Thumbnail:  In the midst of the vigorous defense of the present PILOT programs by economic development officials, the inconvenient truths about the economy should be our wake-up call.  Among the 53 largest metros, Memphis continues to lag in performance, as it has for at least 20 years.

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Memphis City Council and Shelby County Board of Commissioners lack the context during their recent discussion about reforms to the PILOT program. 

In the decade reflected in this ranking, about $80 million in taxes were given away in the form of tax breaks to companies and real estate developers.

In the decade of 2008-2018,  the Memphis region fell behind key economic indicators for the U.S. and lagged other major cities.  An updated review will be online in a few days but it these economic indicators up to 2020 shows little deviation.

Despite these tepid results, economic development officials from EDGE, Downtown Memphis Commission, Greater Memphis Chamber and University of Memphis are defensive about current programs and policies. 

It brings to mind the bromide about doing the same thing and expecting different results.

Here are the rankings from a decade for the Memphis metro (Memphis is ranked among 53 large metro areas):

#46 – Overall Growth Rate
#43 – Overall Prosperity Rate
#46 – Overall Inclusion Rate
#2 – Racial Inclusion Rate
#53 – Overall geographic inclusion rate

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Breakdown of each category:

#46 –Overall Growth Rate
#47 – Change in jobs
#49 – Change in Gross Metropolitan Product
#41 – Change in jobs at young firms

#43 – Overall Prosperity Rate
#44 – Change in Productivity
#37 – Change in average annual wage
#44 – Change in standard of living

#46 – Overall Inclusion Rate
#49 – Change in employment rate
#48 – Change in median earnings
#22 – Change in relative poverty rate

#2 – Overall Racial Inclusion Rate
#2 – Change in white/people of color employment rate gap
#2 – Change in white/people of color median earnings gap
#13 – Change in white/people of color relative poverty rate

#53 – Overall geographic inclusion rate
#53 – Change in top/bottom neighborhoods employment rate gap
#26 – Change in top/bottom neighborhoods median household income gap
#41 – Change in top/bottom neighborhoods relative to poverty rate gap

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Growth Rate Rankings for 53 largest metros:
#1 – Austin
#4 – San Antonio
#5 – Denver MSA
#6 – Raleigh MSA
#7 – Dallas MSA
#8 – Orlando
#12 – Charlotte MSA
#18 – Oklahoma City MSA
#20 – Miami
#23 – Jacksonville
#25 – Washington, DC MSA
#27 – Indianapolis MSA
#28 – Cincinnati
#29 – Richmond
#30 – Kansas City
#33 – New Orleans
#35 – Detroit
#42 – Chicago
#44 – Pittsburgh
#45 – Cleveland
#46 – Memphis MSA
#47 – St. Louis
#49 – Birmingham

Source: Brookings Institution Metro Monitor 2020