NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665
August 5, 1999
North Dakota's per capita income grew, on average, 4.1 percent annually beginning in 1990, and reached $20,103 in 1997, according to the recent Population Bulletin published by the North Dakota State Data Center at North Dakota State University. That per capita income level, about one-fifth less than the national average of $25,288, ranked North Dakota 46th in the nation in 1997.
During the eight-year period, North Dakota's per capita income rose 32.0 percent from its 1990 level of $15,264 while inflation rose 22.8 percent, says Richard Rathge, data center director. So after adjusting for inflation, real per capita income rose 7.3 percent in North Dakota.
"This is good news for residents because it means, on average, purchasing power is increasing in our state," Rathge says. "However, this news is tempered by the fact that the agricultural economy is still poor, and so, many residents dependent on the farm economy are not participating in this income growth trend."
Counties with the highest per capita income in 1997 were Cass ($24,394), Sargent ($23,112), Burleigh ($23,082) and Pembina ($22,486). The counties with the lowest per capita incomes were Sioux, Billings and Slope--all at less than $10,000. Four of the 53 counties showed decreases in per capita income during the 1990-1997 period.
Another 27 counties had increases in per capita income less than the cumulative rate of inflation (22.8 percent); thus, the per capita incomes in these counties actually declined when adjusted for inflation, Rathge says. About half of North Dakota's 53 counties had per capita income increases of more than 22.8 percent.
North Dakota had a total personal income of $12.9 billion in 1997, an amount which ranked 49th among personal income totals of all the states and accounted for 0.2 percent of the national total. Also in 1997, 54 percent of total personal income in North Dakota was concentrated in four counties: Cass, Burleigh, Grand Forks and Ward. Ten counties had losses in total personal income during the 1990-1997 period. In addition, 27 counties had personal income increases that did not keep pace with inflation.
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Source: Richard Rathge (701) 231-8621
Editor: Dean Hulse (701) 231-6136
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