Comprehensive revision of local area personal income: new statistics for 2012 and revised statistics for 2001-2011.
Lenze, David G.
PERSONAL INCOME grew more slowly (3.7 percent) in the
nonmetropolitan portion of the United States in 2012 than in the
metropolitan portion (4.2 percent). (1) Growth ranged from -33.4 percent
in Hamilton County, Kansas, to 52.3 percent in Williams County, North
Dakota, but most counties and metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) grew
at rates between 2.0 percent and 6.0 percent (chart 1). Inflation, as
measured by the national price index for personal consumption
expenditures, was 1.8 percent in 2012.
The local area personal income estimates presented in this article
continue the successively more detailed series of data releases from the
Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) depicting the geographic distribution
of the nation's production and income for 2012. National estimates
of personal income and gross domestic product (GDP) for 2012 were
released in January 2013, followed by state personal income estimates in
March, state GDP estimates in June, and metropolitan area GDP estimates
in September. The local area personal income estimates provide the first
glimpse of personal income and compensation by industry in
nonmetropolitan counties for 2012 and a more detailed look at the
industrial composition of economic activity within multicounty MSAs. The
geographic picture of 2012 will be completed with the release of real
personal income for states and metropolitan areas in April 2014.
[GRAPHIC 1 OMITTED]
The estimates discussed in this article are the result of the most
recent comprehensive revision of the local area personal income
accounts, which was released in November 2013. In comprehensive
revisions, manifold improvements in concepts, definitions,
classifications, and statistical methods are introduced into BEA's
economic accounts to ensure that the accounts continue to accurately
describe the evolving American economy. This comprehensive revision
incorporated changes that were adopted as part of the comprehensive
revisions of the national income and product accounts (NIPAs) and state
personal income accounts, which were released in July and September
2013, respectively. It also introduced new and updated county-level
source data as well as certain new data sources that have never been
used before.
This article discusses the patterns and sources of income growth
for 2012 in nonmetropolitan counties. It complements the discussion of
the patterns and sources of production growth for 2012 in metropolitan
areas in the October issue of the SURVEY OF CURRENT BUSINESS. (2) This
article also highlights the fluctuating boundary between the
metropolitan and nonmetropolitan portions of the United States by
examining in detail the counties affected by the revised MSA definitions
released by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) earlier this year.
In addition, the article provides details about the comprehensive
revision of local area personal income statistics and summarizes the
major data sources used to prepare the estimates. A box discusses
alternative measures of county wages.
Growth in Nonmetropolitan Counties
For statistical purposes, nonmetropolitan counties are those
counties that remain after MSAs have been delineated. As defined by OMB,
an MSA has at least one urbanized area of 50,000 or more residents plus
adjacent territory that has a high degree of social and economic
integration with the core as measured by commuting ties. MSAs are
defined in terms of whole counties. By these criteria, there are 1,967
nonmetropolitan counties and 1,146 metropolitan counties in the United
States. (3)
Not surprisingly, all nonmetropolitan counties are sparsely populated. They range from Loving County Texas, with a population of 71
and a population density of 0.1 persons per square mile, to Litchfield
County Connecticut, with a population of 187,530 and density of 206
persons per square mile. (4) The converse is not true; that is, not all
metropolitan counties are densely populated. For instance, there are 95
metropolitan counties with a population density below 100 persons per
square mile and with less than 30,000 residents, none of whom live in an
urbanized area. Evidently, these counties are metropolitan because by
the OMB definition, there is a high degree of social and economic
integration with the core of an MSA as measured by commuting ties. In
other words, these counties are metropolitan because their residents
commute to work in another metropolitan county, not because they have an
urban character.
The nonmetropolitan portion of the country accounted for slightly
less than 10 percent of the nation's earnings in 2012, but
reflecting the rural affinity of much mining and farming, the
nonmetropolitan portion of the United States accounted for almost 37
percent of national earnings in natural resource industries (table A).
The nonmetropolitan area also accounted for 14.7 percent of
manufacturing earnings, 12.6 percent of transportation earnings, and
12.1 percent of government earnings. In contrast, relatively
little--less than 4.0 percent--of earnings in the information, finance,
and business services industries was generated in nonmetropolitan
counties.
Not only did the nonmetropolitan portion grow more slowly than the
metropolitan portion of the United States in 2012, its 3.7 percent
personal income growth rate was a substantial slowdown from its 6.4
percent growth in 2011 (table B). Most of the slowdown was attributable
to net earnings, which grew only 3.9 percent in 2012, down from 7.5
percent in 2011. Property income (dividends, interest, and rent), which
accounted for 18 percent of personal income, also grew substantially
slower (5.7 percent) in 2012 than in 2011 (10.3 percent) in
nonmetropolitan counties. Transfer receipts, which accounted for 24.5
percent of personal income, accelerated slightly to 2.0 percent growth
in 2012 from 1.3 percent in 2011.
Earnings growth by industry provides additional insight into the
reasons for these disparities in personal income growth rates (chart 2
and table C). Farm earnings for the United States fell 1.2 percent in
2012 after growing 38.9 percent in 2011. Like farming, government
earnings growth was weak in 2012, growing 0.6 percent, but unlike
farming, government earnings growth was also weak in 2011, growing 0.4
percent. In contrast to farming and the public sector, manufacturing
earnings grew at a much higher, 4.3 percent rate in 2012, after growing
5.6 percent in 2011.
Per capita personal income (personal income divided by population)
in nonmetropolitan counties in 2012 ranged from $116,978 in Williams
County, North Dakota, to $17,922 in Telfair County, Georgia. Net
earnings was the source of most of the income in Williams County and
amounted to $100,138 per person. Mining (which includes oil and gas
extraction) accounted for 43 percent of earnings in Williams County. The
high level of per capita personal income in Williams County is a recent
phenomenon. As recently as 2007, per capita personal income in the
county was slightly below the national average (chart 3). By 2012, it
was more than twice as large.
[GRAPHIC 2 OMITTED]
In contrast, per capita personal income in Telfair County has
stagnated and in 2012 was 2.4 percent below the level for 2001. Net
earnings per person in Telfair County was only $8,324. Transfer receipts
were also an important source of personal income in 2012, amounting to
$6,862 per person. The low level of per capita personal income in
Telfair County reflects a relatively large proportion of the population
(20.6 percent) living in group quarters with little income, including
the inmates of a state prison.
[GRAPHIC 3 OMITTED]
Revised Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) Definitions
The OMB revised its definitions of metropolitan statistical areas
in February 2013. In doing so, it designated 23 new MSAs, merged 5
separate MSAs with adjacent MSAs, and changed 3 MSAs to micropolitan
status (the new MSAs are highlighted in chart 4). (5) The net result was
to raise the number of MSAs to 381. In the process of redefining the
MSAs, 101 counties converted from nonmetropolitan status to
metropolitan, and 36 metropolitan counties reverted from metropolitan to
nonmetropolitan status. This raised the metropolitan population of the
United States 1.1 percent and reduced the nonmetropolitan population 5.7
percent.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
When OMB redefines its MSAs, BEA rebuilds the entire time series
for the MSAs so that the local area data in the interactive tables on
the BEA Web site use the same definition for every year in the time
series. This is easily done because MSAs are defined in terms of
counties. For example, when OMB first defined the Gainesville, FL MSA it
consisted of the single county of Alachua. The current definition of the
Gainesville, FL MSA consists of Alachua and Gilchrist counties.
BEA's estimates of personal income for the Gainesville, FL MSA also
consist of the same two counties for every year that data are available.
The populations of the new MSAs range from 63,399 residents to
193,882 residents. Evidently, they have crossed the demographic
threshold required for metropolitan status, but in some respects their
average incomes and industrial composition continue to resemble
nonmetropolitan areas.
On average, per capita personal income in the new MSAs was $37,165
in 2012, only 5.2 percent above the $35,324 nonmetropolitan average and
17.8 percent below the $45,188 metropolitan average. Seven of the new
MSAs have per capita personal incomes below the nonmetropolitan average,
and two have per capita incomes above the metropolitan average.
As noted above, metropolitan areas tend to have relatively large
professional services, finance, and information industries, compared
with nonmetropolitan areas. However, among the new MSAs, only
California, MD, had a professional services industry as large as the
metropolitan average in 2012. (6) Professional services accounted for
26.4 percent of earnings in California, MD, compared with 10.6 percent
for the metropolitan average. Only Hammond, LA, had a finance sector as
large as the metropolitan average. Finance accounted for 8.3 percent of
earnings in Hammond, LA compared with 7.5 percent for the metropolitan
average. And only Staunton, VA, had an information sector as large as
the metropolitan average. (7) Information accounted for 4.0 percent of
earnings in Staunton, VA, compared with 3.4 percent for the metropolitan
average.
On the other hand, nonmetropolitan areas tend to have relatively
large farming, manufacturing, and government sectors. Farming in Grand
Island, NE (13.2 percent of earnings) and Walla Walla, WA (11.1 percent)
exceeded the 6.0 percent average for nonmetropolitan counties in 2012.
Manufacturing in Midland, MI (26.6 percent), Albany, OR (23.9 percent),
Gettysburg, PA (19.4 percent), Chambersburg, PA (18.5 percent),
Staunton, VA (18.0 percent), Grand Island, NE (17.0 percent), and East
Stroudsburg, PA (15.0 percent) exceeded the 14.9 percent average for
nonmetropolitan counties. Government earnings exceeded the
nonmetropolitan average of 21.6 percent in 10 of the new MSAs.
Comprehensive Revision
On November 21, 2013, BEA released the initial results of its
latest comprehensive, or benchmark, revision of the local area personal
income statistics; the results of the previous comprehensive revision
were released in April 2010. (8)
The first installment of the 2013 revision, consists of new and
revised statistics for the years covered by the North America Industry
Classification System (NAICS); that is, from 2001 through 2012.
Additional revisions, covering 1969-2000 for the years covered by the
Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) are scheduled to be released in
the spring of 2014.
Especially noteworthy in the 2013 comprehensive revision was the
introduction of county-level data to improve the estimates of the
Medicare benefits and Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program
benefits, two components of personal current transfer receipts.
The 2013 local area personal income comprehensive revision
incorporated the changes that were adopted as part of the comprehensive
revisions of the national income and product accounts (NIPAs), which was
released in July 2013 and of the state personal income accounts which
were released in September. (9)
The rest of this section will describe briefly the magnitude of the
revisions and then describe the improvements in source data and
statistical methods.
Magnitude of revisions
For many counties, the picture of personal income shown by the
revised estimates is similar to the picture shown by the previous
estimates (table D). More than 80 percent of the revisions in every year
were less than 5 percent in absolute value. For example, in 2001, 41
percent of the revisions to county personal income were less than 1
percent and 57 percent were between 1 percent and 5 percent. Only 56 of
the 3,110 counties were revised 5 percent or more. For the most recent
years, there were more large revisions--143 counties were revised 10
percent or more in 2011--but this often reflects the replacement of
preliminary estimates of certain components of personal income based on
simple extrapolations with estimates based on recently released source
data.
Medicare benefits
Previously, county estimates of Medicare benefits were extrapolated
from a benchmark set of estimates based on reimbursements for hospital
and medical expenses by county for 1995 from the Centers for Medicare
and Medicaid Services (CMS). The 1995 estimates were extrapolated to the
present by the change in Medicare enrollment (as of July of each year),
also from CMS. As part of the comprehensive revision, the estimates of
Medicare benefits are now based on fee-for-service per capita
expenditure data by county from CMS. These data, which are available
annually, are combined with annual Medicare enrollment by county to
obtain an estimate of total Medicare benefits.
Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits
The basic local area data source for SNAP benefits are payments
data from various state departments of social services. Formerly, when
payments data were not available, the county distribution of benefits
was held constant. As part of the comprehensive revision, the number of
benefit recipients by county from the U.S. Census Bureau were used in
the allocation of the state total when county payments data were
unavailable.
Personal contributions for veterans life insurance
Formerly, state estimates of personal contributions for veterans
life insurance (a component of contributions for government social
insurance) were allocated to counties in proportion to the veteran
population from the Census of Population. The veteran population for
2000 was held constant for all subsequent years. As part of the
comprehensive revision, state estimates of contributions for
veterans' life insurance were allocated to counties using the
2006-2010 American Community Survey "5-year" estimates of the
veteran population, centered on 2008, the midpoint of the estimation interval. This allocator will be held constant for subsequent years
until new, nonoverlapping 5-year estimates are available.
Home Affordable Mortgage Program principal reduction
This recently enacted federal program, a response to the subprime
mortgage crisis, helps eligible home owners with loan modifications on
their home mortgage debt. In lieu of direct data on benefits, the state
estimates are allocated to counties on the basis of Federal Reserve Bank
of New York data on the number of mortgage debtors, per debtor mortgage
debt balance and percent of mortgage debt in delinquency.
Miscellaneous components of personal income
Formerly, the state estimates of a number of small components of
personal income for which no county-level source data are available (for
example, temporary disability benefits, a component of personal current
transfer receipts) were allocated to counties on the basis of civilian
population. As part of the comprehensive revision, these components are
now allocated to counties using household population, that is, total
population excluding persons living in group quarters such as prisons.
State estimates of the recently enacted Temporary High Risk Health
Insurance premium reduction are also allocated to counties on the basis
of household population.
Residence adjustment
Estimates of wage and salary flows across the borders of the United
States were substantially revised in 2011 as part of the annual revision
of the international transactions accounts. (10) Because of the
magnitude of the revisions and the number of years affected, the
introduction of these revised national estimates into the regional
personal income accounts was delayed until the comprehensive revision.
These wage flows are part of the residence adjustment in the local area
personal income accounts. They account for wage and salary flows between
Canada, Mexico, and the United States. In addition, they account for the
inflows of wages and salaries earned by U.S. residents employed by
certain international organizations (such as the United Nations, the
International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank) and by foreign
embassies and consulates located within the geographic borders of the
United States.
Changes in statistical methods
There were also several statistical improvements to the local area
personal income accounts. Some of these improvements (such as for
employer contributions for pensions and health insurance) involve state
and national source data that are not available for individual counties.
However, these improvements are implicitly incorporated into the county
estimates, which must sum to the state and national estimates.
Source Data
The primary 2012 county-level data used by BEA to prepare the
estimates of local area personal income presented in this article were
wage and salary data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, benefits paid
by the Social Security Administration, Medicare enrollment and
fee-for-service expenditure data from the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services, and Medicaid payments from state departments of
social services. In addition, tabulations of 2011 federal income tax
returns from the Internal Revenue Service were used, primarily for
dividends, interest, nonfarm proprietors' income, and the residence
adjustment. (11)
Other 2012 county-level data used by BEA to prepare estimates of
various components of local area personal income include the following:
* Farm cash receipts, government payments, crop production, and
livestock inventories by county for 2012 from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture were used in the estimation of local area farm income.
* The number of full-time military and coast guard personnel by
county for 2012 from the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security
was used in the estimation of military earnings.
* County-level data for 2012 from the Federal Assistance Award Data
System were used to prepare estimates of some components of personal
current transfer receipts.
* Household population by county for 2012 from the Census Bureau
was used to allocate state estimates of a few small components of
personal income.
Data Availability
All of the local area personal income data presented in this
article, along with much additional detail, are available in interactive
data tables on the BEA Web site. Data are available for counties,
metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) and other combinations of counties
at www.bea.gov.
The data for 2001-2012, the years covered by the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS), have been revised to be
consistent with the comprehensive revisions of the national income and
product accounts and the state personal income accounts. Data for
1969-2000, the years covered by the Standard Industrial Classification
(SIC), are scheduled to be revised in the spring of 2014. Unrevised data
for 1969-2000 remain in the interactive tables as a convenience, but
users are advised that these data are not comparable with the more
recent estimates.
The impact of sequestration and reduced fiscal year 2013 funding
levels for the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) have required
reductions in the Bureau's local area personal income (LAPI)
program. Effective with this release, the following statistical detail
will not be updated or made available: (1) local area employment by
industry; (2) detailed statistics on personal current transfer receipts;
(3) detailed statistics on farm income and expenses; and (4) statistics
for BEA Economic Areas. In addition, industry detail on compensation and
earnings has been reduced from 108 industries to 25 industries. The loss
of statistical detail has a significant effect on the interactive data
tables available to the public. For an explanation of the specific LAPI
tables eliminated or modified by sequestration and reduced fiscal year
2013 funding levels, please see: www.bea.gov/_pdf/
sequestration_fact_sheet_with_appendix.pdf.
For further information about the statistics, contact the Regional
Income Division at 202-606-5360, or e-mail reis@bea.gov.
Alternative Measures of County Employment and Wages
Three widely used measures of county employment and wages by place
of work are (1) employment and payroll in the County Business Patterns
(CBP) series from the Census Bureau, (2) employment and wages from the
Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW) program from the Bureau
of Labor Statistics (BLS), and (3) wage and salary disbursements and
employment from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). These measures
differ in source data and coverage.
The CBP data are derived from Census Bureau business establishment
surveys and federal administrative records. The QCEW data are
tabulations of monthly employment and quarterly wages of workers who are
covered by state unemployment insurance programs or by the unemployment
insurance program for federal employees. (1) The BEA estimates of
employment and wages are primarily derived from the BLS data; the
estimates for industries that are either not covered or not fully
covered in the QCEW are also based on supplemental data from other
agencies, such as the Department of Defense, the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, and the Railroad Retirement Board.
The coverage of the Census Bureau data differs from that of the BLS
data primarily because the Census Bureau data exclude most government
employees and because the BLS data cover civilian government employees.
(2) The CBP data also exclude several private industries that are partly
covered by the QCEW: crop and animal production; rail transportation;
insurance and employee benefit funds; trusts, estates, and agency
accounts; and private households. However, the CBP data cover the
employees of educational institutions, membership organizations, and
small nonprofit organizations in other industries more completely than
the BLS data. (3) In addition, the Census Bureau reports employment only
for the month of March; the BLS employment data are quarterly and annual
averages of monthly data.
In 2001, both BLS and BEA began to include employees of Indian
tribal councils in local government. These employees were previously
included in the relevant private industries. (4) In the Census Bureau
data, these employees are still classified in private industries.
BEA estimates of employment and wages differ from the BLS data
because BEA adjusts the estimates to account for employment and wages
that are not covered or not fully covered by the unemployment insurance
programs. BEA adds estimates of employment and wages to the BLS data to
bridge small gaps in coverage for nonprofit organizations that do not
participate in the unemployment insurance program (in several
industries), for students and their spouses employed by colleges or
universities, for elected officials and members of the judiciary, for
interns employed by hospitals and by social service agencies, and for
insurance agents classified as statutory employees. In addition, BEA
uses supplemental source data to estimate most, or all, of the
employment and wages for the following: farms, farm labor contractors
and crew leaders, private households, private elementary and secondary
schools, religious membership organizations, rail transportation, and
military. BEA also adjusts for employment and wages subject to
unemployment insurance but not reported by employers. Other adjustments
to wages include estimates for unreported tips, judicial fees paid to
jurors and witnesses, compensation of prison inmates, and marriage and
license fees paid to justices of the peace. (5)
The Census Bureau released 2011 data for total employment and
payrolls for counties on its Web site on April 2013. BLS released county
data on total employment and average weekly pay for 2012 on its Web site
on September 9, 2013. BEA released preliminary estimates for 2012 and
revised estimates for 2010-2011 of total wage employment and total wage
and salary disbursements for counties on its Web site on November 21,
2013.
Acknowledgments
The Regional Income Division of the Bureau of Economic Analysis
(BEA), under the direction of Mauricio Ortiz, Chief, prepared the annual
estimates of local area personal income. Joel D. Platt, Associate
Director for Regional Economics, provided general guidance. The
preparation of the revised estimates was a division-wide effort.
The Compensation Branch, under the supervision of John A. Rusinko,
Chief, prepared the estimates of non-farm wages and salaries,
supplements to wages and salaries, and personal current tax receipts.
Major responsibilities were assigned to Peter Battikha, Michael L.
Berry, Elizabeth P. Cologer, John D. Laffman, David G. Lenze, Paul K.
Medzerian, and Joseph L. Stauffer. Contributing staff members were Susan
P. Den Herder, Terence J. Fallon, Michael W. Jadoo, Russell C. Lusher,
Nathaniel R. Milhous, Michael A. Reid, and Ross A. Stepp.
The Regional Income Branch prepared the estimates of nonfarm
proprietors' income, property income, personal current transfer
receipts, contributions for government social insurance, and the
adjustment for residence. Major responsibilities were assigned to Brian
J. Maisano, Lisa C. Ninomiya, James P. Stehle, and Matthew A. von
Kerczek. Contributing staff members were Suet M. Boudhraa, Andy K. Kim,
Toan A. Ly, W. Timothy McKeel, Linda M. Morey, Anand N. Seeram, and Troy
P. Watson.
The Farm Income and Employment Section, under the supervision of
James M. Zavrel, Assistant to the Division Chief, prepared the estimates
of farm wages and salaries, farm supplements to wages and salaries, and
farm proprietors' income. Major responsibilities were assigned to
Carrie L. Litkowski. Contributing staff members were Daniel R. Corrin
and Michelle A. Harder.
The Data and Administrative Systems Group assembled the public use
tabulations and data files and prepared the tables. Major
responsibilities were assigned to Jeffrey L. Newman, Michael J. Paris,
and Callan S. Swenson. Contributing staff members were Brooke N.
Huotari, Monique B. Tyes, Melanie N. Vejdani, and Jonas D. Wilson.
(1.) The QCEW data account for 93 percent of BEA's wages and
salaries.
(2.) The Census Bureau data cover only those government employees
who work in government hospitals, federally chartered savings
institutions and credit unions, liquor stores, and wholesale liquor
establishments, and university publishers. The BLS data in most states
exclude state and local elected officials, members of the judiciary,
state national and air national guardsmen, temporary emergency
employees, and employees in policy and advisory positions.
(3.) The BLS data do not cover certain religious elementary and
secondary schools because a Supreme Court decision exempts some of these
schools from unemployment compensation taxes. The BLS data also exclude
college students (and their spouses) who are employed by the school in
which they are enrolled and student nurses and interns who are employed
by hospitals as part of their training. In half of the states, the BLS
data only include nonprofit organizations with four or more employees
during 20 weeks in a calendar year.
(4.) For example, employees of casinos owned by tribal councils
were included in "Amusement, Gambling, and Recreation
Industries."
(5.) For a detailed description of the sources and methods used to
prepare the estimates, visit www.bea.gov/regional/methods.cfm.
National Totals of BEA County Estimates of Wages and
Salaries and CBP Payrolls and QCEW Wages
[Billions of dollars]
2010 2011 2012
Total CBP payrolls 4,941.0 5,164.9 n.a
Plus: Differences in coverage:
QCEW civilian government wages (1) 1,031.6 1,033.7 n.a
Other differences, net (2) 3.1 18.7 n.a
Equals: Total QCEW wages 5,975.7 6,217.3 6,490.6
Plus: BEA adjustments:
For unreported wages and
unreported tips on 69.7 78.1 80.8
employment tax returns
For wages and salaries not
covered or not fully covered
by unemployment insurance:
Private 194.6 205.4 217.5
Government 131.6 130.7 131.0
Other BEA adjustments (3) -2.9 -3.2 -2.8
Equals: BEA estimates of 6,368.6 6,628.3 6,917.2
wages and salaries (4)
n.a. Not available
(1.) Adjusted to remove the wages of Indian tribal councils that
are included in the Census Bureau's total payroll data.
(2.) Includes differences of coverage in private education,
membership organizations, and government.
(3.) Adjusted to remove wages and salaries of employees of U.S.
companies stationed overseas and to reflect updates to QCEW data.
(4.) Consists of the earnings of persons who live in the United
States and of foreign residents working in the United States. The
regional total differs from the national estimate; see "Personal
income in the NIpAs and State Personal Income," Survey of Current
Business 93 (November 2013): 57.
NOTE. Details may not equal totals due to rounding.
Michael Jadoo
(1.) Personal income, which is measured in current dollars, is the
sum of net earnings by place of residence, property income, and personal
current transfer receipts.
(2.) See Sharon D. Panek, Jacob R. Hinson, and Frank T.
Baumgardner, "Gross Domestic Product by Metropolitan Area,"
Survey 93 (October 2013): 105-141.
(3.) Personal income statistics are available for 3,113 of the
3,143 counties identified by Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) codes. BEA combines some small counties (mostly in Virginia but
also in Hawaii) with larger nearby counties. For details see the
appendix to the Local Area Personal Income Methodology available on the
BEA Web site.
(4.) Population densities are from the Census Bureau's
American Factfinder and refer to 2010; population refers to 2012. The
Census Bureau uses two population density thresholds in the delineation
of urban areas: 1,000 persons per square mile and 500 persons per square
mile.
(5.) The three MSAs that changed to micropolitan statistical areas
are (1) Danville, VA; (2) Holland-Grand Haven, MI; and (3) Sandusky, OH.
The five MSAs that merged with other MSAs are (1) Palm Coast, FL, which
is now part of the Deltona-Daytona Beach-Ormond Beach, FL MSA;, (2)
Pascagoula, MS, which is now part of the Gulfport-Biloxi-Pascagoula, MS
MSA; (3) Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, NY, which is now part of the
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA MSA; (4) Anderson, IN, which is
now part of the Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN MSA; and (5) Anderson,
SC, which is now part of the Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, SC MSA.
(6.) The magnitudes of the professional services industry in Hilton
Head Island, SC, and in The Villages, FL, are unknown because of
nondisclosure rules.
(7.) The magnitude of the information industry in New Bern, NC, is
unknown because of nondisclosure rules.
(8.) See David G. Lenze, "Comprehensive Revision of Local Area
Personal Income," Survey 90 (May 2010): 22-30.
(9.) See Robert Kornfeld, "Initial Results of the 2013
Comprehensive Revision of the National Income and Product
Accounts," SURVEY 93 (August 2013): 6-17 and David G. Lenze,
"Regional Quarterly Report: Comprehensive Revision," Survey 93
(November 2013): 48-58.
(10.) See Mai-Chi Hoang and Erin M. Whitaker "Annual Revision
of the U.S. International Transactions Accounts," SURVEY 91 (July
2011): 58.
(11.) For complete details about the estimation methodology and
data sources, see Local Area Personal Income Methodology on BEA's
Web site.
Table A. Industrial Structure of Metropolitan and
Nonmetropolitan Portions of the United States for 2012
Earnings by place of work
(billions of dollars)
Metropolitan Nonmetropolitan
Natural resources (1) 187.0 108.9
Construction 460.9 56.5
Manufacturing 829.2 142.9
Wholesale and retail trade 986.6 102.3
Transportation, warehousing, 360.0 52.0
and utilities
Information 303.5 10.2
Finance and insurance 664.5 26.3
Real estate and rental and 171.1 10.2
leasing
Business services (2) 1,562.4 61.6
Education, health care, and 1,133.8 105.9
social assistance
Leisure, hospitality, and 690.8 76.8
other (3)
Government and government 1,510.9 207.1
enterprises
Local 791.2 124.2
Total 8,860.7 960.7
Industry's share of area's
total earnings (percent)
Metropolitan Nonmetropolitan
Natural resources (1) 2.1 11.3
Construction 5.2 5.9
Manufacturing 9.4 14.9
Wholesale and retail trade 11.1 10.6
Transportation, warehousing, 4.1 5.4
and utilities
Information 3.4 1.1
Finance and insurance 7.5 2.7
Real estate and rental and 1.9 1.1
leasing
Business services (2) 17.6 6.4
Education, health care, and 12.8 11.0
social assistance
Leisure, hospitality, and 7.8 8.0
other (3)
Government and government 17.1 21.6
enterprises
Local 8.9 12.9
Total 100.0 100.0
Nonmetropolitan share
of national earnings
(percent)
Natural resources (1) 36.8
Construction 10.9
Manufacturing 14.7
Wholesale and retail trade 9.4
Transportation, warehousing, 12.6
and utilities
Information 3.3
Finance and insurance 3.8
Real estate and rental and 5.6
leasing
Business services (2) 3.8
Education, health care, and 8.5
social assistance
Leisure, hospitality, and 10.0
other (3)
Government and government 12.1
enterprises
Local 13.6
Total 9.8
(1.) Consists of farm; forestry, fishing, and related activities;
and mining.
(2.) Consists of professional, scientific, and technical services;
management of companies and enterprises; and administrative and
waste management services.
(3.) Consists of arts, entertainment and recreation; accommodation
and food services; and other services, except public administration.
Table B. Personal Income Change by Component for U.S. Metropolitan
and Nonmetropolitan Portions
Percent change
Personal Net Dividends, Transfer
income earnings interest, receipts
(1) and rent
2010-2011
United States 6.1 6.2 10.6 1.3
Metropolitan 6.0 6.1 10.6 1.3
portion
Nonmetropolitan 6.4 7.5 10.3 1.3
portion
2011-2012
United States 4.2 4.3 5.5 2.2
Metropolitan 4.2 4.4 5.5 2.3
portion
Nonmetropolitan 3.7 3.9 5.7 2.0
portion
Contribution to percent change in
personal income (percentage points)
Net Dividends, Transfer
earnings interest, receipts
(1) and rent
2010-2011
United States 4.0 1.8 0.2
Metropolitan 4.0 1.8 0.2
portion
Nonmetropolitan 4.3 1.8 0.3
portion
2011-2012
United States 2.8 1.0 0.4
Metropolitan 2.9 1.0 0.4
portion
Nonmetropolitan 2.2 1.0 0.5
portion
Dollar change (millions of dollars)
Personal Net Dividends, Transfer
income earnings interest, receipts
(1) and rent
2010-2011
United States 756,229 500,134 226,078 30,017
Metropolitan 662,027 437,056 200,091 24,880
portion
Nonmetropolitan 94,202 63,078 25,987 5,137
portion
2011-2012
United States 549,502 367,526 130,630 51,346
Metropolitan 490,611 332,244 114,712 43,655
portion
Nonmetropolitan 58,891 35,282 15,918 7,691
portion
(1.) Earnings by place of work net of contributions for government
social insurance and net of the residence adjustment.
Table C. Growth of U.S. Earnings by Industry
Percent Dollar change
change (millions of
dollars)
2011 2012 2011 2012
Private 5.9 5.1 426,595 389,652
Farm 38.9 -1.2 28,278 -1,250
Nonfarm 5.5 5.1 398,317 390,902
Forestry, fishing, -2.9 8.2 -756 2,112
and related
activities
Mining 38.0 11.7 41,494 17,623
Utilities 5.8 0.0 4,335 35
Construction 3.0 6.4 14,381 31,124
Manufacturing 5.6 4.3 49,374 40,056
Durable goods 6.2 4.7 34,555 27,616
manufacturing
Nondurable goods 4.5 3.6 14,819 12,440
manufacturing
Wholesale trade 6.2 5.5 27,863 26,151
Retail trade 3.9 3.6 21,309 20,230
Transportation and 8.4 5.4 24,436 16,919
warehousing
Information 4.2 4.3 12,225 12,822
Finance and 1.0 3.0 6,591 19,894
insurance
Real estate and 18.6 6.4 26,789 10,837
rental and leasing
Professional, 7.2 6.4 61,568 58,747
scientific, and
technical services
Management of 7.0 9.0 15,344 21,253
companies and
enterprises
Administrative and 7.2 6.1 24,877 22,472
waste management
services
Educational services 3.8 4.9 5,744 7,736
Health care and 3.0 4.1 29,773 42,133
social assistance
Arts, entertainment, 3.7 4.9 3,558 4,952
and recreation
Accommodation and 6.8 7.2 18,297 20,533
food services
Other services, 3.4 4.5 11,115 15,273
except public
administration
Government and 0.4 0.6 7,588 10,243
government enterprises
Federal, civilian 2.4 -0.3 6,963 -815
Military -0.6 -0.7 -902 -1,001
State government 1.2 1.6 4,186 5,616
Local government -0.3 0.7 -2,659 6,443
Total 4.8 4.2 434,183 399,895
Table D. Revisions to County Personal Income, 2001-2011
Revision Number of counties
(absolute value)
2001 2002 (1) 2003 2004 2005 2006
0.0-0.9 percent 1,289 1,361 1,158 894 794 741
1.0-4.9 percent 1,765 1,686 1,823 2,082 2,156 2,158
5.0-9.9 percent 50 55 121 127 147 191
10.0 percent 6 9 9 8 14 21
or more
Total 3,110 3,111 3,111 3,111 3,111 3,111
Revision Number of counties
(absolute value)
2007 2008 (2) 2009 (3) 2010 2011
0.0-0.9 percent 937 1,346 635 883 662
1.0-4.9 percent 2,015 1,611 2,195 1,976 1,890
5.0-9.9 percent 140 126 245 218 418
10.0 percent 19 29 38 36 143
or more
Total 3,111 3,112 3,113 3,113 3,113
(1.) For 2002 forward, the number of counties includes Broomfield
County, CO.
(2.) For 2008 forward, the number of counties reflects the division
of Skagway-Hoonah-Angoon Census Area into the Skagway Borough and
the Hoonah-Angoon Census Area.
(3.) For 2009 forward, the number of counties reflects the division
of the Wrangell-Petersburg Census Area into the Petersburg Census
Area and the Wrangell City and Borough.
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