Hot off the presses is what a group of Washington state business organizations call the 2005 Competitiveness Redbook, a compilation of statistics that measure the state’s business climate.
It’s an interesting look at some of the things businesses consider when they decide whether to expand or to relocate here. More importantly, it helps determine whether we get some new jobs or whether they go somewhere else.
So let’s dive into the stats:
Personal income. Per capita personal income in Washington is $33,332 a year, 13th in the nation. Connecticut is best with $43,173. As a footnote, the Redbook mentions that income in Washington is very unevenly distributed. Snohomish County, the third largest in Washington, is fifth in per capita income at $31,312. We’re behind King, San Juan, Kitsap and Jefferson counties.
Minimum wage. Tops in the nation at $7.16 per hour.
Manufacturing wages. Washington is second highest, with at average of $17.78 per hour. In Michigan, which has a lot of autoworkers, the average is No. 1 at $19.42.
High-tech wages. Washington is No. 1 here, at an average of $94,705. Can you say Microsoft? In terms of high-tech jobs, we’re 15th.
Exports. Washington is first in the nation on a per capita basis. On total exports, we’re fourth behind Texas, California and New York.
Internet access. The Seattle-Tacoma area is second behind Washington, D.C., with 73.7 percent of the population having access. The other Washington was at 74 percent. In homes, 26 percent had the Internet in the Seattle area, making us sixth in the nation. Austin, Texas, had the highest home usage at 33.4 percent.
Doing-business costs. Seattle was eighth when you look at wages, taxes, electricity, office rent and industrial property rent. Hawaii was first.
Taxes. The tax foundation ranked Washington 12th, saying the figure for state and local taxes is $3,729 per person. On taxes paid per $1,000 of personal income, we’re 21st. On property taxes, we’re listed as 40th for the rate charged on homes in the largest city, in our case Seattle. For commercial and industrial properties,we’re 46th.
Government jobs. For government employment, we’re 36th with 52.48 government employees per 1,000 residents. But those folks are paid fourth best in the nation, with an average of $43,096.
Unemployment. Unfortunately, we’re No. 1 in the nation with the highest cost of unemployment insurance, $695 per employee. The state has the sixth-highest weekly benefit at $312.10 and the fourth-largest duration for unemployment checks, 18.7 weeks.
Workers’ compensation: We’re fifth in the country in benefits paid to injured workers, at a cost of $624.60 per employed person.
Union members. Washington is seventh in the nation, with 20.9 percent of workers belonging to a union. That breaks out to 49 percent in the public sector, 15th nationally, and 13 percent in the private sector, fourth nationally.
Education. People 25 and older are 10th in the nation in education rank, with 89 percent completing high school and 28.8 percent getting a bachelor’s degree. New military recruits from Washington are second highest in standardized tests, behind only North Dakota.
Gas tax. We’re ninth at 28 cents per gallon.
Bad roads. We’re 25th, with 46.9 percent of our roads ranked as not in good condition.
Homes. We’re 43rd in home-ownership, with 65.9 percent of the population owning a home. In Snohomish County, we have a home affordability index of 132.3, meaning 32.3 percent had more income than was necessary to purchase a median-priced home.
Well, that’s not all the stats, but it’s a lot of them. I hope you enjoyed looking at how we stack up.
Mike Benbow: 425-339-3459; benbow@heraldnet.com.
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