פרסומים – מכון ירושלים למחקרי מדיניות

Summary

Publication Year: 2013

Authors:

Michal Korach, Dr. Maya Choshen, Yael Israeli, Inbal Doron, Yair Assaf-Shapira

Jerusalem Facts and Trends is one of the Institute’s premier publications. It is an accessible guide through which anyone from a variety of fields can find useful information on Jerusalem. The publication analyzes the complex reality that is ‘modern Jerusalem’ and examines the area, the diverse populations that inhabit the city, sources of population growth, characteristics of the family unit, welfare and standard of living, employment, business and industry, education, housing and tourism. The data used in the publication is largely drawn from the Institute’s Statistical Yearbook of Jerusalem, published annually.

Population

At the end of 2011, the population of Jerusalem numbered 804,400 residents, including 511,400 Jews and 293,000 Arabs. The Arab population included a Muslim majority (96%) and a Christian minority. Jerusalem’s population in 2011 comprised about 10% of the population of Israel; the Jewish population comprised about 8% of the total Jewish population in Israel, while the Arab population comprised about 18% of the total Arab population in Israel.

Standard of Living and Welfare

About a half (51%) of Jerusalem’s population, as noted, belongs to the low socioeconomic group. This constitutes a very high percentage of the population in comparison to Israel as a whole (23%) and to other large Israeli cities (2% in Haifa, Rishon Letzion and Petah Tikva, 1% in Tel Aviv and 20% in Ashdod). About one-quarter (25%) of the city’s population belongs to the upper-middle class. This percentage is low in comparison to other large cities and Israel in general. The percentage of the population belonging to the high socio-economic class (4%) in Jerusalem is also low in comparison to Israel (9%) and its major cities: 37% in Tel Aviv, 28% in Haifa and 10% in Petah Tikva. In Ashdod and Rishon Letzion, however there is not even one area that belongs to the high socioeconomic class.

Salary and Income

In 2010, the average (gross) monthly salary for an employee in Jerusalem was NIS 7,600. The average monthly salary in Jerusalem was low compared to that of Tel Aviv (NIS 10,800), Haifa (NIS 9,900) and Israel (NIS 9,000). It was also low in comparison to surrounding localities, with the exception of localities with a majority of ultra-orthodox population. In Har Adar, the average (gross) monthly salary was NIS 16,000; in Mevasseret Zion – NIS 12,800; in Zur Hadassah – NIS 12,500; in Efrat – NIS 10,600; in localities in the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council – NIS 10,300; in Givat Ze’ev – NIS 9,000; in Ma’ale Adumim – NIS 8,700; and in Beit Shemesh (where about half of the population is ultraorthodox) – NIS 7,200. In localities where the population is primarily ultra-orthodox, the average monthly salaries were as follows: Kiryat Ye’arim (Telz Stone) – NIS 6,400; Kochav Ya’akov – NIS 5,500; and Beitar Illit – NIS 5,000. In Abu Ghosh, where the population is primarily Arab, the average monthly salary was NIS 6,200.

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