Map by Comparisun.com
In the last decade, Arizona ranks near the bottom of states for salary growth, even as it has been among the national leaders in terms of overall job growth.
The state added some 243,000 jobs between 2008 and 2018, according to figures reported annually by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, good enough to rank it in the top 25% of all states and territories for job growth.
But the growth in annual wages over the same period was only 21.98%, ranking the Grand Canyon State 38th – in the bottom 25% of states. Inflation during that period was 16.6%, meaning wages in Arizona outpaced inflation by about 5.3%.
Wages grew fastest in North Dakota, where an oil and gas boom fueled a 49% growth since 2008. In Washington state, wages grew nearly 42% to an average annual salary of more than $66,000.
Arizona ranked No. 5 out of the 8 states in the Mountain subregion for salary growth since 2008. It was better than New Mexico (19.14%), Nevada (16.42%) and Wyoming (15.84%). The best Mountain state was Montana, which saw salaries grow by 30.33%, followed by Utah (27.73%), Idaho (26.51%) and Colorado (26.44%).
A BLS report earlier this year showed that wage growth is lagging far behind job creation in Maricopa and Pima counties.
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