Where Incomes are Increasing and Where they are not
Where Paychecks are Growing Fastest
Birmingham enjoys the nation's best record of long-term income growth, while New Orleans is mired in last place, according to a new Bizjournals study that looks at 25 years of changes in per capita income in the 100 largest metros in the country.
- Birmingham climbed in the income standings by diversifying.
- It boosted its per capita income by 98% between 1990 and 2005, the largest increase registered by any major market over that span. The national average for the same period was 77%.
- Birmingham evolved into a regional hub for banking, health care and wholesale trade. The payoff has been greater economic stability and a much larger inventory of high-paying jobs.
- Birmingham's per capita income at the beginning of the 25-year period was $9,078, which was more than 10% below the U.S average for 1980.
- Its 2005 figure was $35,663 - $1,200 above the national norm.
"For a long time, Birmingham was strongly reliant on heavy manufacturing -- steel, pig iron," says John Norris, chief economist of Morgan Asset Management in Birmingham. "The economy here was much undiversified. But the recession of the early 1980s was a wakeup call, which turned out to be a good thing."
New Orleans also tried to diversify during the 1980s and 1990s, but with less success. Its economy, still dependent on the energy sector, grew erratically until the 2005 onslaught of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which wiped out 11 years of growth.
- The per capita income of New Orleans, as a result, inched up by just 16% between 1990 and 2005.
- That was one-sixth as fast as Birmingham's pace.
"There have been some good things going on since then, some major construction projects," says Loren Scott, president of Loren C. Scott & Associates, an economic-consulting firm in Baton Rouge, La. "But we don't see New Orleans coming all the way back anytime soon. In fact, the growth rate seems to be slowing in recent months, which is a bit unnerving."
Bizjournals analyzed 25 years of federal income data for
the nation's 100 major metropolitan areas.The study focused
on per capita income (PCI), a key indicator of earning
power and economic vitality.
- PCI is defined as the average amount of money received by each resident of a given area in a given year. It encompasses such diverse sources of income as salaries, interest payments, dividends, and rental income and government checks.
The runner-up in Bizjournals' standings is Bridgeport-Stamford, Conn., the most affluent metropolitan area in America. Its PCI ballooned 346% from $15,068 in 1980 to $67,269 in 2005. No other major market was above $52,600 in the latter year.
Rounding out the top 5 are 3 markets that elevated their income levels during the past quarter-century without much national fanfare: San Diego, Baltimore and Charleston, S.C.
Income growth for Top 10 Markets
Rank | Metropolitan area | Score | Per capita income (2005) | 25-year income growth rate (1980-2005) | 20-year income growth rate (1985-2005) | 15-year income growth rate (1990-2005) | 10-year income growth rate (1995-2005) | 5-year income growth rate (2000-2005) | Population (2006) |
1 | Birmingham | 38.15 | $35,663 | 292.9% | 172.1% | 97.9% | 58.3% | 25.6% | 1,100,019 |
2 | Bridgeport-Stamford, Conn. | 37.09 | $67,269 | 346.4% | 191.4% | 96.1% | 60.4% | 14.1% | 900,440 |
3 | San Diego | 33.34 | $40,569 | 265.5% | 145.2% | 94.6% | 72.4% | 23.7% | 2,941,454 |
4 | Baltimore | 28.17 | $41,320 | 274.9% | 151.1% | 89.6% | 63.2% | 24.1% | 2,658,405 |
5 | Charleston, S.C. | 27.96 | $30,844 | 279.9% | 151.5% | 87.1% | 64.4% | 21.9% | 603,178 |
6 | Boston | 25.88 | $47,168 | 327.1% | 163.7% | 90.9% | 59.2% | 13.8% | 4,455,217 |
7 | San Francisco-Oakland | 23.51 | $52,543 | 272.9% | 152.8% | 94.0% | 63.4% | 8.7% | 4,180,027 |
8 | Nashville | 23.26 | $36,655 | 301.1% | 157.0% | 95.6% | 50.0% | 19.8% | 1,455,097 |
9 | Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla. | 21.45 | $36,577 | 260.5% | 145.5% | 81.7% | 58.2% | 26.1% | 571,344 |
10 | Madison, Wis. | 20.58 | $38,993 | 253.3% | 159.5% | 92.6% | 56.2% | 19.3% | 543,022 |
Where Tampa Fits In
Rank | Metropolitan area | Score | Per capita income (2005) | 25-year income growth rate (1980-2005) | 20-year income growth rate (1985-2005) | 15-year income growth rate (1990-2005) | 10-year income growth rate (1995-2005) | 5-year income growth rate (2000-2005) | Population (2006) |
51 | Richmond | 1.99 | $36,537 | 246.0% | 133.5% | 72.8% | 51.1% | 19.6% | 1,194,008 |
52 | Tampa-St. Petersburg | 0.82 | $33,250 | 246.0% | 131.8% | 77.3% | 48.6% | 16.0% | 2,697,731 |
53 | Cincinnati | 0.67 | $34,961 | 245.8% | 140.2% | 78.1% | 48.3% | 14.7% | 2,104,218 |
54 | Ogden, Utah | 0.26 | $28,070 | 235.6% | 127.3% | 81.8% | 48.2% | 15.9% | 497,640 |
55 | Deltona-Daytona Beach, Fla. | -0.04 | $28,347 | 224.7% | 117.1% | 73.7% | 51.9% | 21.5% | 496,575 |
56 | Tucson, Ariz. | -0.17 | $28,869 | 216.2% | 120.6% | 80.4% | 49.8% | 19.4% | 946,362 |
57 | Las Vegas | -0.25 | $34,980 | 212.9% | 135.6% | 76.9% | 44.6% | 18.2% | 1,777,539 |
58 | Columbus | -0.46 | $34,960 | 251.8% | 136.1% | 79.2% | 47.2% | 13.7% | 1,725,570 |
59 | Springfield, Mass. | -0.81 | $32,678 | 248.3% | 130.4% | 72.6% | 48.9% | 18.5% | 686,174 |
60 | Palm Bay-Melbourne, Fla. | -1.08 | $31,800 | 226.0% | 118.9% | 72.5% | 53.0% | 18.1% | 534,359 |
61 | Albuquerque, N.M. | -1.16 | $30,884 | 245.7% | 124.3% | 81.8% | 44.3% | 19.5% | 816,811 |
62 | Miami-Fort Lauderdale | -1.16 | $37,507 | 228.3% | 125.3% | 68.6% | 47.8% | 20.1% | 5,463,857 |
63 | Hartford | -1.73 | $42,369 | 254.4% | 136.2% | 68.2% | 50.3% | 14.6% | 1,188,841 |
64 | Orlando | -2.55 | $31,557 | 234.3% | 122.3% | 72.6% | 49.9% | 16.8% | 1,984,855 |
65 | Harrisburg, Pa. | -2.93 | $35,188 | 258.6% | 136.3% | 69.9% | 45.0% | 18.4% | 525,380 |
66 | Kansas City | -3.65 | $35,769 | 232.8% | 128.1% | 82.7% | 47.1% | 13.2% | 1,967,405 |
67 | Knoxville, Tenn. | -4.11 | $30,898 | 250.1% | 137.0% | 73.4% | 43.0% | 15.1% | 667,384 |
68 | Augusta, Ga. | -4.51 | $28,361 | 264.3% | 123.3% | 65.0% | 46.8% | 18.6% | 523,249 |
69 | Wichita, Kan. | -5.10 | $33,671 | 203.5% | 121.6% | 76.5% | 50.6% | 21.0% | 592,126 |
70 | McAllen-Edinburg, Texas | -5.24 | $16,359 | 208.8% | 119.1% | 76.2% | 47.7% | 20.5% | 700,634 |
71 | New Haven, Conn. | -5.51 | $39,292 | 252.6% | 135.3% | 68.9% | 45.2% | 14.2% | 845,244 |
72 | Akron, Ohio | -5.58 | $33,396 | 228.6% | 130.8% | 76.8% | 43.7% | 12.9% | 700,943 |
73 | Buffalo | -6.31 | $32,071 | 222.7% | 124.0% | 70.3% | 46.3% | 17.9% | 1,137,520 |
74 | Phoenix | -6.95 | $32,414 | 211.7% | 115.1% | 73.8% | 49.5% | 14.3% | 4,039,182 |
75 | Portland, Ore. | -7.13 | $35,430 | 218.0% | 136.2% | 76.0% | 42.2% | 10.3% | 2,137,565 |
Bottom 10 Metro Areas for Income Growth
90 | Atlanta | -19.08 | $34,825 | 246.3% | 122.8% | 69.0% | 38.4% | 5.1% | 5,138,223 |
91 | Rochester | -20.12 | $33,857 | 213.5% | 110.5% | 62.8% | 40.5% | 15.5% | 1,035,435 |
92 | Dayton, Ohio | -23.36 | $31,792 | 207.5% | 113.3% | 66.4% | 36.2% | 11.4% | 838,940 |
93 | Modesto, Calif. | -24.32 | $26,810 | 175.9% | 99.3% | 60.1% | 45.5% | 14.1% | 512,138 |
94 | Toledo, Ohio | -28.40 | $30,915 | 198.6% | 106.5% | 63.4% | 36.0% | 11.3% | 653,695 |
95 | Youngstown, Ohio | -28.54 | $27,670 | 181.1% | 109.4% | 61.9% | 32.7% | 12.6% | 586,939 |
96 | Fresno, Calif. | -29.52 | $25,961 | 142.4% | 97.3% | 54.6% | 40.3% | 18.2% | 891,756 |
97 | Riverside-San Bernardino, Calif. | -34.28 | $26,618 | 161.7% | 82.3% | 49.2% | 43.8% | 16.7% | 4,026,135 |
98 | Bakersfield, Calif. | -35.74 | $24,999 | 128.3% | 83.2% | 51.9% | 40.7% | 19.5% | 780,117 |
99 | Stockton, Calif. | -41.73 | $26,071 | 148.0% | 93.6% | 55.1% | 35.4% | 7.7% | 673,170 |
100 | New Orleans | -143.15 | $20,210 | 103.9% | 46.3% | 15.7% | -6.4% | -23.2% | |
bizjournals - June 4, 2007 by G. Scott Thomas
abridged by Lois Szydlowski