The main differences between the national income and product accounts (NIPA's) estimates of personal income and the State estimates of personal income stem from the treatment of the income of U.S. residents who are working abroad and the treatment of the income of foreign residents who are working in the United States. The national total of the state estimates of personal income consists of only the income earned by persons who live within the United States, including foreign residents working in the United States.
The measure of personal income in the NIPA's is broader. It includes the earnings of Federal civilian and military personnel stationed abroad and of U.S. residents on foreign assignment for less than a year, and it includes the investment income that is received by Federal retirement plans of Federal workers stationed abroad. Earnings of foreign residents are included only if they live and work in the United States for a year or more.
The annual estimates of personal income in the NIPA's also differ from the national totals of state personal income because of differences in the timing of the availability of source data.
Relation of National and State Estimates of Personal Income Excel table