• Business Insider looked at the purchasing power of a six-figure salary in different Texas cities.
• We adjusted $100,000 for Texas' 25 metro areas using cost of living data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
• Based on 2023 data, the purchasing power of $100,000 would be $102,438 in the Austin metro area.

One of Texas' big draws for the thousands of Americans who move there each year is its relatively low cost of living.

However, purchasing power isn't the same across Texas metros. If you had $100,000 in Austin, it wouldn't have the same value as in Longview, Corpus Christi, and other places in the state.

To compare people's purchasing power depending on where they are, Business Insider calculated what $100,000 means for each Texas metropolitan statistical area when adjusted by its regional price parity. That gives a sense of how much $100,000 at national average prices would actually buy in those cities based on their local cost of living.

Most of the 25 metros in the state had regional price parities below 100 in 2023, data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis showed. That means their price levels were less than the national average.

"Whether you are considering a job offer in a more expensive city, looking for an affordable place to retire, or are just curious about how price levels compare between different parts of the country, our regional price parities can help," Vipin Arora, the director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, said in a December post.

Texas has long been an attractive state for movers. Census Bureau data showed Texas had the largest positive net domestic migration — or the biggest number of people moving in from elsewhere in the US minus people leaving Texas for another state — from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, among states.

Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that many kinds of healthcare workers make over $100,000 on average in Texas. Ship engineers, postsecondary business teachers, and management analysts are a few of the other jobs that make over $100,000 on average in the Lone Star State.

The Dallas metro area had the highest regional price parity among the 25 Texas metros. Given the regional price parity for Dallas was 103.3 in 2023, that would mean the adjusted value of $100,000 at average national prices equals around $96,800 in that city.

Below is what $100,000 is worth in cities across Texas, ranked from lowest adjusted value to highest. We also included the 2023 regional price parity for each metro in Texas.

25. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington

Regional price parity: 103.293

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $96,812

24. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land

Regional price parity: 100.220

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $99,780

23. Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown

Regional price parity: 97.620

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $102,438

22. Midland

Regional price parity: 94.761

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $105,529

21. San Antonio-New Braunfels

Regional price parity: 93.727

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $106,693

20. Tyler

Regional price parity: 92.386

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $108,242

19. Odessa

Regional price parity: 92.056

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $108,630

18. Sherman-Denison

Regional price parity: 91.804

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $108,928

17. Killeen-Temple

Regional price parity: 91.761

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $108,979

16. Corpus Christi

Regional price parity: 91.306

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $109,522

14 (tie). San Angelo

Regional price parity: 90.869

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $110,049

14 (tie). Lubbock

Regional price parity: 90.869

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $110,049

13. Amarillo

Regional price parity: 90.812

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $110,118

12. Waco

Regional price parity: 90.786

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $110,149

11. College Station-Bryan

Regional price parity: 90.701

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $110,252

10. Victoria

Regional price parity: 90.631

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $110,338

9. El Paso

Regional price parity: 90.241

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $110,814

8. Beaumont-Port Arthur

Regional price parity: 90.238

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $110,818

7. Abilene

Regional price parity: 89.849

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $111,298

6. Wichita Falls

Regional price parity: 88.914

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $112,468

5. Longview

Regional price parity: 88.417

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $113,100

4. Laredo

Regional price parity: 87.786

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $113,913

3. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission

Regional price parity: 85.555

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $116,884

2. Texarkana

Regional price parity: 85.308

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $117,222

1. Brownsville-Harlingen

Regional price parity: 85.183

$100,000 adjusted by RPP: $117,394

• Economists talked to Business Insider about what they expect to happen in the job market this year.
• Getting a white-collar job could still be hard, and more people may have to return to the office.
• Changes under a new administration could affect hiring and turnover.

Getting a job was tough for many Americans in 2024. If a career shift is your New Year's resolution for 2025, you might still find it challenging.

Job growth has slowed, unemployment has been historically low but rising, and unemployed Americans are staying jobless for longer.

"Heading into 2025, it is going to be a little harder for job seekers across the board," Cory Stahle, an economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab, said in December. "We've seen that just about every category on Indeed has come down year over year in terms of the number of job postings. So that suggests that employer demand has cooled."

Nela Richardson, ADP's chief economist, described the labor market in 2024 as unusually stable and quiet. She pointed to steadily low layoffs and a drop in voluntary turnover amid cooler hiring.

"The stasis is rather abnormal, and I think it's going to make it tough for workers who are looking for new opportunities to find them," Richardson said.

Here's what economists expect when it comes to finding a job, wages and promotions, and other aspects of work life in 2025.

A new administration could bring uncertainty

One reason it's still going to be hard for job searchers to land a job is employers may want to see what policies President-elect Donald Trump pursues early in his second term.

"While business sentiment has picked up somewhat since the election, there is still a lot of uncertainty about future policy changes that will likely make businesses hesitant to ramp up hiring, particularly in the first half of 2025," Dante DeAntonio, a labor economist with Moody's Analytics, said in a written statement.

A potential crackdown on immigration could affect industries with a higher share of immigrant workers, like the construction sector. DeAntonio said those industries "may find themselves scrambling for workers if material changes to immigration policy are enacted." DeAntonio noted the leisure and hospitality industry and agriculture as two others that have historically depended on immigrant labor and could be affected by changes.

The new administration could also affect government workers and job seekers. Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, led by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, is figuring out suggestions for cutting federal spending and regulations.

"A drastic reduction in federal regulations provides sound industrial logic for mass head-count reductions across the federal bureaucracy," Musk and Ramaswamy wrote in an op-ed published by The Wall Street Journal.

Employment growth in the federal government has cooled down. Between November 2022 and November 2023, the federal government added 77,000 jobs but just 49,000 the following year.

"Depending on how things go with the new administration, we may see a lot of government workers either losing their jobs or quitting," Brian Rose, senior US economist for UBS's chief investment office, said. "This could be an opportunity for private sector companies to pick up some skilled workers."

Getting a job in a white-collar industry may still be a challenge

Richardson said white-collar job seekers, like those searching for tech roles, should be ready to network and for it to take more time to get a job.

"It's not that these jobs don't exist, and it's not that there's not opportunities out there, but the opportunities that people had gotten used to prior to 2024 have slowed," Richardson said. "This economy coming out of the pandemic really thrived on tech jobs."

DeAntonio said white-collar industries "are likely to remain at the top of the list as difficult for job seekers to enter as those firms have been some of the most cautious in terms of hiring."

Stahle said there are still a lot of jobs available in construction and manufacturing, even if opportunities have slowed from a year or two ago. However, Stahle said software development, marketing, and other knowledge-work jobs "have been hit much harder" by the job market slowdown.

"I think it's going to continue to be kind of a divergence in the labor market where some job seekers will have an easy time next year, albeit a little harder than last year, and then some are going to have a harder time than they've had in a few years," Stahle said in a 2024 interview.

Healthcare, manufacturing, and construction will probably be good places to look for work

Rose said the difficulty of landing work depends on someone's job experience and field of work. While hiring might continue to be rough in finance and tech, construction is one industry that needs workers.

Rose said construction and skilled workers for smaller companies are in high demand. He also thinks lower-paying jobs are in demand.

"If you're in healthcare or the skilled trades, you're in the right place," Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter, said. "If you're anywhere else, you might want to reevaluate your career choices and look into re-skilling and broadening your search."

Healthcare has had large job growth relative to other industries and has largely maintained its growth rate even as broader hiring has slowed.

Richardson sees a hopeful outlook for the interest-rate-sensitive manufacturing sector as the Federal Reserve has cut rates in its last few meetings.

"As we're seeing the Fed continue to try to draw down rates, manufacturing might benefit from that, and new sources of technology and tech advancement, that leads to more hiring in the sector," Richardson said.

More workers might have to head back to the office

AT&T said in December that it wants its office workers fully back to the workplace. Amazon also told employees they need to fully work from the office, but it has delayed the January 2 deadline for some.

"We are likely to see a continuation of the mixed bag of workplace policy changes that occurred this year," DeAntonio said. "Some firms will undoubtedly make a stronger return to office push, especially now as workers seem less inclined to switch jobs as they have in recent years."

Despite those moves, the share of white-collar employees working outside the office has risen. Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed that 46% of management, business, and financial operations occupations worked remotely at least part of the time in November 2024, up from 41% a year prior.

Real wage growth could be strong this year

Stahle said the "outlook for raises and compensation is promising." However, he also said, "we don't want to see wages necessarily pick up to a point where they could fuel inflation."

Stahle said hiring needs to pick up, particularly for roles that haven't had robust growth, to have a soft landing, where inflation slows to the Fed's 2% target while unemployment and layoffs stay steady.

"We want to see people continuing to have decent wage growth, especially wage growth that keeps their purchasing power up and above inflation," Stahle said.

The year-over-year increase in average hourly earnings was 4% in November, down from the growth rate in 2022 and the roughly 4.4% increase at the start of the year, although it's outpaced cooling inflation since mid-2023. Rose thinks wage growth will likely moderate further.

"There's just better balance in the labor market, so less need for companies to raise their wages to attract workers," Rose said about the current slowdown.

However, DeAntonio said if immigration policy changes occur, the labor market may become even tighter, "which will increase leverage for employees in seeking bigger pay increases."

The job market may be unfavorable for new college graduates

Stahle said the job market could be challenging for young people. The unemployment rate for recent college graduates aged 22 to 27 has been ticking up, but it falls short of the rate for those without a degree in this age group.

Rose thinks "recent college grads who went to some private college and spent a lot of money and looking for a high-paying, entry-level job to justify that investment" are having a tough time in the job market.

Are you worried about the job market in 2025, making a career change, or have an interesting career story to tell? Reach out to this reporter at [email protected].

• The US Surgeon General released a report directly linking alcohol to cancer.
• A BI analysis found that spending on most kinds of alcohol has declined — especially among young adults.
• It's reflective of Gen Z's shifting habits when it comes to alcohol consumption.

By the time the US Surgeon General dropped its report linking alcohol to cancer on Friday, Americans had already been curbing their spending on booze over the last several decades — especially young people.

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said in his latest advisory that alcohol consumption is the third leading preventable cause of cancer in the US, following tobacco usage and obesity. He recommended updating warnings on alcohol packages to raise awareness of the harmful effects of drinking. However, doing so requires an act of Congress.

"For individuals, be aware that cancer risk increases as you drink more alcohol," Murthy wrote in a post on X on Friday. "As you consider whether or how much to drink, keep in mind that less is better when it comes to cancer risk."

Do you plan to change your drinking habits in response to the Surgeon General's recommendation? Tell us why in this survey.

Many Americans have already been cutting back. Business Insider analyzed alcohol spending data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Bureau of Labor Statistics to get a sense of how alcoholic beverage consumption has changed. It showed that spending has decreased over the past few decades, especially among Americans under 25.

With spirits and beer in particular, Bureau of Economic Analysis data shows that personal spending as a share of personal consumption expenditures has dropped since 1959. Spending on wine as a share of personal spending, meanwhile, has seen a small uptick.

Additionally, expenditure data adjusted to 2023 dollars using the consumer price index shows that younger adults under 25 years old spent less on average than this age group years prior. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows that spending on alcoholic beverages by Americans under 25 is similar to people aged 75 and over.

The decrease in alcohol spending among young people is reflective of Gen Z and millennials' shifting habits and priorities compared to other generations. A Gallup survey from 2023 found that 62% of adults under 35 said they drink, compared to 72% two decades ago, with some of them citing health concerns as a key reason.

Gen Z is also favoring more active settings like fitness groups to socialize instead of drinking, marking a shift in younger Americans' behaviors.

It's unclear how the alcohol industry will respond to Murthy's latest report. However, warning labels on alcoholic drinks have not been updated since the '80s, and Murthy urged Congress to take action by updating labels and revising recommended consumption limits to prevent cancer among the US population.

• Minimum-wage workers in California, Vermont, and 19 other states will earn more at the start of 2025.
• Missouri voters passed a referendum in the November election raising the state's minimum wage.
• An analysis found over 9 million workers will likely be affected by the coming minimum wage increases.

Workers in 21 states are set to start the new year with a raise.

When the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve, minimum wages across the nation are set to be hiked. In a few states, the minimum wage will rise to $15 an hour, a longtime target rate for advocates.

Hover over the states in the map below to see how much minimum wages will change.

Of the 21 states that will see an increase, 14 are subject to inflation-based adjustments as part of existing minimum wage laws, per a report from the left-leaning think tank Economic Policy Institute. The EPI report estimated that full-time impacted workers in those states will see their annual earnings increase by $420 on average.

In the November election, Missouri voters approved a referendum to increase the state's minimum wage to $13.75 on January 1, 2025, and then to $15 in 2026. Some small business owners in the state are reportedly already bracing for higher costs, and business groups there have already filed a legal petition to attempt to overturn the new proposition. Recent research has found that independent businesses are, on average, able to shoulder minimum wage increases — although higher minimum wages can lead to smaller restaurants shuttering.

A 2022 ballot initiative in Nebraska has the state on a similar trajectory, with workers set to get an increase to $13.50 in January 2025 and then a hike to $15 in 2026.

Alaska will increase the state's minimum wage to $11.91 on January 1 because of an inflation adjustment. Minimum wage workers will get another raise on July 1 because of a ballot measure in the recent election. The state minimum wage will rise to $13 in the summer, $14 the following July, and $15 in 2027. Its minimum wage would be adjusted for inflation after that.

Delaware and Virginia are the only states in the South that will see minimum wage increases at the start of the year. Five states in the South don't have minimum wage laws, and Georgia's minimum wage is below the federal minimum wage of $7.25, based on data from the Department of Labor. That means those states default to the federal minimum.

An analysis from the Economic Policy Institute found that over 9 million workers are set to directly and indirectly benefit from increased state minimum wages.

Out of those workers, just over 3 million are directly set to see their pay go up. Even more will be affected indirectly. Over 6 million workers are within 15% of the new minimum wage floor — which, per EPI, means their employers are likely to adjust their wages to compete for talent.

In addition to state minimum wage increases happening in almost two dozen states on January 1, the National Employment Law Project said 48 cities and counties will also have minimum wage increases that day.

Nationally, the federal minimum wage has sat untouched at $7.25 since 2009. President-elect Donald Trump has signaled that he could be open to changing that number, telling "Meet the Press" that he would consider raising the federal rate — although he noted that the cost of living across the country varies, making it difficult to enact one flat rate.

Mike Draper, the owner and founder of screen-printing and retail business RAYGUN, whose 10 stores include a location in Missouri, told Business Insider that minimum wage increases — like the one recently approved by that state's voters — could help bolster workers' spending power. Draper already pays his workers a starting wage of $15.50 an hour.

"This is different from a tax increase, or a rent increase, or a cost of goods increase. None of that money is going to go directly back into your community, for the most part," Draper said, adding: "Increases to worker pay is going to be felt immediately."

Are you set to see your wages go up on January 1? Contact these reporters at [email protected] and [email protected].

• American Kathleen O'Donnell said she felt at home the first time she visited Greece.
• She moved away from the US in 2019 before settling full-time in Greece in 2022.
• She likes Greece's food quality but doesn't like how car-centric the country can be.

Kathleen O'Donnell, 39, doesn't think she will ever move back to the US.

O'Donnell said she felt right at home when she visited Greece during an almost yearlong trip to Europe, Southeast Asia, and Australia in 2018 and 2019. After moving away from the US later on in 2019, she decided to be in Greece as much as she possibly could. She's been living in the country full time since applying for a digital nomad residence permit in May 2022.

"The longer that I live here, the happier I am, the more I love it, the more that I feel at home, and the more that I feel really sure that I found the perfect place for me to live right now," O'Donnell said.

She still loves visiting the US. Even though she's unsure if she will live in Greece for the rest of her life, she said it's unlikely she'll return permanently to the States.

"I just don't think that it has the quality of life that I could find in most other places these days," O'Donnell, who has been to around 30 countries, said. "The lack of sense of community is really what gets me. It's a very isolated society."

O'Donnell said she thinks it's an exciting time for people interested in moving to a different country because many places, like Brazil, Italy, and Thailand, offer digital nomad visas.

What O'Donnell likes and dislikes about Greece

O'Donnell said she likes the quality and affordability of food in Greece, including the produce at her local farmers market. She said the market can be noisy, but she enjoys getting the chance to become familiar with the people there.

"That sense of community is another pro," O'Donnell said. "Even in Athens, which is a very large city, it feels like a series of small villages. You really get to know people around you."

She said she had become friends with many of her neighbors since moving to her apartment earlier this year.

O'Donnell also thinks it's easy to travel elsewhere, given Athens International Airport, and enjoys the country's weather.

Meanwhile, she finds getting a residence permit takes a long time. She said it took around half a year for a two-year permit to be approved and another month to get it.

"The date of that permit starts when you apply, not when you get it," she said, adding. "and you can't go anywhere but your home country in that time and you can't even travel through most of Europe."

She's waiting for her renewal, which she thinks could take at least a year. "In the meantime, you're just very restricted about what you can do, and that's pretty frustrating," she said.

O'Donnell also plans to buy an apartment and has found that this is taking a while.

"It's just a simple one-bedroom apartment, and it will probably take a full two years to complete this very typical purchase, which is just wild," she said. "I've been trying to buy a place since December 2021."

She also thinks that while Athens is vibrant and lively, it's car-centric, and the sidewalks could be improved. She thinks getting around is tough because she doesn't have a vehicle and likes walking.

Despite the cons, she said she still loves Athens and Greece overall.

"I am so happy here," she said. "I just have such a great quality of life. It's very different from the US."

What has your moving or travel experience been like? Share with this reporter at [email protected].

• The labor market is softening, and it might be harder to get a job compared to the past.
• Business Insider talked to job experts about why applicants might struggle to get hired for a role.
• A poorly organized résumé or not learning about a company during interview prep could be issues.

If you're not hearing back after applying for jobs, you may need to make some changes to your résumé, interview prep, or search strategy.

A cooler labor market means it could be harder to find a job now than a couple of years ago. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows there were 1.1 job openings per unemployed person this past October, the latest month with data, compared to 1.3 job openings per unemployed person a year earlier.

Stacie Haller, the chief career advisor with ResumeBuilder.com, said she thinks "people aren't necessarily as prepared when they enter a job search today" because they may think the job market is the same as it was many years ago.

But for job seekers who are struggling, there are ways you can try to improve your odds. Below are some things that you may want to change if you aren't landing a job.

You are sending out way too many résumés

One issue could be you're sending out a bunch of résumés, including for jobs you don't even want or for jobs where you don't have the desired experience. Haller suggested having most of what an employer is looking for before applying to the role.

"I would prefer people to not send out 800 résumés just throwing spaghetti against the wall," Haller said. "That's when you hear from people, 'It's a horrible market, and I can't get a job.'"

Gabrielle Davis, a career trends expert at Indeed, told Business Insider people should first consider the things that matter to them in a job beyond a paycheck, such as the benefits and whether it's remote, instead of first applying to many roles.

"I think that when job seekers function from maybe a place of slight panic, they don't do that because they feel like, 'I just have to move fast because the market's moving fast. I have to get all the stuff in, and I'm just going to see what sticks,'" Davis said. "And that's not always really fruitful for them. So I think that it's better to take a much more intentional approach to the actual job search."

You are waiting too long to apply

OK, so you have decided to send out fewer résumés that are more focused on gigs you want. Now, don't wait too long to actually apply.

Haller said job seekers should reply to a job posting within 24 hours "to at least have a shot to be in the mix."

Haller said people come to her and say, "'Oh, I saw a job posting that I'm interested in.' And they take days, if not a week, to reply."

She added, "By the time they send their résumé out, that company's probably on final interviews."

You might need to reconsider the contents or format of your résumé

Six seconds. That's how long Haller said job seekers have "to capture somebody's attention by your résumé or by your profile."

Formatting could be important to consider when putting together a résumé in hopes of successfully landing work.

"You need to know how to create and format a résumé that works in today's job search process," Haller said, adding this "means the formatting should be cleaned, standardized, and easy to read."

Leanne Getz, vice president of tech staffing firm Experis's delivery channels, said the résumé should also be similar to things noted on a candidate's online profile, like on LinkedIn. She also said résumés should be accurate and be in their own words.

"We're seeing candidates utilizing certain AI tools to generate the résumé, and it's fine to use it to help guide or give you suggestions, but you want to be careful about having something like ChatGPT design your whole résumé," Getz said. "It's easy for recruiters to pick up on that. It doesn't seem authentic."

You are not considering your connections

There's more that can be done than uploading a résumé to a job application. Haller said job seekers may want to see who they can contact at the company beforehand.

Haller said, "The last thing you want to do is dump your résumé into" an applicant tracking system "if you have another way to make contact inside that company."

Getz noted people could consider who they may know at the place they're hoping to get a job when they are applying.

"It is often about the network and who you know, but it also is sometimes just a game of numbers," Getz said. "There are so many applicants. You have to just keep applying, be consistent, be persistent, be patient."

You are not doing sufficient prep for an interview

If you get the good news that an employer is interested in interviewing you, it's probably best to prepare for the interview with some research.

Haller said people should know the company's mission, why they even want to work for the employer, and prepare questions to ask during the interview.

"I've interviewed people as a hiring manager with people who have no idea what the company does or why they're even interested in a job," Haller said. "That's a waste of everybody's time."

Some helpful hints of what to say during the interview are in the job posting itself.

"The job posting tells you exactly what they're looking for," Haller said. "That's where your prep starts. So if you know what they're looking for, you want to prepare as many examples that you can about what they might ask in reference to what they're looking for in the person they hire."

Getz also talked about being prepared and other basics of interviewing. Getz said to make "sure that you're dressed professional, that you've prepared, that you've done your research on the company that you're interviewing with, that you have strong questions to ask, that you're prepared to answer behavioral style questions."

Don't do an interview from a car and eliminate any background noise, Getz also advised. Getz emphasized the basics of doing an interview because "it could be one of those minor, little things that knock you out of consideration that could have been overcome by simply being prepared, dressed for the interview."

Davis suggested preparing a few main points that you want to reiterate in every interview round. "If you're speaking to maybe two or three people at a company, just because you've spoken to the same people at one company doesn't always mean that they are sharing exactly what you've spoken about to their colleagues," Davis said.

She added those main points can help show your prep, and she said, "Any sign of preparedness to an employer means, OK, this person is showing up. They're here. They're taking it seriously."

You aren't sending a thank-you note, or you're following up too much

Davis said a handwritten thank-you note could be good if you did an in-person interview. Even if it was not an in-person interview, Davis said sending a simple thank-you note on the same day could be good.

Davis said the note should thank the person for their time and include something personal from the interview to show you were listening.

"I think that really goes a long way," Davis said. "And after that, it's kind out of your hands, so waiting to hear back from the recruiter or hiring manager and then going from there."

Getz said "to be cautious about how often you're following up" because you're not the only job candidate a hiring manager is talking to. She said people don't want to overdo their reach out, and it should be professional.

How long did it take you to find a job, or how long have you been unemployed? Reach out to this reporter to share your experience at [email protected].

• Roofers, construction helpers, and grounds maintenance workers have higher fatal injury rates than many other jobs.
• Last year, logging workers had the highest rate per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers at 98.9.
• The overall rate dropped from 3.7 fatal injuries per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers in 2022 to 3.5.

Logging, transportation, and hunting work can be risky jobs in the US based on the latest fatal work injury rates released by the Labor Department.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently published data on fatal injuries at work in 2023 by industry and occupation.

Fatal injury rates at work were down overall last year. "A worker died every 99 minutes from a work-related injury in 2023 compared to 96 minutes in 2022," a news release from BLS on Thursday said.

Three civilian occupations had rates above 50 fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers. Logging workers had a fatal injury rate of almost 100 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers in 2023, way above the overall rate of 3.5 fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers last year. That rate of 3.5 was a tick down from the rate of 3.7 in 2022.

Below are the 10 deadliest jobs in the US based on fatal work injuries per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers.

10. Structural iron and steel workers

Fatal work injury rate: 19.8

Number of fatal work injuries: 9

9. Miscellaneous agricultural workers

Fatal work injury rate: 20.2

Number of fatal work injuries: 146

8. Grounds maintenance workers

Fatal work injury rate: 20.5

Number of fatal work injuries: 226

7. Driver/sales workers and truck drivers

Fatal work injury rate: 26.8

Number of fatal work injuries: 984

6. Helpers in construction trades

Fatal work injury rate: 27.4

Number of fatal work injuries: 16

5. Aircraft pilots and flight engineers

Fatal work injury rate: 31.3

Number of fatal work injuries: 62

4. Refuse and recyclable material collectors

Fatal work injury rate: 41.4

Number of fatal work injuries: 41

3. Roofers

Fatal work injury rate: 51.8

Number of fatal work injuries: 113

2. Fishing and hunting workers

Fatal work injury rate: 86.9

Number of fatal work injuries: 19

1. Logging workers

Fatal work injury rate: 98.9

Number of fatal work injuries: 52

• Ten of the 15 most expensive metros based on regional price parity data for 2023 were in California.
• Miami and New York were two non-California metros with higher prices than the national average.
• Some of the least expensive areas were in Arkansas.

The most expensive US metros are commonly found in California, while many of the least expensive ones can be found in the South.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis recently published regional price parity data for 2023. The figures for states and metros show how price levels of goods and services compare to the national average.

The metro area of Seattle had a regional price parity for goods and services of around 113 in 2023. That means prices were 13% more expensive than the national average, making it one of the metros with the highest regional price parities.

"Whether you are considering a job offer in a more expensive city, looking for an affordable place to retire, or are just curious about how price levels compare between different parts of the country, our regional price parities can help," Vipin Arora, the director of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, said in a post.

California was 12.6% more expensive than the national average in 2023, making it the state with the highest regional price parity.

Several Golden State metros had the highest regional price parities among the over 380 metro areas in the US. San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles was roughly 11% more expensive than the national average, and prices in San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley were 18% higher than the average.

It's also especially pricey in the Seattle, New York, Miami, Boston, and Honolulu metro areas, rounding out the non-Californian metros with the highest regional price parities in 2023.

Pine Bluff, Arkansas, was around 20% less expensive than the national average, making it the metro with the lowest regional price parity in 2023. Arkansas had the lowest regional price parity among states last year.

Several other metros in Arkansas were among the least expensive areas in the US. Most of the 15 metros with the lowest cost of living were in the South.

• The Federal Reserve is expected to cut interest rates this week by 25 basis points.
• Inflation has ticked back up in recent months, and economists think the job market is still robust.
• The outlook for 2025 is more uncertain while the Fed waits to see how Trump will impact the economy.

The final interest-rate decision of the year is coming this week, and it's likely to give Americans some more financial relief.

On Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee is expected to announce another interest-rate cut. As of Monday afternoon, CME FedWatch, which estimates interest-rate changes based on market predictions, forecasts a close to 100% chance the Federal Reserve will cut rates by 25 basis points.

Data out last week showed overall inflation has sped up. The consumer price index's year-over-year growth rate rose from 2.4% in September to 2.6% in October before climbing to 2.7% in November. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, has been holding steady, with a year-over-year change of 3.3% from September to November.

Jerome Powell, chair of the Fed, said at The New York Times' DealBook Conference on December 4 that "we're in a very good place with the economy," but inflation is still not quite where the central bank wants it to be.

"The labor market is better, and the downside risks appear to be less in the labor market, growth is definitely stronger than we thought, and inflation is coming a little higher," Powell said. "So the good news is that we can afford to be a little more cautious as we try to find neutral."

Slower job growth and higher unemployment may add fuel to the argument for continuing to cut, while a tighter-than-expected labor market could lead the central bank to pause while waiting to see if wage growth and inflation speed up.

"I don't think there's that much cause for concern in the labor market data that would lead to them suspending their plan to cut," Julia Pollak, the chief economist at ZipRecruiter, told Business Insider.

Pollak said the quits rate, the latest reading of which was 2.1% in October, is "consistent with a non-inflationary labor market" and that "wage growth at 4% over the year should be sustainable given current productivity growth." Cory Stahle, an economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab, said the US economy continues to add jobs above population growth and has low unemployment.

The unemployment rate increased from 4.1% to 4.2% in November. The three-month average job gain in November was around 173,000, lower than early 2024 but still strong.

"There are still many reasons to be optimistic about the labor market, but also you don't, as a Federal Reserve policymaker, you don't want to wait until things start looking bad to react to that because by then, you might be too late," Stahle said.

The interest rate outlook for 2025 is a bit more uncertain. President-elect Donald Trump has already posed broad tariff threats on key trading partners with the US, including China, Canada, and Mexico. If he implements those tariffs, consumers would likely face higher prices on impacted goods. The Fed could respond to inflationary trade pressures by once again raising interest rates.

However, Powell has so far declined to comment on any policy changes the Fed would consider in response to Trump's tariff threats, saying during the DealBook conference that too much about what Trump might do with tariffs is unknown.

"We can't really start making policy on that at this time. That is something that lies well into the future. We have to let this play out," Powell said, emphasizing that the Fed is making decisions about what's happening in the economy now and not six months from now.

Still, some economists expect 2025 to be another strong year for the economy. Gregory Daco, the chief economist at EY, said that the US "remains on a solid growth trajectory supported by healthy employment and income growth, robust consumer spending, and strong productivity momentum that is helping tame inflationary pressures."

"We expect these positive dynamics will carry into 2025 allowing the Fed to pursue gradual, but cautious, policy recalibration," Daco said in written commentary.

• TikTok faces a potential ban in the US if ByteDance doesn't divest by January 19.
• The ban could impact creators relying on TikTok for income through brand deals and e-commerce.
• Instagram and YouTube may benefit from a ban as creators shift their efforts.

TikTok creators and their teams are starting to take the threat of a ban in the US more seriously — and some wish they had begun preparing earlier.

TikTok could be yanked from US app stores as early as January 19 unless its Chinese owner, ByteDance, divests. TikTok is challenging the law in court but was just handed another legal defeat this month.

While a ban might annoy many of TikTok's 170 million US users, it would be far more impactful for those creators who use it to make money through brand deals, its Creator Rewards Program, or other methods.

"Looking back, I wish I had encouraged my talent to focus on YouTube Shorts about a year ago — but no time like the present," said Estella Struck, founder of Viviene New York, referring to YouTube's short-form video product. Viviene New York is a marketing agency that works with brands and several TikTok-native creators.

"We're already preparing to diversify by focusing heavily on Instagram, YouTube, and even LinkedIn for short-form video content," Struck added.

Other creator-economy insiders expressed similar sentiments to BI about diversification. They generally felt that they could continue to build up audiences on other platforms or income through other gigs.

"The creator economy would take a blow, but it wouldn't be fatal," said Jasmine Enberg, VP and principal analyst at EMARKETER. "While over half of US companies use TikTok to work with creators and influencers, TikTok accounts for 17.2% of total spending."

Some parts of the creator economy could be hit harder than others, however.

Barbara Jones, CEO of Outshine Talent, said a ban "would be crushing for the e-commerce side," like those creators and brands earning money through TikTok Shop.

"Live e-commerce is really just getting started in the US, and TikTok Shop is leading the way," Jones said. "So, I think that side would be devastated. I think for content creators that make short-form content, they will be less affected."

'We are acting as if it may actually be gone in January'

Jones said she's gotten "a lot of calls of concerns and worry" about a potential TikTok ban.

Many creators and managers are putting together post-TikTok plans, even if they think there's a chance it could stick around.

"We are acting as if it may actually be gone in January despite, in my opinion, not thinking it will actually be gone," Sam Saideman, CEO of talent firm Innovo, told BI. "Best case, it doesn't go away."

Some ways of preparing are easier than others, Saideman said.

"Low-hanging fruit is to migrate fans to other social platforms," Saideman said. "Harder sells are to migrate those audiences to a place that is not reliant on algorithms such as SMS lists, email lists, or exclusive membership groups."

TikToker Joseph Arujo, who has over 830,000 followers, said he believes that even if TikTok is banned, it'll be short-lived, and ByteDance would be forced to sell.

"I think it's scary now that there is this deadline," Arujo said. "But I'm weighing out my options and going to other platforms."

Arujo isn't the only creator thinking about making changes. Justine, a content creator who has almost 260,000 followers on TikTok, said she isn't too worried about the potential ban but is thinking about "shifting a lot of focus" to Instagram and YouTube.

"I think regardless of what job you have, what role you have, having more streams of income, especially in this economy, is almost essential," said Justine, who asked her last name not be used for privacy reasons.

Creator Lauren Schiller, cofounder of the clothing company OGBFF, said that in the short term, she would post to Instagram reels, and then look to make longer-format videos for YouTube and post on her brand's blog.

A TikTok ban wouldn't impact all creators equally, Enberg said.

"A ban would be detrimental to up-and-coming creators and small businesses that rely solely or primarily on the app," Enberg said. "Big brands and established creators would also be disrupted, but can better withstand the upheaval as they're more likely to have diversified their channels and have large, engaged audiences on other platforms."

Megan, who asked her last name not be used for privacy reasons, is a stay-at-home mom who uses TikTok Shop as a side hustle to earn extra income through affiliate commissions.

"It's good to save, to take the trips, to buy Christmas gifts, to live a little more not so paycheck to paycheck," she said, adding that she earned nearly $8,000 in TikTok commissions one month.

She said she planned to allocate time to her other side hustles to make money if TikTok is banned.

The platforms creators and brands are turning to

"If there's a shift, I believe Instagram will likely take center stage, especially with its direct product-linking capabilities," Struck said.

Enberg said she thought Instagram and YouTube would be the biggest beneficiaries as they both have short-form video products that are natural fits for TikTokers.

"But even if a platform can replicate the technology, they can't force a change in culture," she said. "The type of viral, FOMO and trend-driven behavior doesn't exist on reels, even as the platform has tweaked its algorithm to better serve relevant content, including from smaller creators, to users."

Nya-Gabriella Parchment, cohead of brand partnerships at influencer firm Digital Brand Architects, said a lot of brands are betting on Instagram reels.

"It's easier to convert on Instagram, with ways to link out, so usually brands still use Instagram as their bedrock," Parchment said.

Parchment said creators are also interested in Snapchat again.

Arujo is one of them.

"Ever since the first threat of a TikTok ban, I decided I'm not going to rely on just this," Arujo said.

"Snapchat has been my No. 1," he said.

EMARKETER is owned by Business Insider's partner company Axel Springer.

• New regional price parity data showed the varying cost of living in the US.
• California and Washington, DC, had the highest cost of living, largely driven by housing costs.
• Most of the states with the lowest relative cost of living were around the middle of the country.

Many states have a lower cost of living than the national average, but the West Coast and Northeast are still pricey.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis published new regional price parity data on Thursday that showed how expensive it is to live in different areas of the US.

"Regional price parities measure the differences in price levels across states for a given year and are expressed as a percentage of the overall national price level," BEA said in a news release.

The new 2023 data showed 16 states and Washington, DC, had more expensive goods and services than the national average. The states with the lowest cost of living were mainly around the middle of the country, including some states in the South.

The following map shows overall regional price parities, where a value over 100 means it was above the national average. Hawaii's figure of 108.6 means goods and services were about 9% more expensive than the average.

California had the highest relative cost of living; the state is 12.6% more expensive than the average. California metros also made up the majority of the top 10 that had the highest all-items regional price parities in 2023. The metro area of San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley had the highest at 118.2, meaning it was almost 20% more expensive than the national average.

Washington, DC, had an ever-so-slightly higher figure than California in 2022 but fell short of California's in 2023. DC was 10.8% more expensive than the average. New Jersey ranked right below DC.

Relatively high housing costs contributed to the overall high regional price parities in those two states and DC. BEA said rents are usually "the main driver in differences in RPPs." DC, California, and New Jersey had the highest regional price parities for rents.

Arkansas continued to have the lowest regional price parity and was 13.5% less expensive than the national average in 2023. Alabama, West Virginia, and South Dakota were among the 10 states that were at least 10% less expensive than the national average.

• Inflation increased as expected in November.
• The consumer price index increased 2.7% for the 12 months ending November.
• The Federal Reserve will likely decide to cut interest rates in the last FOMC meeting of the year next week.

In November, inflation sped up once again.

The consumer price index increased 2.7% from a year ago as expected, higher than October's 2.6% rate and the highest reading since July, when the rate was 2.9%.

Matt Colyar, an economist at Moody's Analytics, told Business Insider before the new data was published that an acceleration wouldn't be concerning because November's increase would likely be because of housing inflation. Shelter inflation has mainly been cooling from its peak of over 8% in March last year but is still high compared to the pre-pandemic rate.

"If inflation were to accelerate because prices for cyclical, demand-driven things like hotels, vehicles, airfare, etc. jumped, then policymakers at the Federal Reserve will start to look at the US economy with a bit more caution," Colyar said. "That shouldn't be overstated, however. It takes more than one monthly data point to be a trend and we haven't yet seen that kind of dynamic emerging."

While shelter was the biggest contributor to inflation overall, housing price growth has slowed. "The shelter index increased 4.7 percent over the last year, the smallest 12-month increase since February 2022," a Bureau of Labor Statistics news release on Wednesday said.

Members of the Federal Open Market Committee will meet once more this year next week on December 17 and 18 and will likely announce another interest-rate cut. CME FedWatch showed after the new inflation data was published traders expected a nearly 100% chance of an interest rate cut of 25 basis points next week, up from a nearly 90% chance before the report.

The CPI increased 0.3% over the month in November from October, the same as the forecast and an uptick from October's increase of 0.2%. The news release said that the rise in the shelter index over the month accounted for almost 40% of the overall increase.

Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, increased 3.3% from a year ago as expected. That's the same year-over-year rate as in October.

The energy index fell 3.2% year over year in November after declining 4.9% in October. Gas tumbled by 8.1% in November.

The food-at-home index rose 1.6% year-over-year in November after rising 1.1% in October, and the food-away-from-home index increased 3.6% in November after rising 3.8% in October.

Cory Stahle, an economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab, told BI following the jobs report that "there are still many reasons to be optimistic about the labor market," like the layoff rate being less than the pre-pandemic low. However, Stahle added, "As a Federal Reserve policymaker, you don't want to wait until things start looking bad to react to that because then by then you might be too late."

• President-elect Donald Trump said in an interview that he "would consider" raising the federal minimum wage.
• It has been at $7.25 per hour since 2009; however, 30 states and DC have increased their minimum above the federal level.
• Here's where it stands in every state and the raises both parties have proposed.

President-elect Donald Trump said he'd consider raising the federal minimum wage. It's been $7.25 per hour since 2009, though 30 states and a slew of cities have adopted higher rates.

"It's a very low number," Trump said in an interview with "Meet the Press" that aired on December 8. While he didn't commit to a specific level, he said that a federal minimum of $8 or $9 "might have very little effect" because of the low cost of living in some areas.

Any raises to the federal minimum wage would directly affect workers in at least the 20 states where, as of July, the minimum wage was at or below the federal level, per the Department of Labor. Most minimum wage jobs are in the service sector, largely in food preparation and serving-related positions.

Washington, DC, has a higher minimum wage than any state in the country at $17.50, though some US cities have raised it even more. Washington state, with a minimum wage of $16.28, and California, with a minimum wage of $16, came in second and third, respectively.

On January 1, 21 states — and 48 cities and counties — are set to see their minimum wages increase, mostly as a result of existing laws, per the National Employment Law Project. In the most recent election, Missouri voted to raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2026, and Alaska voted to hike its minimum to $15 by mid-2027.

The last federal minimum increase was in July 2009, from $6.55 to $7.25. Since then, overall prices based on the consumer price index have gone up around 47% in the US as of November.

Trump pointed out in his "Meet the Press" interview that the cost of living varies across the country, and a federal wage might not be a one-size-fits-all solution.

"The other thing that is very complicated about minimum wage is places are so different," he said. "Mississippi and Alabama and great places are very different than New York or California in terms of the cost of living and other things."

Indeed, regional price parities data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis show that Mississippi and Alabama had among the lowest costs of living in the country in 2023, while California and New York were more expensive than the national average. Alabama and Mississippi don't have state minimum wage laws. The minimum wage in New York is $16 in New York City, Long Island, and Westchester, and $15 for the rest of the state.

While Trump said wage changes like California's — which hiked it to $20 for fast food workers in April — might go too far, "there is a level at which you could do it, absolutely." He said before making any changes, he'd want to speak to governors.

President Joe Biden backed a $15 wage, which every Republican senator and eight Democrats ultimately voted against. Some lawmakers on the left have gone even further, with Sen. Bernie Sanders pushing to raise the wage to $17 by 2028.

Some Republicans have also proposed raising the federal minimum wage. While he was still in the Senate, Vice President-elect JD Vance cosponsored a bill to gradually increase it to $11, although that bill also includes additional measures like raising penalties on employers that hire workers living in the country illegally.

The Trump-Vance transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider on Trump's potential plans for the minimum wage.

• The US added 227,000 jobs in November, greater than the expected gain of 202,000.
• Unemployment ticked up as expected from 4.1% to 4.2%.
• The job market's strength in October was clouded due to hurricanes and strikes impacting data collection.

The US added 227,000 jobs in November, more than the consensus expectation of 202,000.

Unemployment increased as expected, from 4.1% in October to 4.2% in November. The rate has been at least 4% since May. While that's low compared to historical averages, the overall labor market has cooled due to a hiring slowdown.

The new jobs report gives the Federal Reserve better information about the state of the labor market after October's report was hampered by the effects of hurricanes and strikes. Friday's report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed October's preliminary gain was revised up — from 12,000 jobs to 36,000. September's growth was also revised upward, from 223,000 to 255,000.

"Some of the story in November is post-hurricane bounce back," Ernie Tedeschi, the director of economics at The Budget Lab at Yale, wrote on X.

Tedeschi said the revisions for October and September increased the three-month moving average job growth to 173,000 a month. That's in line with this year's trend, suggesting that the weak October report was indeed a hurricane- and strike-fueled outlier.

Slightly fewer people were working or looking for work in November. Labor force participation dropped from 62.6% in October to 62.5%.

Wage growth remained steady, with average hourly earnings increasing 4% year-over-year in November, matching October's rate.

The Fed's two most recent interest-rate decisions were both cuts, a 50-basis-point cut in September and a 25-basis-point cut in November. Americans will know if there will be one more rate cut this year on December 18.

The CME FedWatch tool, which shows what traders think Fed rate decisions will be, showed a roughly 90% chance of a 25-basis-point cut in December after the BLS release, up from around 70% before the report.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

• A Pew Research Center analysis shows the largest occupations for young US workers without degrees.
• Men often work as drivers or in construction, while women work in customer service or nursing roles.
• College enrollment rates have declined in recent years.

Customer service representatives and truck drivers are the most common jobs for young women and men without a four-year degree, respectively.

Men and women between the ages of 25 and 34 who don't have college degrees also work as construction laborers, health aides, cashiers, and chefs, per a Pew Research Center analysis published in July.

There was little overlap in the most common jobs for young men and women without a college degree, but the two groups did share two roles: first-line supervisors of sales workers and retail salespersons.

Roles like these have become particularly prevalent for men, whose college enrollment rates have fallen behind women's in recent years.

Forty-seven percent of US women between the ages of 25 and 34 have a bachelor's degree compared to 37% of men, per a Pew analysis published in November. However, overall college enrollment rates have fallen in recent years: The share of male high school graduates between the ages of 16 and 24 enrolling in college has declined to 58% as of 2023 from 67% in 2018, per the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Young women's enrollment rate has declined to 65% from 71% over this period.

Many of these young people are seeking jobs that don't require a college degree, and some have benefited from companies dropping degree requirements. The share of US job postings that require at least a college degree has fallen to 17.8% from 20.4% in 2019, according to an Indeed report published earlier this year. To be sure, many employers still prioritize hiring workers with a college diploma.

The Pew report published in July also highlighted the most common job categories for Americans with a four-year college degree. Four occupation categories were among the 10 most common jobs for both men and women: software developers, managers, accountants and auditors, and elementary and middle school teachers.

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• Donald Trump's latest tariff threat is to levy 100% duties on goods from the nine BRICS countries.
• He framed the threat as a bargaining chip, warning BRICS against competing with the US dollar.
• The US imported billions of dollars of goods from BRICS in 2023, including apparel and electronics.

President-elect Donald Trump's latest trade threat on nine countries could affect key US imports, risking price increases if the tariffs are implemented.

In a Saturday post on Truth Social, Trump targeted the BRICS group, which comprises nine countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. All have pushed to curb the global dominance of the US dollar. He wrote that he would impose a 100% tariff on those countries' goods unless they committed to not creating another currency that competes with the dollar.

"There is no chance that the BRICS will replace the U.S. Dollar in International Trade, and any Country that tries should wave goodbye to America," Trump wrote.

Business Insider looked at the top goods the US imports from BRICS nations, including medicine, apparel, and electronics. While Trump appears to be using the tariff threats as a negotiating tool and could choose not to implement them at the scale he's proposing, the top imports from the targeted countries could see prices increase even with smaller tariffs.

Census Bureau trade data showed that in 2023, the BRICS nations together accounted for about $578 billion in US imports. China was responsible for the lion's share of that trade, with about $427 billion.

In 2023, the US imported $66.7 billion in cellphones and other household goods from China, $37.4 billion in computers, and $32 billion in toys, games, and sporting goods.

The US imported $151 billion in goods from the remaining eight BRICS nations, including over $11 billion in pharmaceutical preparations, followed by nearly $9 billion in gem diamonds, $6.3 billion in crude oil, and $6.1 billion in cotton apparel and household goods. India accounted for much of the imports from BRICS nations other than China.

Trump is targeting this group because some BRICS leaders have previously suggested acting to reduce their countries' reliance on the US dollar. Last year, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva proposed creating a common currency among the BRICS nations.

The tariff threat on BRICS came just days after Trump said he would impose a 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada that would remain in effect "until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!" He also warned of a 10% tariff on imports from China on top of any additional tariffs put in place on the country.

Russia has already responded to Trump's tariff threat. The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday that if the US used "economic force to compel countries to use the dollar," it would empower countries to shift to other currencies for international trade.

Some companies, including Walmart and Columbia Sportswear, have already said they are preparing to increase prices should Trump implement tariffs on key trading partners.

The Trump team did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the impact of Trump's tariff threats on prices. Trump has previously said tariffs will not hurt Americans, misleadingly calling them "a tax on another country" (tariffs imposed by the US are paid by US importers).

During Trump's first term, he threatened tariffs against Mexico as a response to illegal immigration over the southern US border but later withdrew the plan. Sen. Bill Hagerty told NBC News on Sunday that trade had long been used as a "strategic tool," and he said he supported Trump using tariffs as leverage to achieve his priorities.

"We need to take a very hard look at countries that don't have our best interests at heart, countries that are allowing our borders to be violated," Hagerty said, "and use those tariffs as a tool to achieve our ends."

• Buying a home in America today is no walk in the park.
• Buyers have higher mortgage rates and larger down payments.
• Nine charts capture how homebuying has become a larger challenge over the years.

Feel like buying a home is tougher than ever? You're not the only one.

Homebuyers are older than ever, make more money, and are less likely to have young children at home, based on historical data on homebuyers from the National Association of Realtors, or NAR.

These trends have largely resulted from declining housing affordability over the past several decades, Brandi Snowden, NAR's director of member and consumer survey research, told Business Insider.

"We're seeing that affordability is becoming increasingly difficult, with higher incomes needed to enter the market," Snowden said. "Buyers are also facing limited inventory, so they often need to search longer to find the right home."

Here are nine charts that show how the state of US homeownership has changed over the last several decades.

Data from the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development showed the median sales price of new houses in the US surged during the pandemic, reaching a peak of $442,600 in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Rising prices have made it more difficult for Americans, especially first-time homebuyers, to break into homeownership, as real median household income growth hasn't kept up.

"We've seen that first-time homebuyers have needed to be wealthier in order to be successful homebuyers, especially with rising home prices and interest rates," Snowden said.

The average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage has generally been rising this fall.

It was 6.84% as of the week ending November 21. While that's lower than a year ago and below the recent nearly 8% peak in October 2023, it's still a relatively high rate.

A higher rate plus more expensive homes leads to bigger monthly mortgage payments.

"A challenge for first-time homebuyers is higher mortgage rates, especially over the last year," Snowden said. "It could be a factor in their delaying a home purchase."

The typical down payment homebuyers put down has also been generally rising since the Great Recession.

The median down payment was 8% in 2009 and 2010. In 2024, though, it's typical for a homebuyer to make an 18% down payment.

Down payments of this size are not unprecedented: The median hit 20% in 1989 and 18% in 2001.

"We see that a large share of homebuyers, especially first-time buyers, rely on gifts or loans from family and friends," Snowden said. "They may also be tapping into stocks, bonds, or even their 401(k) for their down payment."

Snowden said that homebuyers may opt for a larger down payment that can help offset the mortgage interest rate with a lower monthly payment.

The climb in the median household income for people purchasing a home for the first time suggests Americans typically need to make closer to six figures to become homeowners.

In 1984, the typical household made $22,420 a year — or around $66,000 in 2023 dollars —while the typical first-time buyer made nearly $31,000 — or around $91,000 in 2023 dollars. In 2023, the median household income was around $80,600, and first-time homebuyers made $97,000.

Zillow research published earlier this year said people have to make over $106,000, 80% higher than what was needed in January 2020, "to comfortably afford a home."

Median incomes for homebuyers dipped in 2021 in part due to the kinds of areas people were moving to.

"Lower median income may be a reflection of buyers purchasing in more affordable locations such as small towns," a NAR report said, adding, "and an increased share of senior buyers who may be retired."

The share of first-time homebuyers dropped to just 24% in 2024, down from 32% in 2023 and a record 50% in 2010. This marks the lowest percentage since NAR began tracking the data in 1981.

The pullback in homebuying demand has been largely driven by the ongoing affordability crisis, compounded by a shrinking supply of entry-level homes.

There are fewer of these types of homes — typically smaller and more affordable for first-time buyers — on the market than there used to be, and the ones that are for sale are more expensive.

"We're seeing that the most difficult step for successful homebuyers is finding the right property," Snowden said.

In 2024, the median age of first-time buyers was 38, nine years older than in 1981. Meanwhile, the median age of repeat buyers increased from 36 to 61.

Unlike repeat buyers, who tend to be older and have more wealth or home equity, many would-be first-time buyers — often younger people, like Gen Zers and millennials — lack the financial resources needed to purchase a home.

Snowden said that many people are spending money on expensive rents, student loans, credit card bills, and car loans that they would otherwise set aside for a down payment.

As a result, many are postponing their plans to buy. Others may abandon dreams of homeownership altogether.

The share of homebuyers without children under 18 years old in their homes has widened to 73%, 10 percentage points higher than a decade earlier.

People without the financial demands of raising children tend to enjoy greater financial flexibility. Some can save thousands of dollars each year — which could be directed toward a down payment or other homebuying costs.

Married or cohabitating couples without children are often referred to as DINKS — an acronym for "dual income, no kids." Data from the Federal Reserve's Survey of Consumer Finances shows that DINKs typically have a median net worth exceeding $200,000.

In contrast, many households with children experience financial strain, as parents allocate a significant portion of their income to day care, medical bills, and school tuition — expenses that can make saving enough to buy a home more challenging.

In addition to couples who never had kids, many baby boomers and Gen Xers who had kids are now empty nesters and may be looking to downsize.

Since NAR started collecting data, single women homebuyers have outpaced single men homebuyers, but the gap has grown.

Single women made up 20% of all homebuyers in 2024, while the share of single men purchasing homes dropped to just 8%.

Snowden said single women are often drawn to homeownership for several reasons, including independence, divorce, and the responsibility of raising children.

Snowden said that single female buyers are typically older than their single male counterparts, with the median age for single women at 60 compared to 58 for single men. "These buyers could be recently divorced or purchasing a home for more than just themselves, but also for their children and parents," she said.

Jessica Lautz, NAR deputy chief economist and vice president of research, said in a news release that "current homeowners can more easily make housing trades using built-up housing equity for cash purchases or large down payments on dream homes."

First-time homebuyers, meanwhile, tend to have to go through the process of taking out a mortgage, potentially losing their chance on a housing bid to those who have money ready for their next home.

The share of homebuyers who paid in cash climbed from 7% in 2003 to 26% in 2024. Snowden said this data is based on primary residences only, excluding investor properties.

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• President-elect Donald Trump is expanding his plans for tariffs on Mexico, China, and Canada.
• The US imports key goods from them that may increase in price, like electronics, oil, and gas.
• Trump's tariff plans could face legal issues, and he may choose not to implement them.

President-elect Donald Trump's newly expanded proposal to increase tariffs on the US's three largest trading partners could raise prices on various goods Americans rely on.

Business Insider looked at what the US imports the most from Mexico, Canada, and China to determine the products most likely to increase in price if Trump's plans come to pass.

The biggest categories are oil, electronics, and vehicles.

On Monday night, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that on his first day in office, he would "sign all necessary documents" to impose a 25% tariff on goods imported from Mexico and Canada. He also threatened a 10% tariff on imports from China "above any additional" tariffs on that country.

While the feasibility and legality of Trump's proposal are still unknown, if implemented, the proposed tariffs could affect a wide variety of goods Americans use daily. The Census Bureau reported that in 2023, the US imported about $1.3 trillion in goods from China, Mexico, and Canada combined.

From Canada, the top 2023 imports included over $92 billion worth of crude oil, about $34 billion in passenger cars, and almost $9 billion in natural gas.

The US imported over $65 billion worth of car parts from Mexico in 2023, along with about $26 billion in computers, nearly $20 billion in crude oil, and almost $14 billion in medicinal equipment.

China, meanwhile, is a major supplier of electronics to the US. The census data showed that in 2023, the US imported nearly $67 billion in cellphones and other household goods from China, over $37 billion in computers, and more than $32 billion in games, toys, and sporting goods.

Some companies have already been preparing to increase prices as a result of Trump's tariff plans on the campaign trail. Walmart CFO John David Rainey told CNBC on November 19 that price hikes are likely on the horizon if Trump implements his tariffs: "We never want to raise prices. Our model is everyday low prices. But there probably will be cases where prices will go up for consumers."

This is the most detailed tariff plan Trump has released to date. On the campaign trail, he did not detail tariffs on Canada and Mexico — he proposed a 60% tariff on all imports from China, along with a 10% to 20% tariff on goods imported from anywhere else.

Trump appears to be using this round of tariff threats to push for changes in migration and drug policy in the targeted nations. "This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!" Trump wrote of the Mexico and Canada tariffs.

Some political leaders in Canada responded to Trump's threat on Monday night. François Legault, the premier of Quebec, wrote in a post on X that Trump's plan posed a huge risk to Quebec's and Canada's economies. Per a translation from X, he added: "We must do everything possible to avoid 25% tariffs on all products exported to the United States."

Additionally, Trump's plan could spark legal issues. Arturo Sarukhán, a former Mexican ambassador to the US, wrote in a post on X that the tariffs would violate the US-Mexico-Canada agreement, a free-trade agreement negotiated by Trump in his first term that went into effect in July 2020.

Companies and economists have said that Trump's tariff plans would increase consumer prices. BI previously reported that Trump's broad tariff proposals were likely to increase prices across the board, from clothes and footwear to computers and video games.

Trump has denied that would be the case. "I am going to put tariffs on other countries coming into our country, and that has nothing to do with taxes to us. That is a tax on another country," Trump said in an August speech.

The tariffs implemented during Trump's first term did not significantly influence inflation, but his proposals for his second term are much broader and could have a larger impact on prices if implemented.

At this point, however, Trump's proposals could still change. During his first term in 2019, Trump announced new tariffs on Mexico with the aim of strengthening the border, but following criticism from lawmakers — including some Republicans — he withdrew the plan.

• Trump's new Department of Government Efficiency aims to reduce the number of federal workers.
• Business Insider looked at the highest average salaries of federal civilian employees by occupation.
• The top 20 had average salaries over $160,000, with medical officers ranking No. 1.

Federal workers who are employed as medical officers, ship pilots, and general attorneys earn lucrative pay on average — but their jobs might be at risk under President-elect Donald Trump's new government efficiency initiative.

Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, is spearheaded by Tesla CEO Elon Musk and former GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. The two leaders of the commission wrote in a recent opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal that they will aim to slash government spending and reduce head count at federal agencies, meaning government workers are at risk of losing their jobs.

Using US Office of Personnel Management data as of March, Business Insider looked at the average salaries of federal civilian employees for all agencies to see who is earning the most on average among hundreds of occupations.

Three of the five jobs with the highest average salaries were health-related. Medical officers, who largely worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs, had the highest average salary. Financial analysis workers rounded out the top 20 highest-paying jobs on average; their largest employer, with about 300 analysts, was the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Most of the top jobs were classified as white-collar by OPM.

Looking at the average salaries of workers within cabinet-level agencies regardless of occupation, the Department of Education and the Department of Energy had the highest, with averages over $140,000.

Musk and Ramaswamy floated in the op-ed requiring all federal employees to come into the office five days a week, which may lead to higher voluntary turnover. Office of Personnel Management data showed around 1.3 million federal civilian workers as of March were "eligible to participate in telework," many of whom were professional and administrative workers.

"DOGE intends to work with embedded appointees in agencies to identify the minimum number of employees required at an agency for it to perform its constitutionally permissible and statutorily mandated functions," Musk and Ramaswamy wrote.

Musk and Ramaswamy also suggested early retirement and severance packages to incentivize lower headcount but didn't provide further detail on the benefits they would offer impacted employees.

"The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail," Karoline Leavitt, a spokesperson for the Trump-Vance transition, previously told BI when asked about DOGE's plan for spending cuts. "He will deliver."

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