exceptions, the same conclusion can be made with respect to the wage scale in the national high growth centers.
Thus, there are labor cost savings advantages for locating in the Starke County. Since the cost of living is also substantially lower, (see section 8 below), a lower wage scale does not imply a lower standard of living for the workforce. In most cases, the lower cost of living, and especially the lower cost of housing should provide the opportunity for the workforce to realize a higher standard of living here, than in the large and mid-sized metropolitan areas of the Midwest, and the high growth regions of the west and south.