# Economic Study Ranks Tampa Last
The bi-annual economic scorecard of the Tampa Bay Partnership economic development agency has recently released its latest ranking. The report showed Tampa Bay to be at the bottom of the comparative study among the six southeastern cities, including Raleigh-Durham in North Carolina, Dallas, Charlotte in North Carolina, Atlanta and Jacksonville.
The ranking was based on several factors, but what dragged Tampa Bay's overall mark down were low wages, high unemployment and low spending on transportation. In terms of employment and workforce, Tampa Bay ranked fifth. The employment rate in the city was at 13.1%. On the other hand, for housing it was sixth with 22.3% of yearly household incomes going to rent. Lastly, with transportation spending at about $253 per resident, the city ranked fourth.
The partnership's chief executive, Stu Rogel said that Tampa Bay is having a hard time recovering from the recession and that " It needs to improve its job market, transportation system and other infrastructure to move up."