Indiana’s personal income is growing slower than the rest of the nation, according to the latest data from the federal government.
Hoosier income has steadily increased since The Great Recession in 2007. However, the personal income growth rate in Indiana from 2013 to 2014 was 2.5 percent, while the nation's was 3.9 percent. Only five states had slower growth rates, placing Indiana 45th in income growth rates.
Indiana is now ranked 39th in per capita income, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Last year the state was 38th.
“There are some years where we grow a little bit faster, but generally during the early years of a recovery we grow faster [in income],” said Morton Marcus, former director of Indiana Business Research Center of Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. “We grew slightly faster than the nation during 2011 and 2012 and then we grew slower than the nation in 2013 and 2014."
However, Michael Hicks, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research, said people need to look at the overarching trends for meaning, not the year-to-year, quarter-to-quarter reports.
“The rankings bounce around a bit,” Hicks said. “Put [it] in context of the 50 states. Moving up one place is not the end of a trend, hopefully more of a continuation of it moving forward.”
Most of the increases in income can be attributed to those with education, Hicks said. Education attainment continues to be an issue for Indiana.
“All the wages and increases have gone to people who have attained education," Hicks said.
Indiana’s per capita income was $39,433 and the nation’s was $46,129 in 2014.
While personal income growth has slowed, Hicks added that Indiana is beginning to grow faster than the nation in parts of the economy, but still remains below average.
This is breaking the several decade-long trend of Indiana trailing behind the nation. Hicks has written articles on this interpretation.
However, Marcus said Indiana's trend of securing a smaller piece of the national economy continues.
“We keep sinking relative to the nation,” Marcus said. “That’s been our pattern since the 1970s. We keep getting a smaller piece of the income growth.”
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