The federal government says Maine had one of the top ten gains in "real personal income," in 2016.
The Bureau of Economic Analysis figures, released Thursday, show real personal income rose 2.2 percent that year. It was the fastest rate of real income growth in New England.
What makes these income figures "real" in government-speak is that they take into account both inflation and the relative cost of living between Maine and the rest of the country.
The government says Maine's cost of living is 1.6 percent below the national average. That raises the "real income" figure by a bit since dollars presumably stretch further here. Inflation lowers the number to the final figure: $53,968 dollars in real personal income, per Mainer, in 2016.
There are variations among the state's three major urban areas as well. If you look just at personal income figures, Lewiston-Auburn grew fastest in 2016 at 3 percent, just barely ahead of Portland-South Portland's 2.9 percent. Bangor was third at 2.5 percent. But, when one factors in the relative cost of living and Bangor rises from third to second with a 2.3 percent growth in real personal income. Lewiston-Auburn remain first, with 2.7 percent growth, but Portland-South Portland falls to a distant third at 1.7 percent, owing to the higher cost of housing, food, transportation and other expenses.
The states with the fastest growing "real personal income" in 2016 were Utah and Georgia, with gains of 3.3 percent. The District of Columbia is not considered a state, but its real personal income figure grew 4.5 percent. Real personal income went down in eight states in 2016.
