A new report from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development shows the median household income in the Highlands Region has significantly increased in the last five years.
Cookeville-Putnam County Chamber of Commerce CEO and President Amy New said in 2020, the median household income in Putnam County was an estimated $44,500. Today, it stands at an estimated $62,833. New said the rest of the region has also seen similar increases. New said the increases are not surprising.
“Companies are having to raise their hourly wage or their salaries, or even look at their benefits differently today than they were really pre-covid,” New said. “And so it’s not necessarily surprising; however, it is very encouraging to see us close the gap.”
New said wages across the board, from entry-level positions to leadership positions, have increased over the past five-years in the region to stay competitive against other industries. New also said local businesses are operating a little differently than they were before.
“We’ve seen contracts, like the number of contracts that some businesses have, continue to increase, as well as we see many of our businesses looking at ways to automate their processes,” New said. “And with automation, typically comes higher wages.”
New said she believes inflation has played a role in the increase in the median household income. With inflation still being an issue today, New said she expects employees in the region to continue pushing for higher salaries to match the inflation. New said it is great to see the local household median income increasing as much as it has.
“It allows our families to be able to do more,” New said. “One, it allows them for them to be able to afford a home, to have the means of having transportation, whether it is to and from work, or even going to get their kids from school, or taking their kids places. Even as far as the quality of life aspect that comes with higher wages, we want the trickle-down approach to be, if they have good jobs and they have additional income, to be able to spend it both with our small businesses or locally in restaurants and things like that.”
New said improving median household incomes is one of the four goals of the Highlands Economic Partnership. New said how they achieve that goal is by recruiting only good-paying jobs to the area.