Regional Per Capita Personal Income Grew in 2019

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – According to data released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), per capita personal income (PCPI) for residents in Northeast Indiana’s 11 counties grew by $1,009 in 2019 compared to the previous year.

BEA released initial 2019 numbers this week, and the PCPI for Northeast Indiana's 11 counties was $45,914 in 2019, compared to $44,905 in 2018. Nationally, PCPI was $56,490 in 2019, compared to $54,606 in 2018.

The region’s PCPI growth produced more than $36.26 billion of total personal income circulated in the region’s 11 counties in 2019, an increase of nearly $1.04 billion of total personal income compared to 2018.

Increasing PCPI annually against the national average is one of the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership’s three major goals to expand the regional economy and compete in the global marketplace. The Regional Partnership is driving to increase Northeast Indiana’s PCPI to 90% of the national average by the year 2030, as a part of the Regional Partnership’s Vision 2030 initiative.

Regional economic developers in Northeast Indiana use PCPI as an economic indicator of regional prosperity because it provides a historical regional trend that displays a consistent and comprehensive look at personal income with a national benchmark. In addition to wages, per capita personal income captures investments, entitlements like social security and other forms of income.

While residents benefited from increased PCPI, Northeast Indiana’s growth rate of 2.2% percent lagged behind the national growth rate of 3.3% and the state’s growth rate of 2.8%. The 2019 growth equates to 81.3% of the national average.

“Northeast Indiana residents are seeing increased prosperity due to the annual growth of PCPI. The region’s growth rate is lagging behind the nation and the state, which means we must do more together to redouble our efforts as a region to increase prosperity,” said John Sampson, president and CEO of the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership. “Continuing to focus on attracting and retaining companies offering high-wage, high-skilled jobs are key to growing the region’s economy and competing in the global marketplace.”

Here is a breakdown of PCPI in each county:


  
2014-2019 PER CAPITA PERSONAL INCOME IN NORTHEAST INDIANA
  2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 ‘18-‘19 % change
Adams $35,884 $36,162 $37,971 $39,753 $40,584 2.0 %
Allen $42,549 $43,240 $44,356 $46,588 $47,602 2.1 %
DeKalb $39,420 $40,877 $42,369 $43,984 $45,324 3.0%
Huntington $37,951 $38,485 $40,050 $41,914 $42,824 2.1%
Kosciusko $46,325 $43,550 $45,539 $47,541 $48,425 1.8%
LaGrange $36,253 $37,131 $40,994 $42,921 $43,275 .08%
Noble $35,836 $36,662 $38,364 $39,800 $40,799 2.4%
Steuben $37,307 $38,800 $41,269 $43,443 $44,854 3.1%
Wabash $39,022 $39,952 $40,699 $42,536 $43,955 3.2%
Wells $38,900 $39,340 $40,514 $42,197 $42,857 1.5%
Whitley $40,091 $41,532 $42,942 $45,268 $46,555 2.8%
NEI  $40,899 $41,345 $42,861 $44,905 $45,914 2.2%
Indiana $42,650 $43,672 $45,244 $47,321 $48,678 2.8%
U.S. $49,019 $50,015 $52,118 $54,606 $56,490 3.3%


“The less-than-robust total and per capita personal income growth for 2019 at the regional, state and national levels shows the economy was already slowing down long before the pandemic’s effects hit earlier this year,” said Rachel Blakeman, director of the Community Research Institute at Purdue University Fort Wayne. “Since this metric provides a comprehensive measure of income – paychecks, retirement income, government assistance, and investment income – over time, it provides a key measure of the amount of money flowing through the consumer economy. By using the per capita calculation, we can make direct comparisons across different sizes of geographies: counties, regions, states and the nation.”

Per capita personal income is calculated as the total personal income of the residents of a geographic area divided by the total number of residents. The data is released annually by the BEA and was calculated for the region by the Purdue University Fort Wayne Community Research Institute. The initial release is subject to BEA revision annually. 

To learn more, visit the website at www.neindiana.com/news.

About the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership 

The Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership’s mission is to build, market and sell Northeast Indiana to increase business investment. Founded in 2006, the public-private partnership strives to build a globally competitive region. The Partnership’s Vision 2030 framework supports collaborative regional efforts to increase per capita income, population growth and educational attainment by focusing on business attraction, talent attraction and talent development. The Partnership represents 11 member counties: Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Huntington, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Wabash, Wells and Whitley. For more information, visit www.neindiana.com. 

 

###

MEDIA CONTACT:

Kate Virag
Vice President of Marketing & Strategic Communications
Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership
260.414.2431
kate@NEIndiana.com

View all news