As an homage to Monday Night Football, Vertical IQ continues its Gameday Economic Play-by-Play blog series, using our Industry Intelligence to showcase competing teams’ hometowns. This week’s matchup sees the New York Giants take on my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers, who are 5-2 and on a two-game winning streak, I might add!
As the daughter of a Pittsburgh native, I’ve been cheering on the Steelers my whole life. The game will be played at the riverfront Acrisure Stadium (formerly — and still affectionately — known as Heinz Field), a central riverfront location for the city’s 2,365,501 residents.
The New York Giants home field, on the other hand, is MetLife Stadium, 7 miles west of Midtown Manhattan in … GASP! … East Rutherford, N.J., population 10,022. So for the purposes of this post, we’ll look at the economic landscape just down the road in greater Newark, N.J., where the population is around 2,267,172, according to the latest Census Bureau numbers.
While both cities have comparable populations and an industry-focused past, let’s see what makes their unique economies tick today.
A slice of the Big Apple: Newark’s economic big picture
Yes, Newark is right across the Hudson from Manhattan. And yes, the name likely brings a major airport to mind for many people, but the reality is that there is more to the “Gateway City” than its role as a transportation hub.
The local economy of Newark had a total of 1,264,100 jobs in September 2023, per data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Job growth in the area was 2.06% in December 2023 compared to a year ago. By contrast, the national job growth rate during the same time period was 1.18%. Yet the unemployment rate for Newark is less rosy: 5.2% in February 2024 versus 4.6% a year ago, and the national unemployment rate of 3.9%.
The average income in Newark is naturally higher than the national average, given the higher cost of living there, but it also has been steadily increasing. The Bureau of Economic Analysis’ latest figures show per capita income was $84,862 in 2022, an increase of $1,993 from the previous year. That’s 130% of the U.S. average that same year.
The population of Newark has dipped overall in recent years, shrinking by -9.3% from 2018-2022, according to the most recent Census Bureau data. The biggest dip was between 2018 and 2019, when the population dropped -13.2%. However, Newark’s population growth of 0.1% from 2021 to 2022 was comparable to the U.S. average in 2022.
Newark is also known as “Brick City” because of its many brick commercial and residential buildings. Unsurprisingly, housing prices in this region are high, averaging $479,400 in 2022 versus the U.S. average of $320.900. Local Market Monitor data also shows that home prices were up 9% in 2023 as compared to 5% nationally. This is due in part to Newark’s lack of housing supply, with total housing permits in December 2023 -43.0% from last year. Single family permits were -30.0% and multi-family permits were -47.1%.
Industries taking flight in Newark
Based on Bureau of Labor Statistics figures, the sectors that employ the most people in the Newark area are Business and Professional (19%), Health and Education (15%), and Government (13%). However, in the past 12 months, the industry sectors with the most growth were Leisure and Hotels (up 10.06%), Finance (up 4.73%), and Health and Education (up 4.17%).
For Newark’s county, Essex, total SBA Lending has topped $929 million in the last 20 years. The peak number of SBA dollars came in 2021 at the height of the pandemic as many businesses in the greater New York City region struggled to survive. In that year, Essex County’s SBA lending exceeded $98.6 million.
The industries that have received the most SBA dollars have been:
- Full-service restaurants
- Limited-service restaurants
- Child care services
- General freight, trucking
“Steeling” a look at the Pittsburgh economy
Pittsburgh is of course known for its long-time steel production, hence the name of their NFL team. In fact, materials from the “Steel City” were used to build New York’s Brooklyn Bridge, the George Washington Bridge, the Chrysler Building, and the Empire State Building!
More recently, Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that the Pittsburgh economy had a total of 1,168,500 jobs as of September 2023. The city’s job market grew 1.12% in December 2023 versus a year ago, slightly less growth than Newark saw (2.06%) but on par with the national rate of 1.18% during the same time period.
Unlike Newark, however, the unemployment rate for Pittsburgh in February 2024 was just 3.6%. That’s lower than the 4.4% unemployment in Pittsburgh a year ago, lower than the national rate of 3.9%, and well below Newark’s 5.2% unemployment.
Looking at incomes in Pittsburgh, the per capita average was $65,792 in 2022, per the Bureau of Economic Analysis’ latest data. That’s an increase of $319 from the previous year and nearly even with the U.S. average of $65,470.
Interestingly, the population of the city has remained remarkably steady over the past decade, with no major peaks or valleys, hovering right around 2.3 million people. Census Bureau figures show 0.8% growth over the past five years (2018-2022) of their data, which is comparable to the U.S. average.
Home prices in the ‘Burgh have been inching up recently though, increasing 6% for 2023, per data from Local Market Monitor. That’s slightly higher than the national average home price increase of 5%.
Yet overall, home prices in the Pittsburgh market averaged $209,800 in 2022, which is below the U.S. average of $320,000 for that same year. These housing costs may be due in part to an increase in supply. Pittusburght’s total housing permits in December of 2023 were up 34.9% from the previous year, with single family permits up 23.8% and multi-family permits up 57.9%.
Digging into Pittsburgh’s industries
Bureau of Labor Statistics figures reveal that the industries employing the most people in Pittsburgh are Health and Education (21%), Business and Professional (16%), and Retail (10%). But it is worth noting that the sectors with the most growth in the past year have been Leisure and Hotels (4.74% growth) and Mining/Construction (3.96% growth), showing that Pittsburgh still depends on its “steelers.”
Looking at Allegheny County’s SBA lending, which includes greater Pittsburgh, we see that total SBA Lending reached $1.4 billion in the last two decades. Like Newark/Essex County, the peak of that lending corresponded with the pandemic, with Allegheny County getting $126.5 million SBA dollars in 2021 and $129.6 million in 2022.
Similar to Newark/Essex County, the majority of those SBA dollars for Allegheny County/Pittsburgh have gone to:
- Full-service restaurants
- Limited-service restaurants
- Child care services
- Hotels and motels
Excel at your local sales game!
The emotional stakes are high for me in this particular Monday Night Football game as I root for my Steelers to rout the Giants. But in our Gameday Economic Play-by-Play blog series, I’m rooting on ALL Vertical IQ users who are taking advantage of our local economic insights to help their clients’ and prospects’ businesses succeed!
When sales professionals tap into Vertical IQ’s Local Economies and Localized Industry Data, you’ll find info about specific geographic areas, as well as details on how an industry operates within your chosen metropolitan statistical area (MSA)/county. With this level of intelligence, you’ll be able to:
- Support your product/service recommendations with quantifiable facts
- Offer the value-added context and insights your clients need to make informed decisions
- Head off many potential industry risks
- Elevate your trusted advisor status with business owners
The play clock is running, but the time is always right to boost your reputation as an industry and economic insider by using Vertical IQ!
Want to up your game with this type of targeted economic and Industry Intelligence? Contact us today to learn more about Vertical IQ!