The Left's Latest Distortion: Average Salaries Are Higher In Non-Right-To-Work States

Ever since Michigan's legislature voted to make that state a right-to-work state, the political left has gone into full battle mode to prove that Michigan will actually be hurt by that decision.  In one such attempt, a liberal economics group, The Economic Policy Institute (EPI), has released a position paper -- ‘Right to work’ The wrong answer for Michigan’s economy -- that explains just how bad that decision was.  One of the key elements of that opinion is the fact that average incomes in the right-to-work states were lower by $1500 a year; even after taking into consideration the differences in the costs of living.  And, for sure, that fact is being repeated by every Democratic politician and commentator who has appeared on TV or radio to discuss the Michigan decision.

In coming to that conclusion, the EPI ignores the fact that many of those right-to-work states have large rural populations that pay lower wages.  As I have always said, you can manipulate statistics to prove any point, and that's exactly the case here. So, to be "fairer", I would prefer to look at two of our largest states -- California and Texas.  California is definitely "not" a right-to-work state with a union workforce participation rate at 17.1%. Texas, on the other hand, is a right-to-work state with the union workforce population at about 5.2%.

Now, if you just superficially look at average incomes, California wins hands down. The average Californian's salary is about $61,632 and the average Texan only makes about $50,920 a year, but, even though Californians make 21% more than their Texas counterparts, Californians are actually a lot poorer.  That's because the cost of things is almost 52% higher when you consider the cost of living index in California is at 135 and only 89 for Texas.  So, when adjusted for these differentials, Texans are actually making the California equivalent salary of $77,938.  Couple this fact with the fact that the unemployment rate in California is 10.1% and only 6.6% and you can understand why so many Californians are moving out of California to go to Texas.

One last thing.  One of the primary drivers that makes California's cost of living so high is its high rates of taxation.  Interestingly, those high taxes are primarily due to the state's higher-than-normal costs of paying its unionized state workers and their ever-growing pension and health benefits.  Obviously, state workers are living high off the backs of the private sector workers.  Certainly something that the left intentionally leaves out when comparing right-to-work states with pro-union states.

Additional References:

--- Bureau of Labor Statistics: Unemployment Rate By State: http://www.bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm

--- NBC Los Angeles: California's Population Is Moving Out, Census Report Shows: http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Californias-Population-Moving-Out-182914961.html