{"id":727,"date":"2026-05-26T16:29:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T16:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/crer\/?p=727"},"modified":"2026-05-27T16:36:02","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T16:36:02","slug":"5-26-26-chattanooga-region-wages-rise-still-trail-national-average","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/crer\/2026\/05\/26\/5-26-26-chattanooga-region-wages-rise-still-trail-national-average\/","title":{"rendered":"5\/26\/26: Chattanooga Region Wages Rise, Still Trail National Average"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Local 3 News covered wage trends in Chattanooga and asked CRER director and chief economist Howard Wall<\/a> about his work on the issue:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The average wage in the greater Chattanooga area is increasing, but families say their paychecks still aren\u2019t keeping up with the rising costs of living.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows the average pay in the Chattanooga region\u00a0increased about 4%<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0from May 2024 to May 2025, but it is still slightly lower than national averages.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chief economist Howard Wall at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga says the mean average wage in Chattanooga jumped to $28.21 per hour, equating to approximately $58,676 annually for an individual working 40 hours a week.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The average weekly wage is about $1,200 in Chattanooga, but for the U.S., it’s a little closer to over $1,400,\u201d Wall says. \u201cThat sounds like a big difference, but part of it is that the wages in the rest of the county are more skewed with more high-wage people, and the other part is that our cost of living is lower.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch the whole story here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Local 3 News covered wage trends in Chattanooga and asked CRER director and chief economist Howard Wall about his work on the issue: The average wage in the greater Chattanooga area is increasing, but families say their paychecks still aren\u2019t keeping up with the rising costs of living. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows… <\/p>\n

Continue Reading <\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2009,"featured_media":728,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-727","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-media","8":"entry"},"yoast_head":"\n5\/26\/26: Chattanooga Region Wages Rise, Still Trail National Average - Center for Regional Economic Research<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/crer\/2026\/05\/26\/5-26-26-chattanooga-region-wages-rise-still-trail-national-average\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5\/26\/26: Chattanooga Region Wages Rise, Still Trail National Average - Center for Regional Economic Research\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Local 3 News covered wage trends in Chattanooga and asked CRER director and chief economist Howard Wall about his work on the issue: The average wage in the greater Chattanooga area is increasing, but families say their paychecks still aren\u2019t keeping up with the rising costs of living. 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