First Major Employment Base to Fully Recover: Salt Lake City

Salt Lake City is the first of the nation’s largest 50 apartment markets to fully recover all the jobs lost during the COVID-19 pandemic and recession. As of March, Salt Lake City’s employment base was 3,800 positions – or 0.4% – over the total workforce count from February 2020, before the pandemic started eroding the nation’s employment base in March. Across the nation, only three other (smaller) markets have seen full employment recovery. In nearby Provo, UT, the employment count tops pre-pandemic levels by 3%, while Lakeland, FL’s job count is up by 2% and the workforce in Boise City, ID is in the black by 0.4%. While Salt Lake City is the only one of the nation’s largest markets to see full employment recovery, however, a handful of metros are close. Austin and Jacksonville are less than 2% away from their February 2020 workforce counts, while San Antonio is 2.3% away. Major markets that are 2.7% to 3.1% shy of pre-pandemic norms include Memphis, Kansas City, Tampa, Dallas, Raleigh/Durham and Phoenix.