ITHACA, N.Y. (WHCU) – A new report finds Ithaca’s wage growth is the worst among 30 similarly sized college towns in the country.

Cornell researchers reviewed wages in thirty mid-sized college towns from 2017 to 2022, and Ithaca ranks dead last. It also ranks as the seventh worst for income inequality.

“The perfect storm of worker suffering in Ithaca that we have long known and struggled with seems even more striking with this new research comparing Ithaca to other college towns,” said Tompkins County Workers’ Center Coordinator Pete Meyers.

It follows a recent study from Cornell’s ILR school that shows 38% of Ithaca workers earn less than the Tompkins County living wage, including nearly 1/3 of all full-time workers.

“This is unsustainable,” said Ithaca College Professor and Economics Department Chair Shaianne Osterreich. ” It maps onto multiple known inequities regarding housing, racialized and class-based labor market inequities, and meager inflation-adjusted wage growth. The current situation is forcing families to consider leaving town”