How many are because wages are really going up or are average wages increasing because taxes & cost of living have driven out lower/mid wage middle class jobs and those who filled them have left? Which would have the effect of raising the average wage without really increasing anything.
I can’t see that the SF and bay area #1 rate of increase is reflective of anything “real”... Cheyenne, WY... and Midland/Odessa, TX... is real, very, very REAL. It’s effing BOOMING out here. Providing for the energy security of the nation... which trickles down to the Pizza Hut’s and Nail Salons. McDonald’s in Monahans, TX has a sign that they are hiring TO START at $14/hr. Pizza Hut in Hobbs, NM has a “Driver’s Wanted” sign out front saying “up to $25/hr”... This boom in the Permian Basin is unlike anything I have ever seen in my entire life.
The rest of the country, however... sure, they have Pizza Huts and Nail Salons as well... and they are accepting EBT cards as legal tender.
The Permian Basin is REAL.