MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (Mike Osborne) — Rising costs and stagnant wages are now pressing Nashville families so hard, a new report is calling it “The Big Squeeze.”
Metro Mayor John Cooper released the city’s latest Community Needs Evaluation at the end of June.
The study revealed that the average Nashvillian’s wages rose three percent over the past year. But during that same period housing costs shot up 20 percent, gas prices jumped 68 percent and child care costs rose 41 percent.
The study notes those economic challenges are being hidden from view by record low unemployment and the city's growing economy.
In a letter accompanying the report, Mayor Cooper stressed a need to address the city’s growing “socio-economic gaps.”