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WEDNESDAY June 12, 2013

BEA INTRODUCES NEW MEASURES OF
THE REGIONAL ECONOMY
Prototype Estimates of Real Personal Income for States
and Metropolitan Areas, 2007-2011
Today, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released experimental real, or inflation-adjusted,
estimates of personal income for states and metropolitan areas1. The inflation-adjustments are based in part on
regional price parities (RPPs) which provide a measure of differences in price levels across each state and region
relative to the national price level for each of the years, 2007-2011. When RPPs are applied in conjunction with
BEA’s national Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index, which measures price changes over
time, personal income comparisons can be made across regions and time periods. These prototype statistics are
being released for evaluation and comment by data users.

Growth in real metropolitan area personal income from 2010 to 2011 ranged from a decline of 0.7% in
Rochester, MN to an increase of 11.9% in Odessa, TX. After Odessa, TX, the metropolitan areas with largest
growth rates of real personal income were Midland, TX (10.7%), Hanford-Corcoran, CA (6.7%), San JoseSunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA (6.4%), and Madera-Chowchilla, CA (6.2%). In addition to Rochester, MN, four
metropolitan areas had declining or flat growth rates. These are Ocean City, NJ (-0.3%), Anniston-Oxford, AL
(-0.2%), Gadsden, AL (-0.2%), and Cape Girardeau-Jackson, MO-IL (0.0%).

1

Metropolitan areas consist of the 366 Metropolitan Statistical Areas defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) as one or more counties with a high degree of social and economic integration, with a core urban population of 50,000
or more. Combining the metropolitan areas with the non-metropolitan portion of the United States provides complete
coverage of all U.S. counties.
BEA data—including GDP, personal income, the balance of payments, foreign direct investment, the input-output accounts,
and economic data for states, local areas, and industries—are available on the BEA Web site: www.bea.gov. E-mail alerts
are also available.
NOTE: The next release of Real Personal Income for States and Metropolitan Areas will be in June 2014.
Media Contact:
Jeannine Aversa
Technical Contact: Troy Martin

(202) 606-2649
(202) 606-5620

Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce