Silicon Valley gets richer, more expensive
Silicon Valley added 28,000 jobs in the last 12 months, up 2.1 percent. We outpaced the rest of California at 0.9 percent and the nation at 1.4 percent. But still, that's fewer new jobs than were added the year before, when the Valley gained 33,000. And the number of midwage jobs, those that pay between $30,000 to $80,000 a year, continue to shrink. Meanwhile, Silicon Valley's cost of living is 47 percent higher than the rest of the country. All this, according to the Joint Venture Silicon Valley and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation annual report. More stats:
- Silicon Valley's economy has trended upward since 2005, when it gained jobs, 2,000 of them, first time since 2001.
- In the last 12 months, median household income in Silicon Valley increased 2 percent to over $82,000 a year, outpacing the nation's 1.5 percent growth.
- Silicon Valley's high-school graduation rate declined last year.
- Juvenile felony offenses grew.
