Important Notes

1. The above income data were obtained from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis's State Personal Income Web site. The data were downloaded on February 27, 2001. They had been updated on September 12, 2000.

2. The Bureau of Economic Analysis' personal income figures are higher than the money income data produced by the US Census Bureau because money income includes only income that is received by individuals in cash and its equivalents ... whereas personal income includes imputed income, lump-sum payments not received as part of earnings, certain in-kind transfer payments such as medicaid, medicare, and food stamps, and employer contributions to private health and pension funds.

   For example, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reports South Carolina's per capita personal income for 1979 and 1989 as $6,920 and $14,180 ... while the Census Bureau reports per capita money income as $5,886 and $11,897 for these same two years.

   For more information about the differences between personal and money income, please see Alternative Measures of Household Income, published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

3. The US figures and state rankings for all six years include all 50 states but not the District of Columbia. For comparability purposes, Alaska and Hawaii are included in the 1950 data, even though they were not states at the time.

Data Sources