Five Cities Where Salaries Are Rising Most

On average, U.S. employees saw a 2.5 percent rise in their wages in the past year. But in some places of the country, workers are seeing even larger increases to their pay. These are the five cities seeing the largest pay hikes:

San Francisco: a 4.3 percent pay increase in one year

San Francisco is known for its high-salary tech jobs. And those high salaries are needed: The city is among one of the most expensive in the nation in terms of cost of living—about 70 percent higher than a city such as Indianapolis, according to PayScale.

Baltimore: +3.5%

The area has added 1,600 financial services jobs in the last year and it’s known as a hub for health care jobs—being the home to Johns Hopkins and other research hotspots.

Chicago: +3.1%

Chicago offers lots of jobs centered around the financial markets, since it’s the home to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Chicago Board of Trade, and the Chicago Board Options Exchange.

Phoenix: +3.1%

The pick-up in the housing market has led to a big increase in construction jobs in Phoenix—more pronounced here than in other parts of the country. Phoenix is attracting more residents from California; the cost of housing there is nearly 70 percent lower than in San Francisco and 56 percent lower than in Los Angeles.

Atlanta: +3%

Atlanta serves as the headquarters for many major companies, such as Coca-Cola and Home Depot, but it also has a bustling healthcare information industry that has helped salaries grow.

Source: “Cities with the Biggest Pay Hikes,” CNNMoney (July 2013)