TAMPA (970 WFLA) -- Tampa Bay's economy keeps growing... but wages and education levels keep lagging.
The Tampa Bay Partnership is out with a new report on "regional competitiveness" ... comparing our area to 19 others around the country.
It points out many of our strengths in recent years, including having a rapidly growing economy, attracting millenials, and bringing in more advanced industries.
Partnership C-E-O Rick Homans, says our area leads the group of 20 metros, in economic growth and job growth... but is second from the bottom in wages... grouped together with Miami, Orlando, and Jacksonville.
Seattle has the highest wages in the group and Raleigh, North Carolina leads in college degrees.
Economic development promoters have often pitched Florida as a "low wage" state. Partnership C-E-O Rick Homans, says it may be time to refine that approach, focusing on a low cost of living and the lack of an income tax.
"I think, quite frankly, there's a difference between pitching a highly skilled population that companies are willing to pay for, and pitching a low-wage population with low skill jobs, " Homans said.
On transportation, it's a mixed picture. The Tampa Bay area is nowhere near the most congested of the 20 studied. But if you don't have a car, it's tough. Our transportation costs are among the highest as a percentage of income. We're at the bottom in per-capita transit ridership. We score in the middle of the pack on walkability, but our pedestrian fatality rate remains stubbornly high.
This may come as a surprise: Despite all the patents generated by the University of South Florida, we're fourth from the bottom of the group of 20 in patents issued per 10,000 people.
Homans says that other communities in the survey often have several USF-style research universities, as well as private companies that generate their own patents.
The Partnership is releasing this report so that community groups can come together around a common language and common metrics to set common goals. In other words, according to Homans, if you can't measure it, you can't improve it.