Productivity and Prosperity

The Geographic Distribution of Average Earnings Per Worker


Dennis Hoffman, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics, University Economist, and Director, L. William Seidman Research Institute
Tom Rex, M.B.A.
Associate Director, Center for Competitiveness and Prosperity Research, and Manager of Research Initiatives, Office of the University Economist

Analyzes average earnings per worker by state and metropolitan area. Average earnings per worker varies widely across the nation’s metropolitan areas, largely reflecting geographic differences in the cost of living, job quality, and metro area size, each of which is positively correlated to average earnings per worker.


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Dennis Hoffman, Ph.D.
Dennis Hoffman, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics, University Economist, and Director, L. William Seidman Research Institute

Dennis received a B.A. in economics and mathematics from Grand Valley State University, a M.S. in economics from Michigan State University, and a Ph.D. in economics from Michigan State University in 1978. He has served on the faculty of the Department of Economics at ASU since 1979, as director of ASU’s L. William Seidman Research Institute since 2004, and as the director of the Office of the University Economist since 2005.

Tom Rex, M.B.A.
Tom Rex, M.B.A.
Associate Director, Center for Competitiveness and Prosperity Research, and Manager of Research Initiatives, Office of the University Economist

After receiving his Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Toledo, Tom earned his Master of Business Administration from Arizona State University in 1976. After working in the private sector, he joined ASU in 1980, working for the predecessor of the L. William Seidman Research Institute. Since 2005, he has served as manager of research initiatives in the Office of the University Economist.


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