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Want to Make More Money? These Are the 10 U.S. Cities Where the Average Worker's Pay Has Increased the Most Since 2019. Between 2019 and 2021, salaried workers — across all earnings levels — did see their incomes increase.

By Amanda Breen Edited by Jessica Thomas

Recent inflation has left many Americans wishing they had more in the bank this year.

In fact, per a survey from Bankrate, 55% of them say their earnings aren't keeping up with the highest inflation in decades. But some salaried workers have been fortunate enough to see their incomes increase over the past couple of years: ADP researchers recently surveyed residents of the 53 biggest metro areas (those with more than one million residents) in the U.S. to see where the largest jumps took place, CNBC reported.

Related: Why Young Professionals Don't Negotiate Salary (and Why They Should)

ADP's Geography of Recent U.S. Wage Growth revealed that between 2019 and 2021, salaried workers — across all earnings levels — did see their incomes increase. Median monthly earnings rose by 6.77%, high-end monthly earnings by 8.02% and low-end pay by 10.36%.

What's more, the study found that high-end pay saw the greatest increases in expensive coastal cities, while low-cost cities saw outsized salary gains among low earners.

Related: This Is What Apple Pays: A Look at Apple Full-Time Salaries

Here are the 10 metro areas with the most significant increases for median-income earners, noting their percent gain and average monthly salaries in 2019 and 2021, per CNBC.

1. Austin-Round Rock, Texas

Percent gain: 9.40%

2019 monthly salary: $7,063

2021 monthly salary: $7,727

2. New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-Pennsylvania

Percent gain: 9.51%

2019 monthly salary: $6,763

2021 monthly salary: $7,406

3. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, California

Percent gain: 9.71%

2019 monthly salary: $6,987

2021 monthly salary: $7,666

4. Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Michigan

Percent gain: 9.97%

2019 monthly salary: $5,632

2021 monthly salary: $6,193

5. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD

Percent gain: 10.00%

2019 monthly salary: $6,275

2021 monthly salary: $6,902

6. New Orleans-Metairie, Louisiana

Percent gain: 10.57%

2019 monthly salary: $5,045

2021 monthly salary: $5,579

7. Providence-Warwick, Rhode Island-Massachusetts

Percent gain: 11.12%

2019 monthly salary: $6,156

2021 monthly salary: $6,841

8. Sacramento-Roseville-Arden-Arcade, California

Percent gain: 11.22%

2019 monthly salary: $6,600

2021 monthly salary: $7,340

9. Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, North Carolina-South Carolina

Percent gain: 12.36%

2019 monthly salary: $6,081

2021 monthly salary: $6,832

10. Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, New York

Percent gain: 14.01%

2019 monthly salary: $5,276

2021 monthly salary: $6,015

Amanda Breen

Entrepreneur Staff

Senior Features Writer

Amanda Breen is a senior features writer at Entrepreneur.com. She is a graduate of Barnard College and received an MFA in writing at Columbia University, where she was a news fellow for the School of the Arts.

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