Idaho’s Income Gap Continues To Grow

On Wednesday, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis will release personal income data for 2012. In anticipation of that release, StateImpact Idaho pulled together personal income data going back to 1990 and compared it with the U.S. average. The data show a widening gap between Idaho and the country as a whole.

Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis | Download the Data

Per capita personal income is total personal income divided by total midyear population. – BEA

As recently as 2006, Idaho’s personal income was 83.4 percent of the U.S. average. Last year, it was just 79.1 percent of the national average. While the trend lines look similar for Idaho and the nation, you’ll notice personal income in Idaho hasn’t recovered the ground it lost during the recession.

State and regional economists will be watching Wednesday to see if Idaho will meet or exceed the 2008 peak of $33,110. Personal income averaged in Idaho $32,881 last year. Nationally, per capita personal income surpassed its 2008 level of $40,947 last year, rising to $41,560.

Another measure of economic health is median household income. It’s an area in which Idaho has also lost ground, compared to the national average.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau | Download the Data

Household income: Includes income of the householder and all other people 15 years and older in the household, whether or not they are related to the householder. – Census

Again, median household income peaked in Idaho, and the nation, in 2008. Unlike personal income, household income hasn’t quite surpassed that 2008 peak, in Idaho or nationally. But household income is recovering more quickly across the nation as a whole than it is here in Idaho.

Are you earning more or less than you did in 2008? Tell us in the comments section below.