A Look at 2019 State Annual Personal Income

Without question, the economic shock from the COVID-19 pandemic has been sudden and unprecedented. In the span of just a couple weeks, restaurants and non-essential businesses have been shut down statewide and consumer spending on non-emergency items has plummeted. The full effect of these impacts will not be known for some time, but it is clear they will be meaningful.

Looking back to 2019, across the United States, state personal income increased by 4.4 percent in 2019, after increasing by 5.6 percent in 2018. In 2019, increases in earnings, property income (dividends, interest, and rent), and transfer receipts contributed to personal income growth in all states and the District of Columbia. The percent change in personal income across all states ranged from 6.1 percent in Colorado to 2.8 percent in West Virginia.

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Courtesy of the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis

The data, released this week by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), features every state’s earnings, property income, and personal current transfer receipts.

Statewide, personal income increased by 3.7 percent in 2019, after increasing by 3.2 percent in 2018. Earnings growth in three industries—professional, scientific, and technical services; health care and social assistance; and state and local government —were the leading contributors to the overall growth and were leading contributors to growth in Maryland.

Property income (dividends, interest, and rent) for Maryland increased by 2.1 percent in 2019, after increasing 3.8 percent in 2018.

Transfer receipts are benefits received by persons from federal, state, and local governments and from businesses for which no current services are performed. They include retirement and disability insurance benefits (mainly Social Security), medical benefits (mainly Medicare and Medicaid), income maintenance benefits, unemployment insurance compensation, veterans’ benefits, and federal education and training assistance.

Transfer receipts increased 6.9 percent for Maryland in 2019, after increasing 3.9 percent in 2018.

You can explore the data in BEA’s interactive tables.

Stay tuned to Conduit Street for more information.