Virginia emerged from the recession with a low unemployment rate and higher wages. But that success is not shared across all of Virginia.
So, first the good news. Wages have climbed 22% in Virginia since the recession. Now the bad news. That’s only true for urban parts of Virginia. In rural parts of Virginia, wages have only grown 11%. In other words, the wage growth in rural Virginia is half of what it is in urban Virginia.
Laura Goren at the Commonwealth Institute says Richmond and Northern Virginia have been adding high-wage, high-education jobs. But…
“A lot of rural areas of Virginia have been losing what had been good jobs in the coal industry or specialized jobs in the textile industry, and too many of those jobs have been replaced with relatively low-paying service sector jobs.”
Frank Shafroth at George Mason University says rural parts of Virginia are struggling.
“People in those parts of Virginia earn about two thirds of what Virginians statewide make, and they are generally older and poorer. So the average poverty rate in the extreme areas is 67% higher than the Virginia average.”
One potential silver lining for rural Virginia is Medicaid expansion. More people with health insurance will mean more money for hospitals, which could improve the economic viability of health care providers in places like Lee County or Patrick County, places where struggling hospitals have been forced to close.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
