Personal income rose in five of North Carolina’s 13 Metropolitan Statistical Areas, with two of them, Jacksonville and Fayetteville, leading the nation with 14.4 and 6.6 percent income growth respectively from 2008 to 2009.
These findings are in keeping with reports that show government to be one of the few growth industries in the country during the current recession. Both Jacksonville and Fayetteville are home to huge military installations that include not only thousands of soldiers, sailors and Marines, but also many civilian government employees.
The federal Bureau of Economic Analysis released figures Monday for all 357 of the nation’s MSAs. While the military city of Jacksonville, N.C., came in at the top spot in personal income growth, the posh Gulf Coast resort of Naples, Fla., came in at the bottom with a drop of 7.1 percent from 2008-09.
In addition to Jacksonville and Fayetteville, the North Carolina MSAs that showed personal income growth include Durham-Chapel Hill (up .1 percent), Goldsboro (up 2.0 percent), and Greenville (up 1.5 percent).
Personal income is defined by the BEA as “the income received by all persons from all sources.” In the case of Jacksonville, personal income rose from $6.8 billion in 2008 to $7.7 billion in 2009. In Fayetteville, it rose from $13.8 billion in 2008 to $14.7 billion in 2009.
On the other end of the scale, was the Charlotte-Gastonia-Rock Hill, MSA, which saw personal income fall 3.5 percent from 2008 to 2009, from $67.6 billion to $65.2 billion.
The BEA report also ranked the MSA in per capita personal income growth. Only three of the state’s 13 MSAs saw growth in that area from 2008 to 2009. Jacksonville’s per capita income grew 11.9 percent, Fayetteville’s grew 4.8 percent and Goldsboro, which also is home to a military base, saw its per capital income grow by 1.6 percent.
The BEA defines per capita personal income as “the personal income of the residents of a given area divided by the resident population of the area.”
