O.C., L.A. County top-five job markets

[question everything]

Tuesday, August 9, 2005

O.C., L.A. County top-five job markets

New census findings document Southern California's economic strength.

The Associated Press

For your best shot at a job, work in Los Angeles County. But if you want to earn a good wage, try New York City.

A new U.S. Census Bureau report released Monday shows Los Angeles County leads the nation in number of businesses while Manhattan tops the chart with the highest average salary.

(snip)

Rounding out the top five counties with the highest number of businesses were Harris County, Texas, with 86,000, and Orange County with 83,164 businesses. Orange County also ranks No. 5 in population.

(snip)

Among the nation's most populous counties, Manhattan had the highest average annual salary per worker at $73,000, while the lowest was in Riverside County at $29,000.

(snip)

http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2005/08/09/sections/business/business/article_627569.php

[wishlist]

1. But housing prices are highest in these areas also

Anyone living in those areas with exorbitant housing prices needs a huge salary to get by.

[DK666]

2. I make 6 digits and its rough.

n/t

[DBoon]

6. shh, don't say that

you'll get flamed for being "rich"

[getmeouttahere]

3. Or you have to have a roommate, like me...

or multiple roommates...I don't mind, because I want to be near the beach, where it's cool

[KurtNYC]

4. I can't get to the article but

saying that the county with the most businesses is the where the jobs are is kind of lame on AP's part. On the one hand it seems obvious, on the other, a high number of small businesses might not employ as many people as a few huge ones.

Also it creates the impression that there is a hot job market there when in fact the number of jobs may be in decline.

[question everything]

17. Sorry. Here is another link - no registration required

http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/regstate/articles/1656116.html

[shanti]

5. too bad the housing market

makes this unworkable. the problem with the OC is that there are tons of apartments, but they are aging and not being renovated. i was born and raised there, but would never go back now.

[Barkley]

11. the traffic is nothing to write home about either

The freeways have gone from bad to impossible.
Housing affordability is a little over 5% of the working population
Median house is over $500,000

Still SoCal has lots of advantages.

College education costs are rising but way, way low by national standards.

[AlGore-08.com]

7. I live in the San Fernando Valley; using Salary.com's cost of living tool

I checked what I'd be making in other parts of the country for the same job, and what my cost of living would be.

Routinely I found that I'd get anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000 less for my job - - but that the cost of living was so much lower I'd end up with between $7,000 and $10,000 more in disposable income.

It's just f*in' crazy out here...

[jaysunb]

8. It's weather tax !

or so it seems.....
If I hadn't bought my house here in Pasadena many years ago, I'd probably be in Charlotte or elsewhere by now.

[VegasWolf]

9. Yes, a lot of the laid off aerospace engineers I knew down there

are now selling real estate. Wonder what will happen when the housing bubble goes poof?

[LibDemAlways]

10. New homes in Riverside County are selling in the

400 to 550K range. How is someone making the average salary of $29K supposed to afford that? Answer: They can't. I suspect many of the people buying those homes are commuting long distances, mostly to LA and Orange Counties, to work.

Just north of LA where I live the only new homes being built are all over a million dollars. It's insane.

[question everything]

18. It is almost like a catch-22

People keep coming to California for the opportunities and for the weather. This increases the demand for housing and this is one reason why prices have been going through the roof.

In contrast to an earlier comment, I've found that many jobs pay better in other parts of the country. Why? Because in California employers know that employees would take reduced pay just to stay there.

Right before the 2001 recession, I've heard that McDonald in Minneapolis was paying $10 an hour (don't know how much it is now)

And then, after the 1994 earthquake, the LAT had a cartoon showing the classified section of the Des Moines Register together with a snow shovel.

[Barkley]

12. But, I thought Arnold said high taxes were running businesses out of CA

How can Califonia create all these new firms if our taxes and regulations are so high?

[area51]

13. job market

The article mentioned Harris County, Texas; this is the county Houston is in. We have the same scarcity of jobs that other cities have in this Bush Depression.

[Zhade]

14. My purely anecdotal evidence says that's bullshit.

I know WAY too many qualified people here who are unemployed or underemployed.

Of course, like I said, that's anecdotal.

[AlGore-08.com]

15. Hey, just because we have more jobs than other places

Don't mean we got enough to go around.

Even during the Great Depression some places had more jobs than others...

[Zhade]

16. There you go.

Plus, prices here are murder. I pay $680 for a KITCHENLESS BACHELOR APARTMENT.

No picnic, L.A...