One economic indicator that many businesses and real estate investors monitor is employment. The Boston Planning & Development Agency recently published a report titled “Trends in Boston Business Establishments & Payroll Employment”, which provides some useful data. Here are some highlights:
- In 2016, Boston’s total payroll and non-payroll jobs increased to 794,038, up from 669,423 in 2010. Total jobs are forecasted to reach 829,000 by 2030.
- In terms of job density, the commercial core of Boston has the highest density. Downtown/North End had 163,845 jobs per square mile in 2015; Mattapan, by contrast, had 981 jobs per square mile.
- The “Health Care and Social Assistance” industry has the most payroll jobs in Boston, with over 140,000 in 2016. The second highest is the “Professional, Scientific and Technical Services” industry at 80,524.
As it is based on census data, some of the analysis is a little stale (most of the data is from 2015-2016). However, it does support that Boston continues to add jobs and is expected to do so for the foreseeable future. Continued job growth is good for real estate investors, as those employees will need places to live. It is also good for businesses, as those employees could be consumers of their goods and services.
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