Issue link: https://nebusinessmedia.uberflip.com/i/594225
8 2015 Central Mass By The Numbers • Worcester Business Journal www.wbjournal.com Central Mass. mean Boston mean Mass. mean annual salary, May 2014 annual salary, May 2014 annual salary, May 2014 Demographics & Employment C entral Massachusetts' demographics are a geo- graphically-compressed version of what's hap- pening elsewhere in the country. Metro-Boston's proximity, 45 minutes to the east by auto, has a direct effect on the region's employment and demographic patterns. Its high cost of living appears to be increasingly pushing early-career professionals west- ward to put down their first roots, some into the region's smaller towns where their presence moves the population-growth needle more significantly than in Central Mass. municipalities with larger populations. Check out Templeton, Upton, Rutland, Lancaster and Douglas from 2000-2014. On the employment side, a surprise: many of the top- paying jobs in Central Massachusetts, predominantly in health care, top Boston and state salaries. One would think the Boston market pays more to healthcare pro- fessionals than the region west of Route 128 and I-495 because of the cost-of-living differential. Not so, according to our data. The website Salary.com notes the cost of living in Boston is 17 percent higher than that in Worcester. The larger supply of physicians competing for jobs in Metro Boston puts downward pressure on Boston salaries. Jeremy Robinson is regional vice president of mar- keting at Merritt Hawkins, a Dallas-based physician search and consulting firm with offices nationwide. He said major academic tertiary institutions and their affiliates now own large outpatient practices, creating an increased demand for clinicians because they gener- ate more revenue. And it's happening around the coun- try – in the Northeast, Merritt Hawkins has seen the same thing happen in Providence and in Fairfield County, Conn. The new emphasis on outcome-based preventive care results in growing provider networks. When demand exceeds supply for the health-care occu- pations in our list, salaries rise accordingly. Other sectors to watch are financial services and manufacturing. The more recent 2014-2015 data from the Massachusetts Department of Labor sees a state- wide change for financial services of a net gain of 4,200 jobs, an increase of 2.55 percent. The finance industry has significant resources to recruit the staff it needs. It can also reassign and relocate staff when economic changes dictate, giving more long-term career stability, and therefore more capability to attract and retain staff over time. It can offer higher salaries and benefits, allowing staffers to implement more long-term finan- cial planning choices. Manufacturing can't easily relocate. Its anchors are its existing workforce and the proximity to customers and suppliers, as documented in the 2012 report Staying Power II, issued by The Kitty and Michael Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy at Northeastern University. In this data from January 2014 to August 2015, manufacturing saw a net loss of 2,200 jobs, a decrease of 0.88 percent. The most-needed skills-train- ing entry point is at the associate's degree education level – not a bachelor's degree or above – but a deterrent to entry may be the cost of skills-training education versus the hourly wage earned on graduation. n By Christina P. O'Neill Special to the Worcester Business Journal Central Mass.: Where the market foils geography, sometimes QUICK HITS Anesthesiologists $267,012 $208,095 $248,180 Surgeons $262,923 $252,660 $257,460 Family and general practitioners $217,900 $192,481 $209,050 Chief executives $204,504 $218,286 $203,580 Obstetricians and gynecologists $203,738 $163,163 $203,580 Pediatricians, general $191,337 $175,609 $186,210 Dentists, general $188,840 $156,750 $175,280 Podiatrists $172,659 $124,060 $145,890 Nurse anesthetists $144,315 $139,656 $136,290 Natural sciences managers $141,147 $152,352 $177,090 Highest- and lowest-paying jobs in Central Massachusetts Source: Mass. Dept. of Labor and Workforce Development; n/a means not available Central Mass. mean Boston mean Mass. mean annual salary, May 2014 annual salary, May 2014 annual salary, May 2014 n TOP 10 n BOTTOM 10 Counter attendants, cafeteria, food concession, and coffee shop $19,129 $20,377 $19,760 Cooks, fast food $19,880 $20,857 $20,930 Dishwashers $20,243 $22,833 $21,070 Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food $20,430 $22,271 $20,810 Bartenders $20,995 $32,514 $25,530 Packers and packagers, hand $21,144 $22,105 $23,390 Graduate teaching assistants $21,244 n/a $39,110 Cashiers $21,448 $22,150 $21,920 Crossing guards $21,525 n/a $29,910 Manicurists and pedicurists $21,678 $22,018 $23,650 Sources: Mass Executive Office of Labor & Workforce Development, U.S. Census Bureau, UMass Donahue Institute The mean annual salary of anesthesiologists in Central Mass.: $267,012 The mean annual salary of counter attendants, food concession, coffee shop workers in Central Mass.: $19,129 Lunenburg's population growth from 2014-2015, the largest in the region: 10.12 % Fitchburg's population growth from 2014-2015, the smallest in the region: 0.31% Job gains in professional, scientific and technical services, the largest in Massachusetts: 7.7% Unemployment in Southbridge, the highest in the region for July: 7.7%