Wagga coronavirus: average impact from pandemic but customer spending takes a hit

Sydney consulting firm Taylor Fry has estimated how each postcode will be affected based on the number of people seeing a "substantial reduction" in "ability to meet their pre-pandemic cost of living".

Wagga's postcode was put in the 50 to 60th percentile for financial impact due to its higher than average number of workers earning between $26,000 to $65,000 per year, and fewer earning more than $103,000.

The study's theory was that lower incomes across the Riverina will reduce the impact due to the JobKeeper wage subsidy and JobSeeker welfare payments covering more of the losses.

However, there are concerns about what might happen when major government stimulus programs start to wind up around September.

Wagga accountant Parul Banga said she could not make a comparison with other areas, but had seen people in the region pull back on their spending in response to the coronavirus.

"People on a low income, who are working or have been getting government support, they have been able to get past these times," she said.

"But what I worry about is after the support stops coming in...what happens in six months, one can't say.

Wagga Marine owner Craig Harris said a fall in disposable incomes was one of the reasons he was shifting his business away from retail after 13 years.

"It was because of the downturn in the economy and obviously COVID-19 was the catalyst, the straw that broke the camel's back," Mr Harris said.

"We've decided to go away from selling boats and we're into repairing them," he said.

"I've just built a trailer to go to the customer rather than the customer coming to me."

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Under the forecast, most rural areas in the Riverina would be some of the least financially affected postcodes of Australia.

Towns like Tumut, Griffith, and Leeton would be much more vulnerable.

Taylor Fry principal Alan Greenfield stated one of the key indicators for each area's financial impact was the number of people with medium to high incomes who could not cover their cost of living if they lost their jobs.