New England Bumps West for Top Regional Income

The income gap between richer and poorer regions of the United States has widened in the 1980s while New England has shot from fourth place into the lead in per-capita income, the Commerce Department said today.

The department said that, between 1979 and 1986, the three regions earning more than the national average in per-capita personal income--New England, the Mid-East Coast and Far West--generally outstripped other regions in income growth.

The regions earning less than the national average--the Great Lakes, Plains, Rocky Mountains, Southwest and Southeast--had narrowed the income gap over the previous period of 1929 to 1979 as heavy manufacturing and farming grew.

The nation overall saw its per-capita income grow by a 7.1% annual average to total $14,641 by the end of 1986.

In contrast, the government said, New England’s per-capita income rose 9% per year, from $9,376 in 1979 to $17,166 in 1986. New England had been in fourth place among regions, but now is first.

The Mid-East Coast remained in second place, rising 8.1% annually from $9,584 to $16,565.

Then came the Far West, the former leader, where income per capita grew 6.8% a year, from $10,321 in 1979 to $16,348 last year.

The Great Lakes region had started the decade 4% above the national average, but dipped to 1% below the average in 1986. Its per-capita income rose only 6.4% a year, from $9,384 in 1979 to $14,467 in 1986.

Then came the Plains states, up 6.6% a year to $13,992; the Southwest, up 6.3% to $13,195; the Rocky Mountain region, up 6.1% to $13,146, and the Southeast, up 7.4% to $12,694.