FOLLOWING YEARS OF STEADY GROWTH, EMPLOYMENT IN LOGISTICS CLUSTER DECLINED
Tracking both the employment and wage trends within specific industry clusters in San Bernardino County helps provide insight on how the regional economy is evolving and what sectors are helping to drive economic activity and growth. This indicator provides employment and salary levels within seven industry clusters. Altogether, these industry clusters represent approximately 61% of all San Bernardino County jobs, highlighting their importance to the region.
TREND
Number of Jobs
Between 2022 and 2023, four of the seven selected industry clusters experienced decreases in employment – Professional/Scientific/Technical Services shrunk by 10.7%, Logistics by 4.0%, Manufacturing jobs declined 2.1% and Construction/Housing Related Industries by 0.4%. Employment in the remaining clusters grew, led by the Healthcare and Education clusters, which each experienced 6.3% one-year growth followed by Public Administration, which increased by 2.6%.
Looking at the 10-year trend, employment in all seven industry clusters grew. Employment in the Logistics industry cluster grew 80% over the past decade, likely driven in part by the rapid rise in e-commerce. The Healthcare cluster had the second largest increase over the past 10 years, up 28% from 2014 to 2023.
LOGISTICS EMPLOYMENT DECLINED IN 2023
Employment in Selected Industry Clusters in San Bernardino County, 2014 – 2023
Salaries
Between 2022 and 2023, salaries across six of the seven industry clusters increased in San Bernardino County. The Education cluster had the largest average salary increase (5.1%,) followed by Public Administration (4.0%). Salaries in the Professional/Scientific/Technical Services cluster declined by 5%.
The annual income needed to qualify to purchase an entry-level home (priced at 85% of median) in San Bernardino County was $83,400 in 2024. Only the Public Administration cluster provided high enough average wages for workers to qualify, whereas in prior Community Indicators Reports all five clusters provided high enough average wages. Potential reasons for this shift may be the increased cost of a median priced home (up 22% between Q2 2021 and Q2 2024) combined with higher interest rates (from an average of 2.97% in 2021 to an average of 6.81% in 2023).[1]
PROFESSIONAL/SCIENTIFIC/TECHNICAL SERVICES SALARIES DECLINE
Average Annual Salaries in Selected Industry Clusters in San Bernardino County, 2022 and 2023
| 2022 | 2023 | Percent Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professional/Scientific/Technical Services | $83,059 | $78,906 | -5.0% |
| Construction/Housing Related Industries | $66,826 | $67,579 | 1.1% |
| Manufacturing | $67,862 | $68,995 | 1.7% |
| Healthcare | $68,961 | $70,509 | 2.2% |
| Logistics | $67,264 | $68,855 | 2.4% |
| Public Administration | $88,341 | $91,910 | 4.0% |
| Education | $64,545 | $67,838 | 5.1% |
Source: Analysis of data from Chmura Economics & Analytics
Unemployment
As of May 2024, San Bernardino’s unemployment rate was 4.3%, lower than the 2023 annual average of 4.7%.
In May 2024, San Bernardino County’s unemployment rate ranked 26th out of 58 counties across the state, an improvement from October 2022, when it was 31st out of 58 counties. The county’s unemployment rate is slightly below the state rate of 4.5% and slightly above the national rate of 4.0%.
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY UNEMPLOYMENT RATE DECLINES SLIGHTLY
Unemployment Rate in San Bernardino County, California, and United States, 2014 – May 2024
[1] Sources: California Association of Realtors, Median Prices of Existing Single Family Homes; Freddie Mac, Primary Mortgage Market Survey