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.
Despite being one of the smallest key metros in the Southeast with a population of 818,948, the Port of Savannah makes this market crucial to the economic growth and success of the region. Savannah is one of the tightest industrial markets in the Southeast, with a vacancy rate that has remained under the 1%-mark for much of the last two years. This extremely low vacancy rate indicates the immense demand for industrial space, as the 38.7 msf of new product delivered since 2017 was easily absorbed in that time.
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 Savannah has a target blue collar demographic volume of 92,196.
Warehouse wages in the Southeast index above the national average, while the average wages for production workers is on par with the U.S.
Click here to read and download the Southeast Industrial Labor Report.
