According to a recent Bellingham Herald article, local area residents’ income is rising but but not at the rate of the national average, according to a national report released Tuesday.The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis stated that a resident Whatcom County had a per capita personal income of $30,881 in 2006, a 4.5 percent increase from the previous year. The national average was a 5.3 percent increase.
Bellingham ranked 199 out of the 363 Metropolitan Statistical Areas. The highest income area was Bridgeport, Conn., which had a per capita income of $71,901, the lowest was McAllen, Texas, annual income of $17,111.
Bellingham’s income increase was behind the national average but the Seattle area – with a 6.3 percent rise – was well above. This is considered an indication that the overall economy in the region is doing well, said Gary W. Smith, director of the Pacific Northwest Regional Economic Analysis project.