New England States Lead in Income Rise Since ’82

The New England states have reaped the biggest rewards from the current economic expansion, while residents of the energy-producing states have lagged far behind the national average in income gains, the government reported Monday.

The Commerce Department said New Hampshire residents have enjoyed a 30.6% income gain since the last recession ended in 1982, the biggest increase of any state.

Nationwide, Americans’ personal income has climbed 20.9% since 1982 to an average of $13,867 for every person in the country last year. Consumer prices during this period rose 11.9%. This means that the average American’s income, after adjusting for inflation, increased 9% from 1982 through 1985.

Some Small Gainers

But five states had income gains so small that they did not even keep up with inflation. Alaska residents fared the worst, seeing per-capita income rise by just 5.1% since 1982.

By contrast, three New England states had income gains far above the national average. After New Hampshire, residents of Massachusetts had a 28.5% income rise, while Connecticut ranked third with a 26.9% increase.

The six-state New England region, which has been enjoying boom times because of its high-technology and defense industries, had the best performance for any region of the country, a 27.3% increase, while the Southwest had the poorest showing, a 15.2% rise.

Energy-producing regions of the country have suffered because of widespread layoffs in oil and gas drilling brought on by slumping prices.

Alaska’s weak 5.1% income rise still left the state with the highest average income--$18,187 in 1985; the District of Columbia was second at $18,168.

Other states where income growth failed to keep up with inflation over the last three years were Wyoming, with a 7% rise in incomes; Oklahoma, up 7.4%, and Louisiana and Montana, both with 8.9% increases, all below the 11.9% rise in prices.

States which kept barely ahead of inflation were West Virginia, with a 12.1% income rise; North Dakota, 14.3%; Washington and New Mexico, 15.2%, and Texas, 15.3%.

Following the three New England states at the top of the income gains were Georgia, where residents enjoyed a 26.7% advance; New York, up 25.5%; New Jersey, 25.3%; North Carolina, 25.1%; Maryland, 24.9%; Virginia, 24.7%, and Maine, 24.2%.

The new report represented a revised estimate of figures originally released in May. The 5.7% nationwide rise in incomes for 1985 followed an 8.4% gain in 1984 and a 5.4% rise in 1983, the first full year of recovery from the 1981-82 recession.