Analysis of jobs and wages for employers located in the city of Tacoma in 2014
Scott Bailey, Regional Economist
scott.bailey@esd.wa.gov, 360-735-4995
Washington Employment Security Department
October 29, 2015

This analysis covers all jobs covered by unemployment insurance, with the following
exceptions:
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Federal jobs, which are not part of the state system
Private household employers (NAICS 814)
DSHS/COPES employment (home health care paid for by the state, often to
relatives of the person needing care)

Data is based on the quarterly wage file, which contains the employer ID, wages
and hours worked for all employers that pay unemployment insurance, and the
employer (EQUI) file, which contains employer location and industry and monthly
job counts.

Overview of Tacoma
There were 4,170 employers doing business within the city limits of Tacoma in 2014,
with an average monthly employment of 98,767 and a total payroll of $4.916 billion.
The average monthly count of employment makes no distinction between part-time
and full-time jobs. If these jobs are weighted by hours worked and adjusted to a fulltime equivalency basis (8 hours per day for every weekday of the year, a total of
2,088 hours in 2014) then there were 80,830 FTE jobs within the city. Because wage
data is reported on a quarterly basis, it is impossible to translate jobs into part-time
or full-time, so employment in this report is computed on an FTE basis. The actual
job count of lower-wage jobs at any point in time will be disproportionately higher
than the FTE count because lower-wage jobs are more likely to be part-time.

$15.00 per hour threshold
There were 18,899 FTE jobs—23.4 percent—that paid below $15.00 per hour in
2014. If the hourly wage at these jobs were magically raised to $15.00 per hour, it
would require an additional payroll of $129.4 million. That would be an increase of
2.6 percent of the total 2014 wage bill. The gap again varied by industry. For
example:

Washington Employment Security Department, Tacoma Wage Analysis, 1

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For accommodations & food services, total payroll would have to increase by
$28.2 million (17.2 percent). Just under 65 percent of jobs in
accommodations & food services paid below $15.00.
For retail trade, where half of all jobs paid below $15.00 per hour, total
payroll would have to increase by $30.1 million (9.7 percent).
For industries such as construction, information services, banking,
professional services, corporate offices, and state and local government, the
increase would be 1.0 percent or less.

Of the 4,170 employers in the city, less under 40 percent (1,618) had more than 30
percent of their payroll going to jobs that paid below $15.00 per hour. About 20
percent (800) had less than 10 percent of their payroll going to jobs that paid below
$15.00 per hour, and a bit more than a quarter (1,103) had no jobs below $15.00
per hour.
Almost half (1,947) had 30 percent or more of their employment in jobs paying
$15.00 or less. About 13 percent (531) had less than 10 percent of their
employment in jobs that paid below $15.00 per hour.
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In accommodations & food services, 87 percent of employers had more than
30 percent of their total payroll going to jobs that paid below $15.00 per
hour. For 95 percent, more than 30 percent of their employment paid below
$15.00.
In retail trade, the comparable figures were 70 percent and 81 percent.

In Tacoma, most employers were very small—almost half (2,032) averaged below 5
jobs in 2014. Smaller firms had relatively fewer lower-wage jobs than larger firms.
For example, 44 percent of employers with less than 10 employees had 30 percent
of more of their employment in jobs paying below $15.00 per hour. An almost equal
number of small employers (43 percent) had less than 10 percent of their
employment in jobs that paid below $15.00 per hour. In contrast, 63 percent of
larger employers (250 or more jobs) had 30 percent or more of their employment in
jobs paying below $15.00 per hour, while 25 percent had less than 10 percent of
their staffing in jobs paying below that threshold.

$12.00 per hour threshold
Of these FTE jobs, there were 10,691—13.2 percent—that paid below $12.00 per
hour. If the hourly wage at these jobs were magically raised to $12.00 per hour, it
would require an additional payroll of $35.6 million. That would be an increase of
0.7 percent of the total 2014 wage bill. The gap varied by industry. For example:

Washington Employment Security Department, Tacoma Wage Analysis, 2

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For accommodations & food services, total payroll would have to increase by
$9.3 million (5.7 percent). About 47 percent of jobs in this industry paid
below $12.00 per hour.
For retail trade, total payroll would have to increase by $9.1 million (2.9
percent). Almost 32 percent of jobs in this industry paid below $12.00 per
hour.
For industries such as construction, information services, banking,
professional services, corporate offices, and state and local government, the
increase would be 0.1 percent or less.

About a quarter of all employers (996) had more than 30 percent of their payroll
going to jobs that paid below $12.00 per hour. Roughly the same percent (906
employers) had less than 10 percent of their payroll going to jobs that paid below
$15.00 per hour, while 43 percent (1,782) had no jobs below $12.00 per hour.
More than a quarter (1,187, 29 percent) had 30 percent or more of their
employment in jobs paying $12.00 or less. About 16 percent (683) had less than 10
percent of their employment in jobs that paid below $12.00 per hour.
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In accommodations & food services, 65 percent of employers had more than
30 percent of their total payroll going to jobs that paid below $12.00 per
hour. For 74 percent, more than 30 percent of their employment paid below
$12.00.
In retail trade, the comparable figures were 53 percent and 59 percent.

Smaller firms had relatively fewer jobs paying below $12.00 per hour than larger
firms. About 27 percent of employers with less than 10 employees (734 out of
2,715) had 30 percent of more of their employment in jobs paying below $12.00 per
hour. Meanwhile 10 percent had less than 10 percent of their employment in jobs
that paid below $12.00 per hour, and slightly more than half (1,426, 52 percent)
had no jobs below $12.00 per hour. In contrast, 4 percent of larger employers (250
or more jobs—113 out of 256 employers) had 30 percent or more of their
employment in jobs paying below $12.00 per hour, while 25 percent had less than
10 percent and 18 percent had no jobs below $12.00.

Washington Employment Security Department, Tacoma Wage Analysis, 3