WASHINGTON–In a sign that the U.S. economic recovery is widespread, new research shows the personal income in all states is back above levels seen at the Great Recession’s onset.
But growth has varied among states, ranging from a constant annual rate of less than 1% in Nevada to more than 5% in North Dakota, the Pew Research Center is reporting.
“Although growth since the recession has been far-reaching, its pace has been slower than normal,” Pew said in a new analysis. “Since the downturn began in the fourth quarter of 2007, estimated U.S. personal income has increased by a constant annual rate of 1.6% through the third quarter of 2015, compared with 2.8% over the past 30 years, after accounting for inflation.”
According to Pew, the expansion was aided by a 3.7% growth rate over the most recent four quarters, after adjusting for inflation. All states but one—North Dakota—added to their post-recession gains in the past year.
Among the trends in inflation-adjusted personal income since 2007, according to Pew:
- Personal income in 22 states grew faster than the national rate.
- North Dakota (5.1%) and other leading oil-producing states enjoyed the fastest annualized growth rates: Texas (3.1%), Alaska (2.8%), Oklahoma (2.4%), and Colorado (2.2%).
- Nevada, where home prices and construction earnings plunged when the housing bubble burst, had the slowest growth among all states and was the last to recover its personal-income losses after the recession. Personal income grew at an annualized rate of just 0.1% since the fourth quarter of 2007 and returned to 2007 levels only in mid-2015.
- After Nevada, Illinois (0.5%), Maine (0.8%), Arizona (0.9%), and Connecticut (0.9%) had the slowest annualized growth rates for personal income.
- Eighteen states outpaced U.S. growth in personal income.
- The fastest growth rates were in a cluster of Western states: California (5.5%), Utah (5.4%), Nevada (5.0%), Washington (4.9%), and Oregon (4.7%).
- One state had a drop in personal income: North Dakota (-3.2%). The state was hit by declining earnings in the farm and mining sectors.
- Three states’ personal income grew by less than 1% over the past year: Iowa (0.4%), Wyoming (0.5%), and South Dakota (0.5%). Farm earnings fell in all three states, although mining losses played a greater factor in Wyoming’s stunted growth.
Pew said that over the past year personal income in 42 states grew faster than its pace since the end of 2007, accelerating those states’ economic expansions. In seven states—Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, West Virginia, and Wyoming—personal income increased in the past year but at a slower pace than each state’s constant growth rate since the recession, moderating their growth trends. North Dakota—the only state with short-term negative growth—still enjoyed the greatest growth within the U.S. for inflation-adjusted personal income since the recession’s onset.