Over the past decade, job creation in Benton and Franklin counties has been on a tear. From 2014 to 2023, net jobs created amounted to slightly over 25,000. Net implies that some jobs were lost, offsetting those that were created.

You might even say that the greater Tri-Cities has stood up a jobs machine. The total net number translates into an average of 2,500 jobs created per year. The Trends data, of course, shows the steep downturn in 2020, when nearly 5,700 jobs were lost.

On a relative basis, the pace of job expansion here has exceeded that of Washington state overall in the past decade. The annual average growth for the state: 1.8%. For the greater Tri-Cities, 2.1%, or nearly one sixth larger.

A good part of the result lies in the pandemic recovery. It has been impressive, as the accompanying graph makes clear. For the three years following 2020, net jobs in the two counties grew by 13,700, more than doubling the losses incurred in 2020.

Yet not all sectors have enjoyed the same upswing in hiring over the past decade. One sector, and a very important one from a salary perspective, professional and technical services, was stagnant, with no growth.

Similarly, government at all levels – federal, state and local (including school districts) – grew over 10 years by a mere 6%. Among the largest sectors, agriculture also added positions at a tepid pace, about 10% cumulatively.

Courtesy Benton-Franklin Trends

Fastest-growing job sectors

And the winner of fastest-growing sector for jobs among the largest sectors? Construction. Its overall roster of the employed grew by a whopping 76% over the past decade. As of 2023, construction ranks sixth among all 20 sectors, with more than 7,800 jobs.

Not surprisingly to many, health care and social assistance, a larger sector, grew second-fastest over the decade. Its cumulative growth rate was 38%, implying a gain of over 4,000 during that interval. Health care and social assistance now constitutes the second-largest sector in the two counties, claiming a bit over 13% of all jobs. Its 2023 job count was 14,600. Only government is larger.

The third large sector with rapid expansion over the past decade has been hospitality. This covers all forms of lodging, plus food and beverage firms – restaurants, bars, coffee shops, caterers. The cumulative growth rate was 33%. This growth likely rests on both increases in visitors to the greater Tri-Cities as well as the propensity of Tri-Citians to dine out more (and pay more) often.

Can this pace continue? On the demand side, it appears, at least in the next couple of years, yes. The supply of workers might be a bit more problematic, if 2023 serves as a bellwether.

Last year the workforce, consisting of people with jobs and those looking for jobs, actually shrunk. And for the three years – 2019 through 2021 – the number in the two-county workforce stagnated. Economic development professionals are undoubtedly looking at these trends.

The income impact

A further question concerns the income impact of the differential expansion observed over the past decade. If incomes are to rise, then overall wages need to rise.

Consequently, sectors that pay well will contribute disproportionately to the local economy. By that measure, construction’s expansion looks promising. The industry’s average annual wage in 2023 was slightly over $80,000 for Benton County and $61,000 in Franklin County.

Benton County’s annual construction earnings were well above the overall average of $67,000. The same largely applied to Franklin County, where the overall annual average was $55,000.

Similarly, tepid growth in agriculture, relative to other sectors, helps raise the overall annual earnings. That is because the industry’s annual earnings are quite low. In 2023, they amounted to about $35,100 in Benton County and $40,500 in Franklin County.

The decline, however, in the numbers employed here in professional and technical services is puzzling, if not troubling. This is the sector composed of knowledge workers, such as engineering firms, law offices, consultancies, accounting firms, and laboratories. Its 2023 average annual earnings: $112,800 in Benton County and much less in Franklin County at $60,800.

Overall average annual earnings have climbed nicely – by about $10,000 in the greater Tri-Cities since the pandemic. Where that is and in which sector job growth happens will determine whether this trend will continue for the next five years.

D. Patrick Jones is the executive director for Eastern Washington University’s Institute for Public Policy & Economic Analysis. Benton-Franklin Trends, the institute’s project, uses local, state and federal data to measure the local economic, educational and civic life of Benton and Franklin counties.