Statistics show Alabama incomes closer to US average

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Economic gains in the last 15 years in Alabama have helped narrow the state’s income gap when compared to the national average.

Federal statistics show Alabama’s personal per capita income held at around 79 percent of the national average until the late 1990s, when the gap began closing.

In 2001, the state’s per-capita income was $24,740, or 81 percent of the national average. In 2006, per capita income was $30,894, or 84 percent of the nation’s average of $36,714, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Having the state’s per-capita income at 84 percent of the national average is nearly the highest in state history, said Sam Addy, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Alabama.

In 1929, just before the Great Depression, Alabama’s per capita income was just 46 percent of the national average, Addy said.

Alabama’s cities have performed the best economically.

In 2006, 59 of 67 Alabama counties had income percentages lower than the state average of 84 percent. Jefferson and Shelby were the only two Alabama counties with income averages higher than the national average, the federal analysis shows.

Wilcox County had the lowest income in 2006 with 51 percent of the national average.

Economic development can help the state continue income gains, said Addy, in an interview with New York Times Regional newspapers in Gadsden, Florence and Tuscaloosa for a story Saturday.

The Legislature should consider fundamental tax changes to support more workplace education, adult education, job placement and retraining, and transportation and public safety, he said.

Per capita personal income is calculated as the personal income of the residents of a given area divided by the resident population. The Bureau of Economic Analysis uses the Census Bureau’s midyear annual population estimates.