If you’re a millennial in South Florida, you’re probably not making much money
As a mid-career professional with 15 years of teaching experience and an MBA, Luiz Bravim wishes he didn’t have to work multiple jobs to keep up with the cost of living in South Florida. On top of teaching at a Fort Lauderdale high school, he’s an adjunct at a local college and tutors students online.
Low wages drove Bravim away from the state not once, but twice. The 36-year-old was dragged back reluctantly to care for ailing parents.
Bravim’s frustration is warranted, according to a recent study that found Florida is the worst-paying state for millennials in the country.
The study by HireAHelper used Census and Bureau of Economic Analysis data to rank states based on median income for millennials working full time. Incomes were adjusted based on the cost-of-living at each location. While Florida’s cost-of-living is about the same as the national average, millennials in the state earned an adjusted median income of $34,990 – the lowest in the country.
The report further breaks down a list of the best-paying large metro areas for millennials in the U.S. The Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach metro area comes in dead last at number 53. Here, millennials working full-time make an adjusted median income of $31,847.
It’s no surprise to Bravim.
“I like Florida in a lot of ways, but I do think we don’t pay people enough whether they’re college graduates or immigrants or blue collar workers – it’s pretty tough to make a living here,” he said.
A 2019 Miami Herald study based on Census data confirmed his experience, finding that South Florida workers from lawyers to clerical workers typically earn less than their counterparts across the nation.
While Bravim’s tethered to the state, he’s considering a career switch out of education in search of a higher salary. Many of his friends in their 30s are also feeling stuck in the Sunshine State due to low pay, he added.
Low wages are putting millennials at a disadvantage on at least one key measure, according to the report: home-ownership.
Millennial home-ownership rates in the Miami metro are at 30.5%. Nationally, the home-ownership rate was at 64.6% in 2019, but for millennials it dipped to 39.9%. Defined as those born between 1981 and 1996, this demographic lags at a time when millennials are in their “prime home buying years,” the report stated.
While the median income for 25- to 34-year-olds has increased 2.5-fold since 1980, according to the report, housing prices have more than tripled over that time period.
Florida millennials have fared better, though only marginally, in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro. It ranked 46, with an adjusted median income of $39,394 and homeownership rate of 39.2%. The demographic fared even better in Jacksonville, with an adjusted median income of $40,838.
“Millennials will vote with their feet,” said Bravim. “They’re going to go to places where they can earn more money and get a better job.”