Income & Saving

Personal income increased $101.5 billion, or 0.5 percent at a monthly rate, while consumer spending increased $34.9 billion, or 0.2 percent, in February. The increase in personal income primarily reflected an increase in compensation of employees that was partly offset by a decrease in government social benefits. The personal saving rate (that is, personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income) was 6.3 percent in February, compared with 6.1 percent in January.

State personal income increased 7.4 percent in 2021 after increasing 6.6 percent in 2020. In 2021, increases in earnings, transfer receipts, and property income (dividends, interest, and rent) contributed to personal income growth in all states and the District of Columbia. The percent change in personal income across all states ranged from 9.6 percent in Idaho to 4.5 percent in Vermont.

Personal income increased $9.0 billion, or less than 0.1 percent at a monthly rate, while consumer spending increased $337.2 billion, or 2.1 percent, in January. The increase in personal income primarily reflected an increase in compensation of employees that was partly offset by a decrease in government social benefits. The personal saving rate (that is, personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income) was 6.4 percent in January, compared with 8.2 percent in December.

Note: Reposted Feb. 3, 2022, to correct state personal income statistics for the third quarter of 2021 back to the first quarter of 2016 due to a data processing error involving industry wage estimates. For more information, see the technical note.

Personal income increased$70.7 billion, or 0.3 percent at a monthly rate, while consumer spending decreased$95.2 billion, or 0.6 percent, in December. The increase in personal income primarily reflected an increase in compensation of employees. The personal saving rate (that is, personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income) was 7.9 percent in December, compared with 7.2 percent in November.

Personal income increased$90.4 billion, or 0.4 percent at a monthly rate, while consumer spending increased$104.7 billion, or 0.6 percent, in November. The increase in personal income primarily reflected increases in compensation of employees and government social benefits. The personal saving rate (that is, personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income) was 6.9 percent in November, compared with 7.1 percent in October.

State personal income increased 2.6 percent at an annual rate in the third quarter of 2021 after decreasing 20.2 percent in the second quarter. The percent change in personal income across all states ranged from 6.7 percent in the Kentucky to –4.3 percent in North Dakota. Personal income estimates reflect the continued economic impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Government pandemic assistance payments to households and business decreased. The full economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be quantified in the state personal income estimates because the impacts are generally embedded in source data and cannot be separately identified.

In 2020, personal income increased in 3,040 counties, decreased in 69, and was unchanged in 3. Personal income increased 6.4 percent in the metropolitan portion of the United States and increased 7.6 percent in the nonmetropolitan portion. Personal income estimates were impacted by the response to the spread of COVID-19, as governments issued and lifted “stay-at-home” orders. The full economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be quantified in the local area personal income estimates, because the impacts are generally embedded in source data and cannot be separately identified.

State personal income decreased 21.8 percent at an annual rate in the second quarter of 2021 after increasing 56.9 percent in the first quarter. In the second quarter of 2021, the decrease in transfer receipts was the leading contributor to personal income declines in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The percent change in personal income across all states ranged from –10.1 percent in the District of Columbia to –34.0 percent in West Virginia.

Personal income increased$225.9 billion, or 1.1 percent at a monthly rate, while consumer spending increased$42.2 billion, or 0.3 percent, in July. Compensation increased and new advance Child Tax Credit payments, authorized by the American Rescue Plan, began in July. In addition to presenting estimates for July 2021, these highlights provide comparisons to February 2020, the last month before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. For more information, see Federal Recovery Programs and BEA Statistics.

Personal income for July 2021