Valdosta, Georgia- September 6, 2012

Valdosta is one of the top cities in the country when it comes to workers getting raises.

Valdosta took tenth place when it comes to salary increases from 2010 to 2011. A new study done by Toronto University makes that claim.

Valdosta's average annual wage increase from 2010 to 2011 was more than eighteen hundred dollars giving it that tenth spot on the list of top cities for raises. Toronto University based their study on Bureau of Labor statistics. It noted military bases like Moody as well as Universities like Valdosta State played a signficant role.

Said Bill McKinney, Ph.D., VSU President: "We have over eighteen hundred full and part-time employees at the University alone, let alone a wider economic impact that amounts to in excess of five thousand jobs either indirectly or directly created by the university. That really takes into account not only the salaries but also the commerce that is generated as part of being one of the top ten employers in the region as well as an economic driver."

The City Manager says roughly 60 percent of college graduates live within one hundred miles of the school they graduated. Making South Georgia Medical Center another economic driver.

Valdosta City Manager, Larry Hanson believes they got the reward for: "Having a heart...A regional hospital that has a cancer center and a heart center. They create very good jobs that pay well and they support college graduates."

The city with the highest annual salary increase was Fairbanks Alaska. Workers there, on average, saw a 2,700 dollar jump in yearly wages.