Oct. 25–In the effort to attract workers to metro San Diego, the business community has a few hurdles compared to competitor regions.

Workers are paid less here than other locations where top workers are going, and housing costs — because of lower wages — are more of a burden than San Francisco, said a blunt report released Thursday from the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber identified nine cities that local businesses said they compete head-to-head for workers: San Jose, Raleigh, Austin, Denver, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles and Portland.

Despite affordability concerns, the report highlighted the positive parts of metro San Diego that could attract workers, such as plenty of parkland and good weather. Still, the chamber said it didn't shy away from challenges.

"I don't gloss over the ugly stuff," said Sean Karafin, a vice president at the chamber, at a presentation of the report Thursday in downtown San Diego. "I'm going to tell it the way the data is showing it. If we want to move our region's economy forward, we need to understand our weaknesses as much as our strengths."

The bad

Wages — The median hourly wage for the San Diego metropolitan area was $20.15 in 2017, the fourth lowest of the cities studied, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. San Jose had the highest hourly wage, $27.66, and Raleigh had the least at $18.52. Chris Thornberg, founding partner of Beacon Economics, said it isn't as bad as it sounds because San Diego County has a higher percentage of agricultural and tourism jobs than many of the cities, which drags down the median.

Cost of Housing — San Diego had the second-highest cost of housing of the regions in 2017 with 37.9 percent of homeowners paying 30 percent of more on housing. It was worse for renters with 57.2 percent paying 30 percent or more. Only Los Angeles had higher costs. Raleigh was the cheapest with 19 percent of homeowners paying 30 percent or more on a mortgage and 42.5 percent for renters.

Educational disparity — Nearly 50 percent of San Diego metro area's white population had a bachelor's degree or higher in 2017, but the numbers for other groups was not as positive. Just 17 percent of Latinos had a higher degree, and 26 percent for African-Americans. Asians had the highest number of those with higher education, 53 percent.

Women — San Diego had the second-lowest number of women in the workforce at 45.8 percent in 2017. Boston had the highest percentage at 48.81 percent. Researchers at the chamber acknowledged San Diego's large and male-dominated military population could help explain the low percentage. However, San Diego also had the highest female unemployment, 5.4 percent, of the region's studied. Denver had the lowest at 2.9 percent.

The good

Education — The San Diego metropolitan area had the second lowest number of people with bachelor's degrees or higher in 2017 (42 percent) of the 10 areas studied. But, the type of degrees show promise. San Diego ranked fifth for the most degrees in the science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, with 50 percent of degree holders in that field. San Jose had the most with 63.7 percent and Los Angeles with the least at 45.1 percent.

Diversity — San Diego had the fourth highest diversity ranking of the regions studied in 2017. Metro San Diego was 46.4 percent white, 32.6 percent Latino, 12.7 percent Asian, 4.7 percent African-America and around 5 percent for other groups. Portland was ranked as the least diverse and San Francisco as the most.

Veterans — San Diego had the highest number of veterans as a percentage of the workforce, 6.21 percent, of the regions studied.

Young population — San Diego metro had the highest population of millennials, 39.7 percent, of the regions studied in 2016. It also had the second-highest percentage of Generation Z, or iGen, at 5.3 percent. For the study, Generation Z was 16 to 21 year olds and millennials were 22 to 37 years old. Technology savvy young people were emphasized as a benefit for technology companies in a recent report form real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield.

Parkland — The San Diego metro area has the most areas of parkland per 1,000 residents, 34.4 percent. San Francisco had the least at 6.8 percent. The chamber said the amount of open space makes San Diego a leader in recreational opportunities. The report also cited good weather as an asset for the region.

phillip.molnar@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1891 Twitter: @phillipmolnar

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