Center for Community and Economic Development

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ECONOMIC SNAPSHOTS

Per Capita Income: More workers means more income

 

This SNAPSHOT is the first in a series of four focusing on Per Capita Income. Two sources provide all the data you will need to duplicate this article for any community, county, or MSA in the U.S.

Data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Economic Accounts (REIS) is the source for the per capita data. The U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey provides the rest of the information.

per capita income

step 1: getting the REIS data Simply go to BEA's Local Area Person Income web page and select Table CA 30, Regional Economic Profiles. Then, select the appropriate geography (MSA, State, County) and the year(s). You will get a report that looks something like this:

CA30 Regional economic profile -- Madison, WI (MSA)

Line

2004
Per capita income (dollars) 4/
 
110
 ? Per capita personal income
$37,447
120
 ? Per capita net earnings
27,555
130
? Per capita personal current transfer receipts
3,458
170
 ? Per capita dividends, interest, and rent
6,433
 
Place of work profile
300
 ? Average wage and salary disbursements
35,883
310
 ? Average nonfarm proprietors' income
22,559

 

If you wonder what is included in each category simply click on the ? in the BEA table for a definition. For example:

Personal income is the income that is received by persons from all sources. It is calculated as the sum of wage and salary disbursements, supplements to wages and salaries, proprietors' income with inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustments, rental income of persons with capital consumption adjustment, personal dividend income, personal interest income, and personal current tranfer receipts, less contributions for government social insurance.

If the links listed here do not work (they sometimes change without notice) simply go to the BEA home page and search for CA30.

 

step 2: getting the Census data Go to the get data link on the Census' American Community Survey site Census' American Factfinder Web page. Select the appropiate years and Data Profiles. Then, select the geography(s) you want and finally, the Demographic and Economic Profiles. It is easier than it sounds. The Economic Profile provides the the following information:

Population 16 years and over
351,531
Population in labor force
264,600
Females 16 years and over
179,646
Females in labor force
128,313

Simply arithmetic provides the rest:

264,600 ÷ 351,531 = 75.3% labor participation rate

128,313 ÷179,646 = 71.4% labor participation rate for women

Accordingto the Demographic Profile, there are 187,799 households in the Madison MSA. Dividing the total population in the labor force by total households provides the number of people employed or actively seeking employment per household

264,600÷ 187,799 = 1.41 employed per household

Don't stop now! Both of these data sources are full of good information. Take a closer look at them and create your own SNAPSHOTS.