IPSPR: Electronic Publications

Definition: This indicator represents the total personal income of the residents of a state divided by the resident population of the state.

Significance: According to experts, per capita personal income is often used as an important indicator of the quality of consumer markets and of the economic well-being of the residents of an area.[i]

Data reflects values for South Carolina (SC), the United States (US), and the Southeast (SE). The Southeast region consists of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Selected State Rankings, 2010, Per Capita Personal Income (“1” represents highest per capita personal income.)

Definition: This indicator represents the total income of a family or individual as tested against an appropriate or designated poverty threshold, expressed as a percentage of population. If the total income is less than the corresponding cutoff (threshold), the family or individual is classified as "below the poverty level."

Significance: The importance of the poverty rate—as an economic measure—is critical. Experts agree that the poverty rate clearly indicates that percent of the state population which earns “minimal income for subsistence and basic needs, i.e., minimum standard of living.” These minimal earnings impact many aspects of individual or family well-being.[ii]

Selected State Rankings, 2007-09, Population with Incomes Below Poverty-Level (“1” represents highest poverty rate, 3-year average.)

Definition: This indicator represents the sum of money income received during a calendar year by all household members 15 years old and over, including household members not related to the householder, people living alone, and other non-family household members.

Significance: The median household income, according to expert opinion, is a general indicator of the economic well-being of all households in the state.[iii]

Selected State Rankings, 2007-09, Median Household Income (“1” represents highest median household income.)

Definition: This indicator represents the average annual pay—wages, salaries, bonuses, etc.—paid to an employee.

Significance: Experts state that this indicator gives a good sense of the caliber or quality of the jobs that exist overall and the competence, education, ability and skills required by workers. This translates into purchasing capacity, improved lifestyles, and various other indicators of economic wealth and prosperity.

Selected State Rankings, 2009, Average Annual Pay (“1” represents the highest average annual pay. States are ranked from highest to lowest using a standard competition ranking method that accounts for ties occurring when two or more states have the same average annual pay.)

[i] Personal income is the income that is received by persons from all sources. It is calculated as the sum of wage and salary disbursements, supplements to wages and salaries, proprietors' income with inventory valuation and capital consumption adjustments, rental income of persons with capital consumption adjustment, personal dividend income, personal interest income, and personal current transfer receipts, less contributions for government social insurance. This measure of income is calculated as the personal income of the residents of a given area divided by the resident population of the area. In computing per capita personal income, BEA uses the Census Bureau's annual midyear population estimates.

[ii] Poverty is measured by using thresholds that vary by individual, family size, and number of children within the family and age of the householder. To determine whether a person is poor, one compares the total income of an individual or person's family with the threshold appropriate for that individual or family. If the total individual or family income is less than the threshold, then the person is considered poor, together with every member of his or her family. Not every person is included in the poverty universe: institutionalized people, people in military group quarters, people living in college dormitories, and unrelated individuals less than 15 years old are considered neither as "poor" nor as "non-poor," and are excluded from both the numerator and the denominator when calculating poverty rates. See poverty thresholds by number of persons at http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/threshld/thresh06.html.

[iii] Another way to define “median household income” is that it a commonly accepted index which measures the middle value of the sum of money income received in a calendar year by all household members 15 years old and over, including household members not related to the householder, people living alone, and other non-family household members.