Per Capita Personal Income
Per capita personal income is the broadest measure of individual economic well-being available by county. Personal income includes earnings (consisting of wages and salaries of workers, other labor income, and proprietors’ income); dividends, interest, and rent; and transfer payments (such as retirement benefits, food stamps, and unemployment compensation). Per capita personal income is calculated by dividing personal income by population.
The latest current dollar per capita personal 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 per capita personal income is displayed for each area, beginning with 1970. The data are inflation adjusted using the gross domestic product implicit price deflator (GDP deflator).
Annual data are from the U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis. State and national data are reported nine months after the end of a year. The data can be accessed from http://www.bea.gov/regional/spi/; personal income and population are included in the summary table and in table SA04. County data are released 16 months after the end of a year, accessible at http://www.bea.gov/regional/reis/; personal income and population are included in the summary table and in table CA04.
The GDP 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).
Some of the inputs to the calculation of personal income by state and county are estimated. Population estimates for 2000 through 2010 have been revised for the nation and Arizona based on the 2010 census count, but the revisions for the counties have not yet been released.
Per Capita Personal Income, 2009
Visualization Notes:
Reasonable targets for Arizona are for the state’s per capita personal 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.
The most recent data for per capita personal income by county are for 2009, a recessionary year. These estimates remain subject to revision, particularly with the population estimates not yet revised based on the 2010 census results. The preliminary data indicate that per capita personal income in 2009 was less than the U.S. metro average in each of the state’s seven metropolitan counties. In three of the eight nonmetro counties, the figure exceeded the U.S. nonmetro average.
Per Capita Personal Income as Percentages of the National Averages, 2009
Visualization Notes:
Among Arizona’s seven metropolitan counties, per capita personal income in 2009 ranged from 14 percent below the U.S. metro average in Maricopa County to 41 percent below average in Pinal County. Among the eight nonmetro counties, Cochise, Gila, and Greenlee had figures above the U.S. nonmetro average. However, per capita personal income was more than 20 percent below the nonmetro average in Apache, Graham, and Navajo counties. These estimates remain subject to revision, particularly with the population estimates not yet revised based on the 2010 census results.
Per Capita Personal Income in Arizona as a Percentage of the National Average
Visualization Notes:
A reasonable target is for Arizona’s per capita personal income to be within 5 percent of the national average. This was the case during the early 1970s. Per capita personal income in Arizona was within 11 percent of the national average in each year from 1969 through 1989, but since then has been that high only during the mid-2000s economic boom. The 2010 figure was 13.5 percent less than the national average.
Per Capita Personal Income, Inflation-Adjusted Percent Change
Visualization Notes:
Per capita personal income better reflects economic performance than does personal income since the varying growth rates in population are removed. The inflation-adjusted percent change in per capita personal income is cyclical, with declines or small gains common during recessions and larger increases usually occurring during expansions. By far, the largest decrease since at least 1970 occurred in 2009 nationally and in Arizona. A recovery began in 2010.
The annual percent change in Arizona typically is not much different from the national average, but tends to be higher at the peak of an economic expansion and lower during recessions. Arizona’s increase was considerably higher than the U.S. average in 2004 and 2005, but Arizona did worse than the national average in each year from 2007 through 2010.
Data Source
Annual data are from the U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis. State and national data are reported nine months after the end of a year. The data can be accessed from http://www.bea.gov/regional/spi/; personal income and population are included in the summary table and in table SA04. County data are released 16 months after the end of a year, accessible at http://www.bea.gov/regional/reis/; personal income and population are included in the summary table and in table CA04.
The GDP 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).
Explore 
Download 
Download 
