Imagine what the last 111 years would have been like had Anthony Lucas come down off the Spindletop hill near Beaumont and announced, “By gads, I’ve just struck government.”
Now, Lucas didn’t do too badly providing the starter fuel for the world’s modern industrial age. And a new study by Sentier Research says Texans are still doing pretty well by the black gold.
But from 2007 to 2010 the households that by far best weathered a brutal and lingering recession were nestled in the bosom of our federal government, Washington, D.C., a Wall Street Journal story Thursday says.
Household income in the nation’s capital climbed by 8.1 percent during that time, more than twice the 3.6 percent growth of the leading state, Wyoming, and nearly three times the 2.9 percent in North Dakota. The top four states, including Alaska and Louisiana, are the beneficiaries of booming oil and gas industries.
Corpus Christi, Odessa and Longview-Marshall ranked second, third and fourth among metropolitan areas experiencing household income growth. The McAllen area was sixth and Amarillo tied for seventh. The Brownsville, Beaumont and El Paso areas made the top 20.
Texas as a whole ranked ninth among the states, with overall household income growing by just .8 percent.
The Wall Street Journal provides a fine interactive map showing all of the rankings of states and 297 metropolitan areas.
The rest of the country isn’t doing nearly as well, having seen median household income drop by 3.5 percent to $51,287 a year, the study says. Thirty-eight states lost ground. Not surprising, Michigan’s median income drop of 9.5 percent was the worst in the country.
But from 2007 to 2010 the households that by far best weathered a brutal and lingering recession were nestled in the bosom of our federal government, Washington, D.C., a Wall Street Journal story Thursday says.
Household income in the nation’s capital climbed by 8.1 percent during that time, more than twice the 3.6 percent growth of the leading state, Wyoming, and nearly three times the 2.9 percent in North Dakota. The top four states, including Alaska and Louisiana, are the beneficiaries of booming oil and gas industries.
Corpus Christi, Odessa and Longview-Marshall ranked second, third and fourth among metropolitan areas experiencing household income growth. The McAllen area was sixth and Amarillo tied for seventh. The Brownsville, Beaumont and El Paso areas made the top 20.
Texas as a whole ranked ninth among the states, with overall household income growing by just .8 percent.
The Wall Street Journal provides a fine interactive map showing all of the rankings of states and 297 metropolitan areas.
The rest of the country isn’t doing nearly as well, having seen median household income drop by 3.5 percent to $51,287 a year, the study says. Thirty-eight states lost ground. Not surprising, Michigan’s median income drop of 9.5 percent was the worst in the country.
***
Contact Mark Lisheron at 512-299-2318 or mark@texaswatchdog.org or on Twitter at @marktxwatchdog.
Keep up with all the latest news from Texas Watchdog. Fan our page on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Scribd, and fan us on YouTube. Join our network on de.licio.us, and put our RSS feeds in your newsreader. We're also on MySpace, Digg, FriendFeed, and tumblr.
Photo of money by flickr user 401K, used via a Creative Commons license.
Contact Mark Lisheron at 512-299-2318 or mark@texaswatchdog.org or on Twitter at @marktxwatchdog.
Keep up with all the latest news from Texas Watchdog. Fan our page on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and Scribd, and fan us on YouTube. Join our network on de.licio.us, and put our RSS feeds in your newsreader. We're also on MySpace, Digg, FriendFeed, and tumblr.
Photo of money by flickr user 401K, used via a Creative Commons license.
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