Increased living costs in conjunction with low wages have made Charlottesville a more difficult place to live for many local residents according to Larry Banner, vice president for the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Although living costs are increasing, the average salary of residents have remained the same, Banner said.
"The high cost of living with a low average pay scale does not allow for the working person to live in a comfortable quality fashion in our region," he said.
According to Banner, this imbalance poses a challenge for the average working person. Nevertheless, Banner said the University and the location of the City draw many prospective residents.
"I think that what drives the high cost of living is that Charlottesville is such a desirable place to live," Charlottesville Mayor David Brown said.
Bob deMauri, executive director of the Thomas Jefferson Partnership, said the cost of living in Charlottesville is 9 percent higher than the national average, but the average annual salary in Charlottesville is $35,744, which is similar to the national average of $35,500.
"If cost is more, you should make more, but that isn't the case in Charlottesville," deMauri said.
The Thomas Jefferson Partnership is a corporation composed of the University and various private businesses.
"Our mission is to encourage new job creation and business development and to look for ways to diversify the economy more," deMauri said.
Part of the reason the average salary has not met the demands of living costs is the loss of manufacturing jobs, which are generally higher paying. There have been, however, an increase in retail and other customer service jobs, but they tend to be low paying, deMauri said.
According to deMauri, the increased cost of living will have a minimal impact on the University community. It primarily will affect University employees who work on an hourly wage.
The problem, however, is not limited to University employees. It will particularly affect public servants, such as teachers and policeman, whose salaries are still low, deMauri said.
"We need a stronger diversified job base with higher paying jobs," Banner said. "So the challenge for our community is to be open to the influx of new industry jobs and new businesses that can offer long-term, high-paying careers for individuals in the area."
Banner said the University is doing an incredible job creating employment opportunities, but there are two challenges posed to the University community. The first, he said, is finding a high-paying job in Charlottesville for the "trailing spouse" -- the spouse of the University employee. The second challenge is providing jobs for the students who want to stay in Charlottesville but cannot because they are unable to find high-paying local jobs.
"If people want to continue to live here and the quality of life is high, then [the cost of living] will remain higher than average, but [the partnership's] objective is to increase the annual average wage," deMauri said.
Soaring home prices, higher property taxes and higher rent have caused an increase in people's monthly expenses, Brown said.
"There is a lot of talent here, and the wages aren't as high as they could be," he said.
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