Abilene's per capita income increases by 5%
FEBRUARY 19, 2010
Shiraz Mukarram Special to the Reporter-News
Abilene has a different story to tell than the rest of the country about its per capita personal income growth in 2008, which exceeded that of most of the nation’s other metropolitan areas.
According to a January report from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, in 2008, Abilene’s per capita personal income was $33,020, and the national per capita income was $39,582. However, the percent increase from 2007 for Abilene was 5 percent, double the U.S. increase of 2.5 percent.
According to the report, Abilene had a per capita personal income growth of 7.9 percent from 2006 to 2007, compared with national per capita personal income growth of 4.9 percent.
In 2007, Abilene’s per capita personal income was $31,453, and the U.S. per capita income was $38,615.
Abilene ranks 213th out of 366 metropolitan statistical areas in per capita income.
The fastest growing metropolitan areas in 2008, Midland and Odessa, benefited from high oil prices of the first half of the year. Personal income grew 9 percent or more in these areas.
Per capita personal income growth is a measure that highlights differences in economic conditions across metropolitan areas by removing the effect of different population growth rates.
The Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 also boosted per capita personal income, according to the report. Because income tax rebates authorized by the act were targeted toward lower income families, the contribution of these rebates to per capita personal income growth varied inversely with per capita income.
Among industries, health care and housing were the primary sources of personal income growth for Abilene, which has population of about 116,000.
