FLORIDA, USA — Despite the rise in inflation in the Tampa Bay area and across the state, recent reports show that Florida's wage growth average beats the national average.
The National Employment Report’s Pay Insights from ADP for September 2022 revealed Florida’s year-over-year change in annual pay was 8.3 percent compared to the national average of 7.8 percent.
Currently, the state-level median annual salary is $49,100, reports show.
However, even with the new reports, many Floridians are feeling the brunt of soaring prices. Nearly 48 percent of Floridas said inflation was making it tougher to pay bills, according to a survey from the University of South Florida.
The university used a sample size of 600 Floridians who were representations of the population. The goal was to address higher education, the housing market and inflation in the state.
At least 1 in 3 Floridians also said their household income did not support the cost of renting or buying a home in the state.
According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor of Statistics, the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area prices are up 10.5 percent over the past 12 months as of September 2022.
Many might wonder why inflation is happening. Well, an economist at Florida Gulf Coast University says there are several reasons.
He says it all centers around supply and demand. As COVID cases decrease, the number of people out and about benefiting our local economy increases.
"Tourism is back, the restaurants are bouncing back and so we’re starting to see some of that price pressure in Tampa simply because there’s more economic activity right now than there is in other places," Victor Claar, an economics professor at FGCU, said.
Another Florida factor has to do with the number of people moving to the Tampa Bay area.
"Many people around the country are choosing to move to Florida," Claar added. With more people living in the Tampa Bay area, that means housing costs will increase, which we've seen.
"That means not only is there price pressure in the real estate market to buy, it also means there’s price pressure in the rental market as well," Claar stated.
One of the biggest expenses people have seen an increase in is gas. Claar said that's because, compared to last year, people are back to work and driving more.
"Prices are up and the percentages are up, but it’s sort of us getting back to normal and that gasoline and driving market," Claar said.
10 Tampa Bay's Miguel Octavio contributed to this story.