Banks & Finance

Workers & Wages

This section discusses the current status and historical trends in establishments, employment and wages within the North Carolina and U.S. banks and finance industry. This analysis primarily uses data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) based on our definition of the banks and finance industry. Links are provided to the underlying data in the form of interactive tables, charts and maps throughout this section.

Overview

The banking and finance industry remains a significant component of North Carolina’s economy, posting consistent growth in the number of establishments, employment and wage figures from 1992 to 2002 and then from 2002 to 2012. The industry is heavily concentrated in North Carolina’s two largest cities—Charlotte and Raleigh—although there also is a significant cluster in Winston-Salem and Greensboro. The largest segment is depository credit intermediation, which accounts for 63.4% of the employment in the industry; moreover, the growth rate of the depository credit intermediation sector in NC (67.8%) was the second largest in the U.S. from 1992 to 2012, trailing only Arizona’s. North Carolina’s banking and finance industry is competitive with most other states in the country—the only states that have more workers and a higher number of physical sites are those that also have a higher overall population.

North Carolina
Present (2012)

Overall

  • In North Carolina, there were 9,063 establishments and 103,049 workers employed across the intermediaries, support, and services segments of the banks and finance value chain in 2012 (T2a; T3a).
  • The average annual wage in the state’s banks and finances value chain was $87,446 in 2012. The highest average annual wages were in the securities, commodity contracts, and investments sectors ($120,921), followed by nondepository credit intermediation ($82,100), depository credit intermediation ($73,897) and activities related to credit intermediation ($72,867). The sector 2 with the lowest average was funds, trusts & other financial vehicles (~$68,558) (T4a; C4a).
  • Geographically, the industry is largely concentrated in two counties: Mecklenburg (Charlotte) and Wake (Raleigh), although Forsyth (Winston-Salem) and Guilford (Greensboro) counties also have a significant number of establishments (M2a).

Main Segment

  • The main segment in NC is the depository credit intermediation sector (NAICS 5221), which employed 65,423 workers in 3,611 establishments in 2012 (C2a; C3a).
  • The average annual wage in the depository credit intermediation segment was $73,897 in 2012 (T4a; C4a).
  • The largest concentration of establishments and employees in the depository credit intermediation sector is in Mecklenburg County (Charlotte) (M2a; M3a).

Historical Trends (1992-2012; 2002-2012)

Overall

  • Both employment and the total number of establishments in the state increased steadily in the 20-year time frame, with total employment in the industry jumping 62.2% from 1992 to 2012 (T2a; C2a; T3a; C3a). The total number of establishments increased by 155.6% in that same time period.
  • There was a wide variance in employment change within the different segments of the value chain—employment in the securities, commodity contracts, and investments sector increased by 306% from 1992 to 2012; on the other hand, the workforce in non-depository credit intermediation fell by 14.6% during the same time period (T3a; C3a).
  • Wages for all segments increased dramatically from 1992 to 2002 (74.3%) and then again from 2002 to 2012 (42.6%). Over the entire time period, the average annual wage improved by 148% (from $35,179 in 1992 to $87,446 in 2012) (T4a; C4a).
  • While the state added 38,615 jobs between 1992 and 2012, many of the counties throughout the state also experienced layoffs through closings, consolidations, layoffs and mergers. Mecklenburg County had the most affected workers (9,555), while 2007 was the year that the highest number of workers were affected (3,785 lost their job because of closings; 571 were laid off) (T8a; C8a; M8a).

Main Segment

  • The depository credit intermediation sector expanded by a similar rate as the larger industry, growing from 38,984 workers in 1992 to 65,423 in 2012 (an increase of 67.8%) (T3a; C3a). During that same time period, the sector added 1,933 establishments for a growth rate of 115.2%, and its average annual wage increased from $24,015 in 1992 to $73,897 in 2012 (a jump of 207%).

United States
Present (2012)
  • In the United States, there were 281,134 establishments and 3.48 million workers employed across the intermediaries, support, and services segments of the banks and finance value chain in 2012 (T2b; T3b).
  • In terms of employment, the largest of the sectors in the U.S. was the depository credit intermediation, which employed 1.74 million workers in 2012 (T3b; C3b).
  • The average annual wage across all segments of the U.S. banks and finances value chain was $106,282 in 2012. The highest average annual wages were in the securities, commodity contracts, and investments sector ($204,779) (T4b; C4b).
Historical Trends (1992-2012; 2002-2012)
  • The number of establishments in the U.S. banks and finance value chain increased by 86.1% between 1992 and 2012 (T2b; C2b). Much of that expansion (71.3%) occurred in the first decade of the 20-year time period.
  • Meanwhile, overall employment in the U.S. increased by 18.6% from 1992 to 2012, jumping from 2.93 million in 1992 to 3.48 million in 2012 (T3b; C3b). It is worth noting the industry’s employment actually decreased by 1.7% from 2002 to 2012, falling from 3.54 million to the 3.48 million in 2012.
  • Wages rose dramatically in every segment—after a 62.5% jump from 1992 to 2002, they increased by 46.7% from 2002 to 2012 (T4b; C4b).
Top U.S. States
Present (2012)

Overall

  • In terms of overall establishments, the top U.S. states were California (27,219), Texas (21,819), New York (19,824), Florida (19,015), and Illinois (12,708) (T2c; C2c; M2c). The same five states had the most number of total employees, although the order was different: New York (347,002) had the most, followed by California (338,933), Texas (302,352), Florida (199,818), and Illinois (174,390) (T3c; C3c; M3c).
  • California had the highest number of employees in the depository credit intermediation (165,942), activities related to credit intermediation (36,381), and funds, trusts & other financial vehicles (10,311) segments; Texas had the most in the non-depository credit intermediation segment (76,760); and New York had the highest number in the securities, commodity contracts and investments segment (185,815) (T3c; C3c; M3c). The states have not significantly repositioned themselves in the value chain over the past decade.

Main NC Segment

  • In the depository credit intermediation segment, the top employers were California (9.5% of all U.S. workers), Texas (8.6%), Florida (5.8%), New York (5.6%), and Illinois (5.3%). North Carolina ranked seventh, accounting for 3.7% of all U.S. employees (T3c; C3c; M3c).

Historical Trends (1992-2012; 2002-2012)
  • The states with the largest increases in banks and finance employees between 2002 and 2012 were Iowa (22.2%), Texas (21.8%), Idaho (20.8%), Arizona (18.7%), and Delaware (18.2%) (T3c; C3c; M3c). On the other hand, the states with the largest decreases were West Virginia (-20.6%), Ohio (-16.5%), Maine (-14.5%), Michigan (-13.1%), and Massachusetts (-12.9%).
NC in the U.S. Economy
Present (2012)
  • North Carolina ranked eighth in the U.S. in 2012 in terms of the overall number of establishments (3.2% of the total U.S. establishments) (T2c; C2c; M2c). It was the ninth largest employer, with 2.9% of the country’s total employees in the banking and finance industries (T3c; C3c; M3c).
  • North Carolina’s distribution of workers within the banks and finance is similar to the aggregated U.S. data, although the state’s depository credit intermediation sector is larger than many of its peers. In NC, 63.4% of workers are employed in the depository credit intermediation sector; in the US, 49.8% of all workers are employed in the same sector (T3c; C3c).
Historical Trends (1992-2012; 2002-2012)
  • In terms of raw numbers of banking and finance workers added since 1992, North Carolina’s total of 38,615 was fourth in the U.S., trailing only Texas (132,709), Florida (53,664), and Arizona (50,249) (T3c).
  • The growth rate of NC’s credit intermediation sector since 2002 (67.8%) is the second largest in the country, trailing only Arizona’s (114%) (T3c).