 Outline of Analysis
| Preston County vs. West Virginia Comparative Trends Analysis: Total Personal Income Growth and Change, 1969-2022 Introduction  Preston County: 2022 TPI = $1,449,148K 2022 Percent of State = 1.63% West Virginia: 2022 TPI = $88,744,908K 2022 Percent of U.S. = 0.41% The annual total personal incomes (TPI) estimates compiled by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, (BEA) are among the most comprehensive, consistent, comparable and timely measures of economic activity available statewide and at the national levels. Personal income estimates are also the best available local level indicator of general purchasing power, and are therefore central to tracking and comparing county patterns of economic growth and change. The following graphs highlight trends in the pattern of growth and change in the total personal income of Preston County and West Virginia with comparison to the nation. The data used are those compiled by the Regional Income and Product Divisions of the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce. The 2017 constant dollar (real) estimates of total personal income reported in the tables and portrayed graphically below are determined using the Implicit Price Deflator for Personal Consumption. Data Definition: Personal income is the income received by persons from participation in production, plus transfer receipts from government and business, plus government interest (which is treated like a transfer receipt). It is defined as the sum of wages and salaries, 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. Because the personal income of an area represents the income that is received by, or on behalf of, all the persons who live in that area, and because the estimates of some components of personal income (wages and salaries, supplements to wages and salaries, and contributions for government social insurance) are made on a place-of-work basis, state personal income includes an adjustment for residence. The residence adjustment represents the net flow of compensation (less contributions for government social insurance) of interstate commuters. Preston County Total Personal Income, 1970-2022 Current vs. Constant Dollars (Millions)  Figure 1. Figure 1 depicts Preston County's annual total personal income over 1970-2022 in current and constant (2017) dollars. Constant dollar measurements remove the effects of inflation. They allow for comparison of changes in the real purchasing power of Preston County over time. When measured in current dollars, Preston County's total personal income increased 2,116.81%, from $65M in 1970 to $1,449M in 2022. When measured in constant 2017 dollars to adjust for inflation, it advanced 277.60%, from $331M in 1970 to $1,249M in 2022. Real Total Personal Income, 1969-2022 (Millions)  Figure 2. Figure 2 traces Preston County's and West Virginia's annual real total personal income for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate real total personal income patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Preston County's real total personal income rose from $302M in 1969 to $1,249M in 2022, for a net gain of $947M, or 313.34%. In comparison, West Virginia's real total personal income increased from $26,183M in 1969 to $76,476M in 2022, for a net gain of $50,293M, or 192.08%. Real Total Personal Income Indices (1969=100): 1969-2022  Figure 3. Figure 3 shows Preston County's real total personal income growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with West Virginia, the United States. The growth indices shown here express each region's real total personal income in 1969 as a base figure of 100, and the real total personal incomes in later years as a percentage of the 1969 base figure. This method allows for more direct comparison of differences in real total personal income growth between regions that may differ vastly in size. Preston County's overall real total personal income growth was 313.34% over 1969-2022 outpaced West Virginia's increase of 192.08%, and fell below the United States' increase of 348.76%. Total Personal Income as a Percent of the West Virginia Total: 1969-2022  Figure 4. Another interesting and insightful way of comparing the total personal income growth of Preston County is to compare its individual percentage contributions to West Virginia's statewide total personal income over time, as shown in Figure 4. A rising share means a region's total personal income grew faster, or declined less, than West Virginia's total personal income, while a declining share shows it grew more slowly. In 1969, Preston County's total personal income totaled 1.15% of West Virginia's total personal income, while in 2022 it equated to 1.63% thereby yielding a +0.48% share-shift.
Preston County Real Total Personal Income: Annual Percent Change, 1970-2022  Figure 5. Figure 5 shows the short-run pattern of Preston County's real total personal income growth by tracking the year-to-year percent change over 1970-2022. The average annual percent change for the entire 53-year period is also traced on this chart to provide a benchmark for gauging periods of relative high--and relative low--growth against the backdrop of the long-term average. On average, Preston County's real total personal income grew at an annual rate of 2.81% over 1970-2022. The county recorded its highest growth in 2004 (16.18%) and posted its lowest growth in 2022 (-6.85%). In 2022, Preston County's real total personal income declined by -6.85% Preston County Real Total Personal Income: Annual Percent Change and Decade Averages Over 1970-2022  Figure 6. Over the past five decades some counties have experienced extreme swings in growth, and often such swings have tended to coincide with the decades themselves. Figure 6 again illustrates the annual percent change in Preston County's real total personal income since 1970, but this time they are overlayed with average growth rates for the decade of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020-2022. During the 1970s, Preston County's annual real total personal income growth rate averaged 5.10%. It averaged 2.15% during the 1980s, 1.49% during the 1990s, 3.88% throughout the 2000s, 2.01% during the 2010s, 0.81% thus far this decade (2020-2022). Real Total Personal Income Growth: Average Annual Percent Change by Decade  Figure 7. Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Preston County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for West Virginia and the nation. As the chart reveals, Preston County's average annual real total personal income growth recorded above West Virginia's average during the 1970s (5.10% vs. 4.47%), topped West Virginia's average throughout the 1980s (2.15% vs. 0.60%), recorded under West Virginia's average in the 1990s (1.49% vs. 2.11%), recorded above West Virginia's average during the 2000s (3.88% vs. 2.21%), exceeded West Virginia's average throughout the 2010s (2.01% vs. 1.22%), and trailed West Virginia's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (0.81% vs. 1.13%). Finally, relative to nationwide real total personal income growth trends, Preston County led the nation in the 1970s (5.10% vs. 3.50%), recorded underneath the nation over the 1980s (2.15% vs. 3.16%), posted below the nation in the 1990s (1.49% vs. 3.27%), exceeded the nation during the 2000s (3.88% vs. 2.06%), fell under the nation over the 2010s (2.01% vs. 2.72%), and posted below the nation over 2020-2022 (0.81% vs. 2.10%).
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