Good news, bad news for Valley

The average pay for jobs in the Mahoning Valley is $16.78 an hour.

By DON SHILLING

VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR

You can make more money working outside the Mahoning Valley, but you won’t find a cheaper place to buy a house.

Two recent reports show the good and the bad of being a Valley resident.

First the bad news.

The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics said Wednesday that Valley workers receive the lowest pay among Ohio metropolitan areas that were surveyed. Toledo was not included in the report.

The Cleveland-Akron and Columbus areas had average pay rates that equaled the national average. Cincinnati and Dayton-Springfield were 2 percent under, while the Valley came in at 4 percent below the average.

The average pay for all jobs that were surveyed in the Valley was $16.78 an hour. The survey was conducted last April.

Here are a few differences in hourly pay:

URegistered nurses here averaged $25.88 but $30.65 in Cincinnati.

U Cafeteria cooks here averaged $10.18 but $12.13 in Columbus.

U Janitors and cleaners here averaged $8 but $12.11 in Dayton.

U Secretaries here averaged $13.61 but $17.33 in Cleveland.

Not all jobs are lower paying here, however. Electricians, for example, averaged $22.37 here but $20.33 in Cleveland.

And now the good news.

The Mahoning Valley has lower-paying jobs but it also has the least expensive housing in the nation.

The Youngstown-Warren area had the lowest median sales price for existing homes in the third quarter of this year, the National Association of Realtors said recently.

This area’s median price was $81,600, compared with a national average of $220,800. The median price falls halfway between the highest and lowest prices.

The only other areas that were below $100,000 were Saginaw, Mich., at $84,900, Decatur, Ill., at $85,900, Elmira, N.Y., at $93,300, and South Bend-Mishawaka, Ind., at $95,200.

The area with the highest median price was San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif., at $852,500.

So what do the people in San Jose make? The average pay is $26.72 an hour, or about $10 higher than the Mahoning Valley.

Registered nurses in San Jose earn an average of $49.50, about twice what they do here. Cafeteria cooks earns an average of $16.17 an hour, or 59 percent more than they do here.

shilling@vindy.com