El Paso's income growth outpaces nation, but city still below average
August 11, 2009
Personal income in El Paso last year grew twice as fast as the national rate, but the growth didn't prevent the area from continuing to be near the bottom for per capita personal income when compared with 365 other metro areas, new federal data show.
Written by Vic Kolenc, The El Paso Times
EL PASO -- Personal income in El Paso last year grew twice as fast as the national rate, but the growth didn't prevent the area from continuing to be near the bottom for per capita personal income when compared with 365 other metro areas, new federal data show. "We entered into the (national) recession kind of late compared to other MSAs (metro areas)," and that played a part in El Paso outperforming many metro areas in personal income growth in 2008, said Jesus Cañas, an economist at the El Paso branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. El Paso's total personal income grew 6.9 percent last year to $20.74 billion, which indicates the size of the El Paso economy. Total personal income for 366 metro areas combined grew 3.3 percent in 2008. El Paso's per capita personal income grew 5.1 percent to $27,944 -- more than double the 2.2 percent growth for the 366 metro areas in a report released last week by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Per capita income is an area's total personal income divided by its population. El Paso also performed better than Texas, which saw total personal income grow 6.1 percent. Texas per capita personal income grew 4 percent to $38,575 in 2008. Fort Bliss growth has helped increase El Paso's personal income in the past several years, Cañas said. In 2001, the military was about 7 percent of El Paso's wage income, and in 2007, that increased to almost 12 percent, Cañas said. But El Paso is still well below the national average, Cañas said. The per capita income for the nation's metro areas combined was $41,455 in 2008. El Paso ranked 338 in per capita income in 2008 among the 366 metro areas. That's slightly better than in 2007 when it ranked 344 among 363 metro areas. Las Cruces ranked at 354 in per capita income among the 366 metro areas in the nation in 2008. Las Cruces increased its total personal income by 6.9 percent in 2008 to $5.3 billion, and per capita income grew 5 percent to $26,366. Adrian Rivera, 27, a student at the University of Texas at El Paso, said he doesn't see El Paso's personal income improving much in his world. Rivera said he had to take a second job last year to increase his income. "I'm skeptical about the federal data," Rivera said. "I don't think the per capita income has risen (much) in El Paso." Rivera, manager of an East Side bar and a computer lab assistant at the Main Library in the Downtown, is working on a degree in bilingual education. Teachers' jobs have better salaries than many El Paso jobs, he said. "If more people had (college) degrees, that could raise the per capita income" here, Rivera said. The city needs to bring in more, better-paying jobs, he said. El Paso's total personal income grew slightly faster in 2008 than in 2007, when it increased by 6.7 percent. El Paso per capita income grew slightly slower than in 2007 when it increased by 5.6 percent. Vic Kolenc may be reached at vkolenc@elpasotimes.com; 546-6421. For more information: www.bea.gov/newsreleases/rels.htm.
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