News Release
State Quarterly Personal Income, 4th quarter 2016; State Annual Personal Income, 2016 (preliminary estimates)
State personal income grew on average 3.6 percent in 2016, after increasing 4.5 percent in 2015, according to estimates released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Growth of state personal income—the sum of net earnings by place of residence, property income, and personal current transfer receipts—ranged from –1.7 percent in Wyoming to 5.9 percent in Nevada (table 1).
Earnings. Earnings increased 4.1 percent in 2016 and was the leading contributor to growth in personal income in most states (table 2).
Both personal income and earnings grew faster in Nevada than in any other state. Earnings growth in management; arts, entertainment, and recreation; and construction were the leading contributors to its 7.2 percent growth in total earnings (table 3).
Utah, Washington, Florida, and Oregon had the next fastest growth in total earnings.
- In Utah, earnings growth in construction, and in health care and social assistance, were the leading contributors to the 6.4 percent growth in total earnings.
- In Washington, earnings growth in information, and in retail trade, were the leading contributors to the 6.3 percent growth in total earnings.
- In Florida, earnings growth in professional, scientific, and technical services, and in health care and social assistance, were the leading contributors to the 6.2 percent growth in total earnings.
- In Oregon, earnings growth in health care and social assistance, and in construction, were the leading contributors to the 5.9 percent growth in total earnings.
For the nation, earnings grew in 22 of the 24 industries for which BEA prepares estimates (table 5). Earnings growth in health care and social assistance; professional, scientific, and technical services; and construction were the leading contributors to overall growth in total earnings.
Mining earnings fell 13.6 percent nationally in 2016, after falling 13.3 percent in 2015. Lower mining earnings was the leading contributor to declines in total earnings in Oklahoma, Alaska, North Dakota, and Wyoming, and to very slow earnings growth in Louisiana.
Property income. Property income (dividends, interest, and rent) grew 1.9 percent on average in 2016, slower than the 2.8 percent increase in 2015. Dividend income decreased 0.3 percent in 2016, after increasing 2.7 percent in 2015. Growth in rental income slowed to 6.9 percent in 2016, after increasing 8.8 percent in 2015. Growth in interest income, in contrast, accelerated slightly to 0.9 percent in 2016, up from 0.1 percent 2015. The growth in property income ranged from 0.9 percent in Wyoming to 2.8 percent in North Dakota.
Personal current transfer receipts. Personal current transfer receipts grew 3.6 percent on average in 2016, down from 5.4 percent in 2015. Medicare and Medicaid benefits grew 5.3 percent and 5.0 percent respectively, while Social Security benefits grew only 2.8 percent. The slow growth in Social Security benefits reflects no cost of living adjustment for beneficiaries in 2016. The growth in personal current transfer receipts ranged from -5.9 percent in Alaska to 7.1 percent in Nevada. Medicaid benefits in Nevada increased 14.1 percent, the third consecutive above average annual increase. The sharp decline in Alaska reflects smaller payments from the Alaska Permanent Fund.
Fourth quarter personal income. State personal income grew 0.9 percent on average in the fourth quarter of 2016, down from 1.1 percent growth in the third quarter. Growth rates ranged from -0.1 percent in Nevada to 1.4 percent in Utah and California (table 6). Earnings grew 1.0 percent nationally, and was the leading contributor to growth in personal income in most states (table 7).
Growth in construction earnings was a leading contributor to overall earnings growth for the nation and in most of the fastest growing states (table 8). In Utah, and California, only professional, scientific, and technical services earnings made a larger contribution to overall earnings growth, and in Florida, only health care and social assistance earnings made a larger contribution. In four of the fast growing states—Washington, Louisiana, Oregon, and Montana—growth in construction earnings made the largest contribution to the growth in total earnings, while in Colorado, construction earnings and healthcare and social assistance earnings made equal contributions to its growth in total earnings.
Declining farm earnings was the leading contributor to the slow growth in total earnings in many of the slowest growing states, including South Dakota, Kansas, North Dakota, Nebraska, and Iowa. In Nevada, the only state with declining personal income in the fourth quarter, earnings were lower in arts, entertainment, and recreation; management; and professional, scientific, and technical services after large lump-sum payments were made in all three industries in the third quarter.
Updates to Personal Income. Today, BEA also released revised quarterly personal income estimates for 2016:Q1 to 2016:Q3. Updates were made to incorporate source data that are more complete and more detailed than previously available, and to align the states with revised national estimates. BEA also released revised quarterly estimates of population and per capita personal income for 2010:Q1-2016:Q3, and revised annual estimates of population and per capita personal income for 2010-2015.
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Next release: June 27, 2017 at 8:30 A.M. EDT – State Personal Income: First Quarter 2017.