Midland county ranked nationally for purchase power

MIDLAND, Texas (KOSA) - According to Smart Asset’s the City of Midland ranks as one of the top counties in the nation for purchasing power.

In their annual study on the places with the most purchasing power. Midland county ranked second in the state of Texas, and sixth overall among all U.S. counties with an average annual salary of just under 80,000 a year.

The study measured the income of local residents against the cost of living in each U.S. county.

That’s because the way you measure purchasing power is per capita income subtracted by the cost of living.

“What makes Midland one of the top purchasing powers in the country is the availability of jobs in the area,” said Sara Harris, Exec Director of the Midland Development Corporation.

The largest major occupation group in Midland is construction and extraction occupations, employing 14,000 workers. The next-largest occupation groups in the region are office and administrative support occupations which employ 12,000 workers, and transportation and material moving occupations which employ 11,698 workers.

However, occupation groups in Midland county with the highest average wages per worker are legal occupations. These jobs make just around $124,000 per year. Management occupations make $123,000 per year. And architecture and engineering occupations make $107,000 per year.

“Generally, high simply because wages have been traditionally higher in Midland thanks to the energy industry and that tends to boost wages and salaries across all occupations here,” said Harris.

Inflation is going to have an impact on purchasing power because it’s going to bring the cost of living and bring people’s purchasing power down.

“The cost of living and cost of vehicles, fuel, and food is generally higher in Midland than in the surrounding communities like Lubbock, Abilene, and Amarillo,” said Harris. “But in contrast, the wages are also higher so that helps keep things in balance which you might be paying more for per house but you’re also earning more annually so it kind of washes out.”

In the surrounding counties near Midland, Ector county finished 116th. Other county rankings included Glasscock at 12th, Martin at 19th, and Ward at 69 for the state of Texas.