A recent study by Volusion shows the Greensboro-High Point metro area ranks lowest of the large metro areas in the state in the percent of six figure jobs.
On a list of metro areas with the highest percentage of jobs over $100,000, the Greensboro-High Point area ranks 98th with 3.9 percent.
The top metro area in the state for six figure jobs is Durham-Chapel Hill which ranks 11th with 11.3 percent. The Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia area is 32nd with 7.7 percent. Raleigh is 51st at 5.9 percent and Fayetteville just beat out Greensboro at 4 percent for 93rd on the list.
Greensboro did fare better than some cities in North Carolina such as Wilmington, which ranks 123rd at 3.2 percent and Burlington which ranks 150th at 2.8 percent.
At the very top of the nationwide list is San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California, better known as Silicon Valley at 28.2 percent.
But second place on the list might be a surprise to some folks. It’s Washington, DC-Arlington- Alexandria, Virginia, at 20.9 percent. Of course the main industry in that area is the federal government and no doubt lobbyists didn’t hurt the percentage.
One of the goals set by the Greensboro City Council at its retreat in February was to raise the per capita household income in Greensboro by 15 percent by 2025. According to the US Census figures the median household income in Greensboro is $46,702.
A method of accomplishing that would be to attract thousands of jobs in the $50,000 to $60,000 range and another way would be to attract far fewer jobs in the $100,000 and above range.
In January, the Greensboro City Council approved a $1.7 million incentive for Syngenta. Not for Syngenta to bring more jobs to Greensboro but to encourage Syngenta not to leave. A big part of that decision was the fact that Syngenta has 650 employees in Greensboro with an average wage of $107,000 a year.
Offering that incentive fits with the goal of raising the median income in Greensboro by 15 percent, even though the incentive decision was made before the goal was formalized.