Areas of Income
Californians have historically enjoyed higher incomes than the rest of the country. Two reasons this is changing are: Defense-related employment here has dropped by half since 1990, and the state’s population growth is twice the national average. These factors have helped cause the state’s average per-capita personal income to drop from 12% higher than the U.S. average in 1986 to just 4% higher in 1996. Even so, at $25,346, California’s average per-capita personal income was up in 1996 from its pre-recession peak. A look at how California’s per-capita income compares with the U.S. average over the last 10 years, and the 15 states with the highest per-capita incomes in the U.S. in 1996:
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Top 15 State per-capita incomes in 1996:
1. Connecticut: 33,875
2. New Jersey: 31,334
3. Massachusetts: 29,792
4. New York: 29,181
5. Delaware: 27,724
6. Maryland: 27,618
7. Illinois: 26,848
8. New Hampshire: 26,615
9. Nevada: 26,011
10. Colorado: 25,704
11. Minnesota: 25,663
12. Hawaii: 25,404
13. California: 25,346
14. Virginia: 25,212
15. Washington: 25,187
*
California per-capita income in thousands: $25,346, 1997
*
U.S. per-capita income in thousands: $24,426, 1997
Souces: California Department of Finance, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Researched by JENNIFER OLDHAM, Los Angeles Times
