Average Nonfarm Proprietors’ Income
For those members of the workforce who do not work in wage and salary jobs—including sole proprietorships, partnerships, and tax-exempt cooperatives—the average proprietors’ income is the counterpart to the average wage as a measure of individual economic well-being. Average proprietors’ income is calculated from proprietors’ income and the number of proprietors. Because the income of farm proprietors is highly volatile from year to year, data are displayed on Arizona Indicators only for nonfarm proprietors and their income.
The latest current dollar average nonfarm proprietors’ income figure by county is presented on Arizona Indicators, along with data for the same year for the United States, the U.S. metro average, the U.S. nonmetro average, and Arizona. The figure for Arizona also is expressed as a percentage of the national average. Counties within a metropolitan area are presented as a percentage of the U.S. metro average; the remaining counties are compared to the national nonmetro average. A history of Arizona’s current dollar figure as a percentage of the national average is presented back to 1969. In addition, the inflation-adjusted percent change in average nonfarm proprietors’ income is displayed for each area, beginning with 1970. The data are inflation adjusted using the gross domestic product implicit price deflator (GDP deflator).
U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis. Annual data by state are released in September. County data are released two months later, in November. All of the data can be accessed from http://www.bea.gov/regional/index.htm. The income of nonfarm proprietors is included in table CA04, but the number of nonfarm proprietors must be obtained from table CA25.
The GDP deflator is available from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis: http://www.bea.gov/national/index.htm. Click on the “Interactive Tables: GDP and the National Income and Product Account (NIPA) Historical Tables” link; the GDP deflator is in Table 1.1.9 (Section 1: Domestic Product and Income).
Some of the inputs to the calculation of proprietors’ income by state and county are estimated. The number of proprietors also is estimated. Some proprietors work either more or less than 40 hours per week, but the average does not adjust for the number of hours worked.
Average Nonfarm Proprietors’ Income, 2013
Visualization Notes:
The average nonfarm proprietors’ income in Arizona in 2013 was $24,966, considerably less than the national average of $32,757. Average nonfarm proprietors’ income in 2013 was below the U.S. metro average in each of the state’s eight metropolitan counties and below the U.S. nonmetro average in each of the seven nonmetro counties. Only Maricopa had a figure that exceeded the U.S. nonmetro average.
Average Nonfarm Proprietors’ Income as Percentages of the National Averages, 2013
Visualization Notes:
Reasonable targets for Arizona are for the state’s average nonfarm proprietors’ income to be within 5 percent of the national average, for the larger metro counties to have a figure within 5 percent of the U.S. metro average, and for the nonmetro counties to have a figure within 5 percent of the nonmetro average.
Among Arizona’s eight metropolitan counties, average nonfarm proprietors’ income in 2013 was highest in Maricopa County at 15 percent below the U.S. metro average. The figure was at least 33 percent below average in the other seven counties. Among the seven nonmetro counties, the figure was 11 percent less than the U.S. nonmetro average in Santa Cruz and at least 37 percent below average in the other counties.
Average Nonfarm Proprietors’ Income in Arizona as a Percentage of the National Average
Visualization Notes:
A reasonable target is for Arizona’s average nonfarm proprietors’ income to be within 5 percent of the national average. This was the case in 1969 and 1970. After the early 1970s, average nonfarm proprietors’ income in Arizona fell precipitously relative to the national average, bottoming out at 46 percent below average in 1990. The percentage of the national average bounced back during the 1990s and briefly came within 8 percent during the mid-2000s economic boom. Arizona’s figure was 24 percent less than the national average in 2013.
Average Nonfarm Proprietors’ Income, Inflation-Adjusted Percent Change
Visualization Notes:
The inflation-adjusted percent change in average nonfarm proprietors’ income is somewhat inconsistent nationally, but declines typically occur during recessions while gains usually occur during expansions. The annual percent change in Arizona has been erratic relative to the national average. Decreases in Arizona from 2007 through 2009 were considerably larger than the national average and the gain in 2010 was subpar. From 2011 through 2013, annual increases in Arizona slightly exceeded the U.S. average.
Data Source
U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis. Annual data by state are released in September. County data are released two months later, in November. All of the data can be accessed from http://www.bea.gov/regional/index.htm. The income of nonfarm proprietors is included in table CA04, but the number of nonfarm proprietors must be obtained from table CA25.
The GDP deflator is available from the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis: http://www.bea.gov/national/index.htm. Click on the “Interactive Tables: GDP and the National Income and Product Account (NIPA) Historical Tables” link; the GDP deflator is in Table 1.1.9 (Section 1: Domestic Product and Income).
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