Today, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released real, price-adjusted estimates of personal income for states and metropolitan areas for 2008-2012. The price-adjustments are based on regional price parities (RPPs) and on BEA’s national Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) price index. The RPPs measure geographic differences in the price levels of consumption goods and services relative to the national average, and the PCE price index measures national price changes over time. Using the RPPs in combination with the PCE price index allows for comparisons of the purchasing power of personal income across regions and over time. These estimates are being released for the first time as official statistics.*
Growth in real metropolitan area personal income from 2011 to 2012 ranged from a decline of 3.8% in Kennewick-Richland, WA to an increase of 10.2% in Odessa, TX. After Odessa, TX, the metropolitan areas with largest growth rates of real personal income were Midland, TX (9.6%), Greenville, NC (9.0%), Jackson, TN (8.1%), and Columbus, IN (7.6%). After Kennewick-Richland, WA, the metropolitan areas with the largest declines were Watertown-Fort Drum, NY (-2.5%), State College, PA (-2.4%), Hanford-Corcoran, CA (-2.3%), and Sierra Vista-Douglas, AZ (-1.7%).
* Prototype statistics were released for evaluation and comment by users on June 12, 2013.