The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) injects vitality into the business community through its viewpoint report on urban and rural worker salaries.

Based on the new CBA report, the average salary gap between the urban centers and the rural areas decreased to just $24 a week. Compiled with independent research house Natsem, the report illustrated the salary gap through its index of salaries. In the city, the index increased from 103.70 points in the second quarter 2008 to 118.17 points in the second quarter 2010. Over the same period, the index for the remote areas increased from 102.94 to 117.41 points.

The research identified two key factors for the narrow gap: the level of mining and resources activity in an area; and the breakthrough in the drought.

Remote areas such as Fortescue and De Gray in Western Australia, the research states, benefited from the mining and resources activity pre-global financial crisis boom. The demand for commodities strengthened soon after the global crisis and it brought along with it the salaries for those employed in the commodities sector.

The salaries in rural areas improved when the rains came in.

The latest report showed the top 10 statistical subdivisions based on average monthly salaries were in remote areas of Western Australia and in the metropolitan areas of Sydney, Canberra, Perth, and Melbourne.