INCOME DATE & AREAS OF FINANCIAL
DISTRESS
Per
Capita Income: An Indicator of Economic Health
Mary Kluz
and Dan Veroff
UW-Extension
February
2003
Per capita income was
chosen as an indicator of the relative health of Marathon County's
economy. Data from the 2000 Census was tapped to analyze broader
trends in economic health. A series of maps follows; these maps
are not meant to imply clear cause of the trend, but to generate
discussion around the potential causes and implications.
Map 1: Per Capita Income, by Municipality
To gain a better understanding
of the geographical trend in income across Marathon County, staff
at the UW-Madison Applied Population Laboratory (APL) created
maps that displayed year 1999 per capita income data by municipality.
Map
2: Ratio of Municipality Per Capita Income to County Per Capita
Income
The data was presented
as a ratio of municipal per capita income to county per capita
income in order to gauge how income is distributed and compares
across municipal boundaries. The lowest per capita income for
a municipality is 63 percent of the county per capita income.
Map
3: Ratio of Municipality Per Capita Income Change to County Per
Capita Income Change, 1989-1999
APL staff also investigated
the trend in percentage change in income, using data from 1989
and 1999. The percentage change was compared between municipalities,
as a ratio of municipal per capita income change to county per
capita income change.
Map
4: Index of Distress, 1999
Combining the information
on per capita income and per capita income change over ten years,
an index of income distress was developed. The municipalities
with the lowest per capita income or lowest per capita income
percentage increase, or both, were placed in the areas of highest
income distress. Those municipalities that showed a 1999 per capita
income on par with the county as a whole and showing relatively
strong increase in income from 1989 to 1999 were considered the
least distressed.
Data compiled and analyzed
by:
Dan Veroff, Applied Population
Laboratory, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Mary Kluz, Community
Resource Development Agent, Marathon County UW-Extension
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