Why Living Wage Matters in Call Center Site Selection: A Map of Metros

Labor cost has long been one of the primary drivers of call center site selection. For decades, organizations have focused on identifying markets with the lowest wages to reduce operating expenses and improve profitability. While labor cost remains an important consideration, today's labor market requires companies to look beyond simply finding the lowest-wage location.

A more important question is whether local wages provide employees with enough income to meet the basic cost of living within that market.

To better understand this relationship, Site Selection Group analyzed the 250 largest Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) by population size in the United States, comparing local living wages with both average and top-of-market call center representative wages. The analysis also measured the gap between market compensation and the living wage in each metro area.

The results highlight an important reality: Paying a competitive wage can significantly improve employee financial well-being while strengthening workforce attraction, retention, and operational stability.

Largest U.S. Metro Areas: Call Center & Living Wage Differential

Call Center 90th Percentile Hourly Wage / Living Wage Differential

The interactive map accompanying this article allows users to compare every one of the 250 largest U.S. metro areas using five different labor metrics:

• Average call center representative wage
• 90th percentile call center representative wage
• Living wage
• Average wage vs. living wage differential
• 90th percentile wage vs. living wage differential

Users can filter and summarize metro areas to quickly identify:

• Markets where average wages generally meet living wage levels
• Markets where competitive wages exceed the living wage
• Markets with the largest deficits between call center wages and living wage
• Markets where wage increases can significantly improve employee purchasing power

The interactive map provides valuable insight beyond traditional wage surveys by illustrating how compensation aligns with local economic conditions.

Average Market Wages Fall Short in Nearly Every Major Metro

One of the most striking findings is that only eight of the 250 largest U.S. metro areas have an average call center representative wage that meets or exceeds the local living wage.

That means 97% of the nation's largest metro areas have average market wages below the living wage, creating potential challenges for employers seeking to attract and retain customer service talent.

The eight metro areas where average call center representative wages meet or exceed the living wage are:

Although average wages reflect current market conditions, they do not necessarily represent a sustainable compensation strategy. Employers paying only average wages may experience increased turnover, recruiting challenges, wage pressure, and lower employee engagement—particularly in higher-cost labor markets.

Competitive Compensation Changes the Story

The analysis looks dramatically different when evaluating 90th percentile call center representative wages.

Among the 250 largest metro areas:

• 194 metro areas (78%) have 90th percentile call center wages that exceed the local living wage.
• Only 56 metro areas remain below the living wage even when paying near the top of the market.

This demonstrates that companies willing to position compensation competitively can substantially improve employees' ability to earn a living wage while strengthening their competitive position in attracting and retaining talent.

Rather than viewing compensation solely as an operating expense, leading employers increasingly recognize it as a strategic investment in workforce quality, customer experience, and long-term operational performance.

Top 10 Metro Areas Where Competitive Wages Most Exceed the Living Wage

Among the 250 largest metro areas, the following markets demonstrate the greatest positive difference between 90th percentile call center representative wages and the local living wage:

These metro areas demonstrate that competitive compensation can provide employees with substantially greater purchasing power while remaining attractive locations for customer service operations.

Key Findings

Several broader trends emerged from the analysis:

• Only eight of the 250 largest metro areas have average call center representative wages at or above the living wage.
• 194 metro areas exceed the living wage when employers pay at the 90th percentile of the local labor market.
• An additional 186 metro areas move above the living wage simply by paying competitively rather than the market average.
• Living costs—not just wage rates—are driving many labor market differences. Some high-paying metro areas still fall below the Living wage because housing and other living expenses are significantly higher.
• Many Midwestern markets perform particularly well due to a combination of competitive wages and relatively affordable living costs.
• Two metro areas with similar wage rates can produce very different outcomes once local living costs are considered, highlighting the importance of evaluating purchasing power rather than wages alone.

Living Wage Should Be Part of Every Site Selection Strategy

Living wage analysis should not replace traditional labor analytics, but it should become an important component of every location strategy.

Organizations should continue evaluating:

• Labor availability
• Workforce quality
• Compensation competitiveness
• Employee turnover
• Labor competition
• Demographics
• Education levels
• Real estate costs
• Operating costs

However, understanding how local wages compare to the actual cost of living provides an additional layer of insight that can improve long-term workforce sustainability.

Conclusion

Selecting a call center location should never be based solely on identifying the lowest wage market.

Our analysis demonstrates that while only 8 of the 250 largest U.S. metro areas currently have average call center representative wages that meet or exceed the local living wage, 194 metro areas exceed the living wage when employers pay near the top of the local market.

The findings reinforce an important message: competitive compensation is not simply a labor expense—it is a strategic investment in employee attraction, retention, engagement, and long-term operational success.

Organizations that incorporate living wage analysis into their site selection process gain a more complete understanding of labor market competitiveness and are better positioned to build stable, high-performing customer service operations.

Site Selection Group helps organizations evaluate labor markets through comprehensive workforce analytics, compensation benchmarking, operating cost modeling, demographic analysis, and location strategy to identify markets that balance labor quality, operating cost, and long-term workforce sustainability.

Contact us to learn how we can help you navigate labor costs, cost of living, and other workforce considerations to best evaluate the location that is right for your next call center operation.