Economy
Per Capita Transfer Payments
Description: Per capita transfer payments is calculated from transfer payments and population. Transfer payments (now referred to as “personal current transfer receipts”) is one of three primary categories of personal income. The category consists of payments to persons for which no current services are performed — payments to individuals and to nonprofit institutions by federal, state, and local governments and by businesses. According to the BEA, “Government payments to individuals includes retirement and disability insurance benefits, medical payments (mainly Medicare and Medicaid), income maintenance benefits, unemployment insurance benefits, veterans benefits, and federal grants and loans to students. Government payments to nonprofit institutions excludes payments by the federal government for work under research and development contracts. Business payments to persons consists primarily of liability payments for personal injury and of corporate gifts to nonprofit institutions.”
Transfer payments data are presented on the Economic and Demographic Indicators dashboard since 1969 for the United States, Arizona, and the 15 Arizona counties. State and national data are reported quarterly four months after the end of a quarter, with revised annual data reported in September. County data are released annually 16 months after the end of a year. The figures are adjusted for inflation using the GDP implicit price deflator.
Data Source: U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis through the Regional Economic Information System. Per capita transfer payments is available from Table CA30 http://www.bea.gov/regional/reis/default.cfm?catable=CA30. The GDP implicit price deflator is available from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis http://www.bea.gov/national/nipaweb/SelectTable.asp?Selected=Y (Table 1.1.9).
Comments on the Quality of the Data: Some of the inputs to the calculation of transfer payments by state and county are estimated. The population also is estimated.
