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• Employment Employment is a critical component to the housing market. The nine largest employers are illustrated in Table 5. Each employer was interviewed to assess local economic conditions including number of employees, wages, historic and future growth, and the need for additional housing. During the past two years six of the employers have grown in size and the remaining three have stayed the same. All but one employer indicated that the local economic climate is good. A variety of employers indicated that they anticipate their businesses to grow over the next two years. The largest employer in the City of Elk River is the school district with 1,250 employees. The second largest employer is Sherburne County with approximately 470 employees. Most employers would not disclose average wage data to provide a general overview of approximate wages paid by area employers. A 1999 Business Retention and Expansion Survey found the Elk River average industrial wage to be $11.54 per hour. The Minnesota Department of Economic Security also produces wage survey information and found that the average hourly wage for the Manufacturing sector in Sherburne County was $18.35 per hour for the second quarter of 2000. Employers were also asked to comment on the local housing market based on their experience with employees. All nine employers indicated that more moderate-income housing is needed in the community. Just under 80% of the employers indicated that the addition of more moderate income housing would be of benefit to their business. Moderate-income housing is typically • defined as housing for households earning 80% or less of the area median income. For Sherburne County this would be $60,320 based on the HUD 2001 median household income of $75,400. This would equate to rental housing that is generally priced under$1,500 per month including rent, utilities and garages. For homeownership this would be a maximum purchase price of$190,800. According to a 2001 Labor Force Assessment which was completed for Sherburne County, residents of the County commute a wide variety of distances to work each day. Commuting patterns indicate that residents are commuting to various locations primarily following a pattern along Interstate 94. The patterns are not heavily concentrated in one County or City. Approximately 35% of those surveyed traveled 0 to 10 miles to work one-way. For those that commute 46 or more minutes each way, they indicated they would take a median decrease of $2.40 per hour to have a 0 to 15 minute commute. On the other hand those that commute 0 to 15 minutes per day would need to earn a median increase of$7.00 per hour to drive 46 or more minutes with 47% indicating they were unwilling. The study also found that the largest share of workers had an annual pre-tax salary of$20,000 to $40,000. •