Personal income up slightly in Idaho
August 14, 2011

Total personal income rose modestly in both rural and urban Idaho in 2010 after significant recession-imposed declines in 2009.

 

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis on Tuesday estimated personal income for Idaho’s five metropolitan areas at $34.7 billion, up 2.7 percent from a year earlier, while personal income in the remaining 33 rural counties rose 2.6 percent to nearly $15.9 billion.  Statewide, personal income – the total of wages, salaries, business profits, investment earnings and transfer payments like retirement, Social Security and unemployment benefits – rose 2.7 percent.

 

Typically, the range in income growth – or loss – is significant between rural and urban Idaho. The last time the two performed so similarly was 1978 when both rural and urban growth was 15.4 percent

 

But the way rural and urban Idaho got to similar growth rates was significantly different. Wages and salaries in the 11 urban counties were up 1.4 percent after falling almost 7 percent over the two previous years while wages continued to fall in rural Idaho, dropping 0.8 percent in 2010 after falling 2.5 percent in 2009.

 

Last year rural farmers and business operators posted a 13 percent increase in their income compared to 5.3 percent for their urban counterparts. Urban business proprietors suffered losses the two previous years while rural business operators had a huge 27 percent loss in 2009.

 

Personal Income, 2009-2010 (in thousands)

 

2009

2010

% Change

Idaho

$49,245,029

$50,564,758

2.7%

Urban Idaho

$33,773,488

$34,697,254

2.7%

Rural Idaho

$15,471,541

$15,867,504

2.6%

Boise

$20,586,515

$21,101,965

2.5%

Coeur d'Alene

$4,428,438

$4,514,253

1.9%

Idaho Falls

$4,112,656

$4,269,237

3.8%

Lewiston

$2,071,953

$2,172,356

4.8%

Pocatello

$2,573,926

$2,639,443

2.5%

A 17 percent increase in farm earnings and a more than 9 percent jump in earnings from health care fueled personal income growth in rural Idaho, but the increases were offset by losses in construction, manufacturing, retail trade, financial services, real estate and entertainment.

 

In urban Idaho, growth was more muted with modest increases spread over every sector except construction and real estate.

 

Earnings from government were down throughout the state.

 

The biggest income gain among the urban areas was in Lewiston at 4.8 percent while Coeur d’Alene posted the smallest at 1.9 percent.

 

Four of the five metro areas suffered declines in personal income in 2009. Pocatello remained essentially unchanged from 2008 to 2009.