The population of the Southeast has grown substantially over the past decade to 36.3 million residents. The region will continue to experience some of the most pronounced growth in the nation with a projected 5.5% population change over the next five years, well beyond the national rate of 3.5%.
To support this increased population, the region has also experienced an industrial boom to meet the growing demand of the populace. A plethora of industries have located to and expanded in the Southeast, driven by a surge in manufacturing, e-commerce, and 3PL businesses.
The Nashville metro recorded more than 9.1 msf of industrial construction deliveries in 2021, a historical record. Despite the increased supply, demand remained strong and vacancy fell to 2.5% in Q3 2022.
The labor pool has increased in tandem with the rise in industrial businesses. Southeast markets have a higher concentration of the sector’s target blue collar demographic than the nation as a whole, and Nashville has a target blue collar demographic volume of 194,544.
Warehouse wages in the Southeast index above the national average, while the average wages for production workers is on par with the U.S., Nashville is the only major metro in the Southeast where production workers earn an average above the $20-mark. At $20.05, wages are 4.0% higher than the U.S. average.
Click here to read and download the Southeast Industrial Labor Report.
