BEA: State ranks last in U.S. in personal income

ACROSS MISSISSIPPI — Personal income in Mississippi rose slightly faster than the national average in 2010 — but the state ranked at the bottom of the United States, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reports.

The BEA said that personal income in Mississippi rose 3.1 percent, slightly higher than the 3 percent national figure. But Mississippi’s per-person personal income, $31,186, was last in the United States and just over three-quarters of the national figure.

Just ahead of Mississippi at the bottom of per-person state rankings in were Idaho, Utah, West Virginia and Arkansas.

The BEA said state personal income growth in 2010 ranged from 0.3 percent in Nevada to 4.2 percent in New Mexico.

Source: Associated Press