Quantifying Our Quality of Life

We have heard and read much about "quality of life" on the Palouse. "Quality of life" is a nebulous concept at best, meaning different things to different people, but Bizjournals.com recently rated the quality of life in every U.S. "micropolitan" area, based on 12 indicators. "Micropolitan" areas are smaller than metropolitan areas. Each micropolitan area consists of a county or cluster of counties that are economically dependent on a central city, town or village with 10,000 to 50,000 residents. The U.S. Office of Management and Budget has classified 577 micropolitan areas across America The top 10 micropolitan areas were designated by Bizjournals.com as “dreamtowns,” since they offer the best small-town quality of life in America.

The study’s objective was to identify America’s most attractive micropolitan areas. It gave the highest marks to small, well-rounded communities where the economy is strong, traffic is light, the cost of living is moderate, adults are well-educated, and access to big-city attractions is reasonably good.

The factors used were:

1. Population growth -- Strongest growth in population from 2000 to 2005.

2. Income growth -- Strongest growth in per capita income from 1999 to 2004.

3. Per capita income -- Highest per capita income.

4. Small business growth -- Strongest growth in number of small businesses (99 or fewer employees) from 1998 to 2003.

5. Small business concentration -- Highest number of small businesses per 1,000 residents.

6. Management or professional jobs -- Percentage of all jobs in the workforce classified as managerial or professional.

7. Ease of commuting -- Percentage of workers who commute less than 15 minutes to work, minus the percentage who commute more than 45 minutes.

8. Affordable housing -- Lowest ratio of house value per $1,000 of median household income.

9. Low taxation -- Lowest ratio of real-estate taxes per $1,000 of median household income.

10. College degrees -- Highest percentage of adults 25 or older with bachelor's degrees.

11. Advanced degrees -- Highest percentage of adults 25 or older with graduate degrees.

12. Proximity to major metropolitan area -- Lowest air mileage to center of closest metro area with more than 2.5 million people.

Nine of the 12 statistical indicators used in the study were generated from U.S. Census Bureau data. The two categories dealing with per capita income were based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The 12th indicator -- air mileage to the nearest major metropolitan area -- was calculated by Bizjournals.com, using latitude and longitude readings supplied by the U.S. Census Bureau. All figures are the latest, most comprehensive statistics available at the micropolitan level.

While Pullman and Moscow were not designated "dreamtowns", both cities were ranked in the top 1/3.

Pullman in fact ranked in the Top 5 nationally in "Percentage of all jobs in the workforce classified as managerial or professional" (#2), "Highest percentage of adults 25 or older with bachelor's degrees" (#4), and "Highest percentage of adults 25 or older with graduate degrees" (#2) (the PARDners are making me wonder if these are actually advantages.) Moscow was #4 in the "Highest percentage of adults 25 or older with graduate degrees" category.

Despite all that, Moscow was ranked significantly higher at #98 overall, with a Quality of Life score of 3.74, versus Pullman at #141 with a Quality of Life score of 2.49.

What are the major differences in quality of life between Moscow and Pullman? They're the obvious ones we talk about over and over again.

Moscow's per capita income compared to the U.S. average of $33,050, where U.S. Average = 1.00, is 0.76. Pullman's is 0.66. Tell me again how Pullman warrants a Costco or a Target, with their high-end demographics, instead of Wal-Mart.

Moscow's ratio of small businesses per 1,000 residents is 25.1 versus 21.3 for Pullman. Shhhh! Hear that sucking sound? Sales tax leakage again.

House value per $1,000 of income (a lower ratio equals greater affordability of housing) is $3,634 in Moscow versus $3,852 in Pullman. Restrictive agricultural zoning laws have made housing scarce and unaffordable in Pullman and Whitman County.

Real estate taxes per $1,000 of income is $41.14 in Moscow versus $44.57 in Pullman. With no state income tax and $100 million in taxable sales exported over the border every year, Pullman has maxed out on property taxes to make ends meet (barely).

On the bright side, no doubt due to the presence of Schweitzer Engineering Labs, Pullman leads Moscow in "Share of all jobs that are management or professional jobs" (45.5% vs. 39.5%) and "Commuting gap (the percentage who commute less than 15 minutes minus the percentage who commute more than 45 minutes)" at 52.5 points vs. 45.2 points (half of SEL's and a large portion of WSU's employees live in Moscow and Latah County, hence the longer commute times).

When viewed nationally, some of those numbers look even worse. Pullman is #343 in small businesses per 1000 residents, #432 in growth in small businesses from 1998-2003, #489 in per capita income, #32 for highest real estate taxes per $1000 of income (and #1 IN THE ALL OF THE WEST; interestingly enough, Moscow is #2). And worst of all, #560 out of 577 in housing affordability (nearly as bad as cities in Hawaii and Jackson, WY).

Clearly, we have a well-educated workforce with "living wage" jobs, but much work needs to be done to improve our quality of life and make Pullman a more desirable place to live and do business. Many of our quality of life rankings are either bery high or very low. We need BALANCE.

Full study data is available here.

By the way, the #1 city was Bozeman, MT, which ranked #3 nationally in "Strongest growth in number of small businesses with 99 or fewer employees from 1998 to 2003" and #5 in "Highest number of small businesses per 1,000 residents" Huh. I guess that new Wal-Mart Supercenter in Bozeman hasn't wrecked quality of life and destroyed mom-and-pop businesses the way critics said it would after all.

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