Personal Income Growth By State

May 15th, 2014 by 
PK

The Bureau of Economic Analysis recently (okay, fine, more than a month ago) released the very interesting state personal income overview for 2013.  In it, they break down that oh-so-important indicator, personal income growth, into a percentage change from 2012 in each state (and Washington, DC).

Grab it (warning: pdf).

Personal Income Growth by State

Uneven Growth

The report revealed an interesting income trend when it comes to industry - every single industry tracked grew earnings in 2013, except government (and explains some of the poor growth in DC, Virginia, and Maryland in the map above).  That came with a caveat, however: most private industries grew earnings at a slower pace than in 2012.

The states ranged from a high of 7.6%(!) income growth in North Dakota, related to the energy boom all the way down to a mere 1.5% in West Virginia.  If you want to roll it up regionally, there was a tie at the top: the Southwest and the Rockies both saw 3.4% wage growth.  Compare that to the Mideast, which lagged with 2.0%.

How Did You Do?  Your State? ... Your Region?

I lagged California's 2.8% from 2012-2013, at least according to the tax return I just filed - volatility in a bonus will do that (haha).  Shockingly (!), for a web site named "Don't Quit Your Day Job...", the web site's earnings don't contribute that much to the bottom line.

That said, in a state where $1.8 trillion dollars was earned in 2013 (across a population of 38.3 million), California's 2.8% is impressive.  Overall, California ranked 16th on the income growth scale, and was 12th overall in per capita income in 2013.

So - maybe you don't get as excited about BEA releases as we do - but you've got to admit that this particular release is an interesting one.

      

PK

PK started DQYDJ in 2009 to research and discuss finance and investing and help answer financial questions. He's expanded DQYDJ to build visualizations, calculators, and interactive tools.

PK lives in New Hampshire with his wife, kids, and dog.

Don't Quit Your Day Job...

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