Taiwan’s chip hub Hsinchu sees higher incomes, home prices, and births

In short: In Hsinchu, Taiwan’s main chip-making center, wealth, luxury housing, and birthrates are rising together, largely due to high-paying semiconductor jobs.

What's going on

Hsinchu City and nearby Hsinchu County sit at the heart of Taiwan’s chip supply chain, thanks to Hsinchu Science Park and companies like TSMC. Semiconductors are the tiny parts inside electronics (like the “brains” in phones and cars). Because so much chip work is concentrated here, the region has become Taiwan’s richest area by household income.

Average annual household income in Hsinchu City is about NT$1.52 million, the highest in Taiwan. Hsinchu County ranks second at about NT$1.395 million, ahead of Taipei. In neighborhoods near the science park, reported incomes are far higher, reflecting how much top chip engineers and managers are paid.

That money is reshaping the housing market. Around the science park, some property prices have risen up to six times in roughly a decade. In Guanxin, prices reportedly jumped from about NT$120,000 per ping to NT$800,000 per ping (a ping is about the size of a small bedroom at 3.3 square meters), and newer luxury condos have spread into areas like Zhubei.

Hsinchu also stands out in a country with very low birthrates. Hsinchu City and County are the only two regions in Taiwan with more young people than older people, and Hsinchu County’s fertility rate was about 1.02 in 2023. One sign of how concentrated the chip workforce is, TSMC employees accounted for at least 2% of all babies born in Taiwan in 2023.

What to watch

The big question is whether rising housing costs will start to cancel out the benefits of high salaries. Some local interviews suggest younger workers are already more cautious about having children as the cost of living climbs.

Source: NYTimes