To say that Deer Valley job growth is booming is an understatement. North Phoenix-Deer Valley has quickly grown to be a financial services and financial technology corridor of Grand Canyon proportions and is becoming known as ‘Wall Street West.’
According to the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics, Maricopa Association of Governments and the Greater Phoenix Economic Council, Deer Valley is the largest concentration of financial services companies in Arizona, and one of the largest in the U.S.
Look at the numbers. Currently there are 14 Deer Valley employers with 250 or more employees generating a workforce of more than 19,000. There are more than 400 smaller financial services and financial technology companies just in Deer Valley bringing the total financial services workforce to more than 23,000. As of March 1, 2018, these 23,000 financial services and financial technology jobs are located within a three-mile radius of the Loop 101 and Interstate 17 interchange.
These companies are not ‘flash in the pan’ operations, they are high quality employers, recognized as national leaders in their industries. USAA is adding 1,000 technology jobs and several hundred support positions because of their workforce expansions here. Farmers Insurance is moving 400 employees from around the Valley to Deer Valley and will add 400 to 600 more workers over the next three years to its satellite headquarters. Paychex recently announced that they selected Deer Valley for their corporate west or second headquarters, adding 300 employees to the 500 that are already here.
In the news story “Goodbye New York, Hello Arizona,” BBC News, projected that by 2020, Phoenix will have more financial services jobs than Wall Street; Dallas already has more, but Phoenix is chomping at the bit to surpass them.
The BBC report attributes the shift to population trends in the U.S., and is “also driven by growth in insurance, investment advice and consumer lending jobs, over the trading and securities roles historically based in New York.”
Those trends are reflected in what we are seeing with the high-quality companies and jobs that our Community and Economic Development Department is working hard to attract to the Deer Valley area.
These financial services jobs that are coming to Phoenix are high value jobs with an average individual wage at $61,500, significantly higher than the $48,500 Maricopa County average household income.
Corporate leaders tell us that Deer Valley appeals to people from all over the Valley, that expansion in Arizona is a recruiting tool for people all over the country, that the workforce located right here is one of the best and that they want to hire engineers graduating from Arizona State University. That speaks volumes to the caliber of talent and quality of life that we have in Phoenix.
If you have any questions or comments, contact my office at [email protected] or call 602-262-7444.
Vice Mayor Thelda Williams serves as the District 1 representative which encompasses north west Phoenix from Northern Avenue to New River Road; and the Interstate 17 to 67th Avenue
