The Fifty Rural Counties With The Highest Personal Income In 2006

editor — Sun, 11 May 2008 09:46:06 -0700

These are the fifty rural counties found to have the highest personal incomes in 2006:

The Fifty Rural Counties With The Lowest Personal Income In 2006

editor — Sun, 11 May 2008 09:36:18 -0700

These are the fifty rural counties that were found to have the lowest personal incomes in 2006:

Rural Counties With Greatest Percentage Increases in Personal Income in 2006

editor — Sun, 11 May 2008 09:30:12 -0700

These are the 50 rural (non metro) counties with the largest percentage increases in personal income from 2005 to 2006:

Rural Counties With Greatest Percentage Decreases in Personal Income in 2006

editor — Sun, 11 May 2008 09:25:18 -0700

These are the 50 counties with the greatest decrease in personal income from 2005 to 2006:

Rank	County	State	Income 2005	Income 2006	$ Change	% Change
1	Slope	ND	$24,640	$13,885	-$10,755	-43.6%
2	Campbell	SD	$28,968	$19,971	-$8,997	-31.1%
3	Ziebach	SD	$16,314	$11,381	-$4,933	-30.2%
4	Hyde	SD	$29,571	$21,609	-$7,962	-26.9%
5	Lynn	TX	$29,625	$22,013	-$7,612	-25.7%
6	Sherman	TX	$49,610	$36,938	-$12,672	-25.5%
7	Borden	TX	$31,506	$23,695	-$7,811	-24.8%
8	Sully	SD	$48,380	$36,822	-$11,558	-23.9%
9	Harding	SD	$27,954	$21,640	-$6,314	-22.6%
10	Faulk	SD	$33,361	$26,230	-$7,131	-21.4%
11	Kiowa	CO	$33,538	$26,516	-$7,022	-20.9%
12	Emmons	ND	$28,012	$22,317	-$5,695	-20.3%
13	Logan	ND	$36,035	$28,832	-$7,203	-20.0%
14	Haakon	SD	$38,932	$31,254	-$7,678	-19.7%
15	Hand	SD	$34,976	$28,278	-$6,698	-19.2%
16	Jackson	SD	$19,509	$15,846	-$3,663	-18.8%
17	Jones	SD	$28,126	$22,857	-$5,269	-18.7%
18	Dunn	ND	$27,528	$22,691	-$4,837	-17.6%
19	Buffalo	SD	$15,073	$12,471	-$2,602	-17.3%
20	Swisher	TX	$29,886	$24,760	-$5,126	-17.2%
21	Sheridan	ND	$28,186	$23,469	-$4,717	-16.7%
22	Hettinger	ND	$29,785	$24,835	-$4,950	-16.6%
23	Castro	TX	$40,478	$33,866	-$6,612	-16.3%
24	Carter	MT	$26,715	$22,418	-$4,297	-16.1%
25	McPherson	SD	$27,432	$23,130	-$4,302	-15.7%
26	Perkins	SD	$28,124	$24,006	-$4,118	-14.6%
27	Renville	ND	$33,305	$28,533	-$4,772	-14.3%
28	Gove	KS	$28,896	$24,877	-$4,019	-13.9%
29	Edmunds	SD	$38,658	$33,289	-$5,369	-13.9%
30	McIntosh	ND	$31,396	$27,156	-$4,240	-13.5%
31	Hamilton	KS	$30,607	$26,561	-$4,046	-13.2%
32	Burke	ND	$34,685	$30,134	-$4,551	-13.1%
33	Beaver	UT	$28,793	$25,017	-$3,776	-13.1%
34	Wells	ND	$33,803	$29,474	-$4,329	-12.8%
35	Floyd	TX	$29,687	$25,942	-$3,745	-12.6%
36	Scurry	TX	$32,690	$28,601	-$4,089	-12.5%
37	Garfield	MT	$29,696	$25,998	-$3,698	-12.5%
38	Hickman	KY	$43,964	$38,961	-$5,003	-11.4%
39	Lyman	SD	$23,330	$20,780	-$2,550	-10.9%
40	Clark	SD	$30,593	$27,343	-$3,250	-10.6%
41	Eddy	ND	$28,109	$25,158	-$2,951	-10.5%
42	Sheridan	KS	$34,952	$31,328	-$3,624	-10.4%
43	Loup	NE	$10,172	$9,140	-$1,032	-10.1%
44	Banner	NE	$26,063	$23,434	-$2,629	-10.1%
45	Corson	SD	$20,822	$18,731	-$2,091	-10.0%
46	Kidder	ND	$28,808	$26,052	-$2,756	-9.6%
47	Tripp	SD	$27,884	$25,234	-$2,650	-9.5%
48	Divide	ND	$30,980	$28,052	-$2,928	-9.5%
49	Baca	CO	$28,317	$25,761	-$2,556	-9.0%
50	Harding	NM	$19,571	$17,849	-$1,722	-8.8%

Rural Personal Income Falls Behind the Cities

editor — Sun, 11 May 2008 08:48:57 -0700

Farming counties from the Dakotas down the middle of the country to Texas showed the sharpest drop in personal income between 2005 and 2006, according to recently-released data prepared by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The BEA reported that personal income declined in 2006 in 227 counties. In all but five of these counties, farming accounted for the entire decline in income. And, 194 of the 227 counties with declining incomes (85 percent) were rural.

(In the BEA's calculation, personal income is a comprehensive measure of the income of all persons from all sources. It includes wages, salaries, employer-provided health insurance, dividends and interest income, social security benefits, and other types of income, including farm subsidy or disaster payments. Also, in this study, "rural" counties are defined as those that are "non metro" counties according to the U.S. Census.)

In metro areas, the average personal income was $38,564, compared to $27,403 in nonmetro areas. For the third straight year, nonmetro income fell as a percent of metro personal income. In 2006, nonmetro personal income was just 74.6 percent of the U.S. average. This is down from 75.1 percent in 2005; 75.8 percent in 2004, and 76.1 percent in 2003.

The five counties with the largest declines in personal income were Campbell, Zieback and Hyde counties in South Dakota; Slope County, North Dakota; and Lynn County, in Texas. All are sparsely populated counties of the Great Plains.

To see the fifty rural (non-metro) counties with the largest percentage declines in income between 2005 and 2006, click here.

To see the fifty rural counties with the largest percentage increases in income, click here.

To see the fifty rural counties with the lowest personal incomes in 2006, click here.

To see the fifty rural counties with the highest personal incomes in 2006, click here.

Main Street Economics

The Fifty Rural Counties With The Highest Personal Income In 2006

The Fifty Rural Counties With The Lowest Personal Income In 2006

Rural Counties With Greatest Percentage Increases in Personal Income in 2006

Rural Counties With Greatest Percentage Decreases in Personal Income in 2006

Rural Personal Income Falls Behind the Cities