Worcester County vs. Massachusetts | Total Personal Income Trends over 1969-2022

Introduction

Worcester County:

2022 TPI = $55,942,537K

2022 Percent of State = 9.48%

Massachusetts:

2022 TPI = $590,400,289K

2022 Percent of U.S. = 2.71%

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 Worcester County and Massachusetts 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.

Worcester County Total Personal Income, 1970-2022
Current vs. Constant Dollars (Millions)

Figure 1.

Figure 1 depicts Worcester 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 Worcester County over time.

When measured in current dollars, Worcester County's total personal income increased 2,055.83%, from $2,595M in 1970 to $55,943M in 2022. When measured in constant 2017 dollars to adjust for inflation, it advanced 267.21%, from $13,128M in 1970 to $48,208M in 2022.

Real Total Personal Income, 1969-2022 (Millions)

Figure 2.

Figure 2 tracks Worcester County's and Massachusetts' annual real total personal income for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate real total personal income patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Worcester County's real total personal income rose from $12,872M in 1969 to $48,208M in 2022, for a net gain of $35,337M, or 274.53%. In comparison, Massachusetts' real total personal income increased from $127,320M in 1969 to $508,777M in 2022, for a net advance of $381,457M, or 299.60%.

Real Total Personal Income Indices (1969=100): 1969-2022

Figure 3.

Figure 3 shows Worcester County's real total personal income growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with Massachusetts, 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.

Worcester County's overall real total personal income growth was 274.53% over 1969-2022 trailed Massachusetts' increase of 299.60%, and fell below the United States' increase of 348.76%.

Total Personal Income as a Percent of the Massachusetts Total: 1969-2022

Figure 4.

Another interesting and insightful way of contrasting the total personal income growth of Worcester County is to compare its individual percentage contributions to Massachusetts' 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 Massachusetts' total personal income, while a declining share shows it grew more slowly.

In 1969, Worcester County's total personal income totaled 10.11% of Massachusetts' total personal income, while in 2022 it comprised 9.48% thereby yielding a -0.63% share-shift.

Total Personal Income Share-Shift

2022 vs. 1969

	Share- Shift*		2022	vs.	1969
Worcester County	-0.63%	=	9.48%	-	10.11%

*Percent figures may not add due to rounding by a factor of ± 0.01%.

Worcester County Real Total Personal Income:
Annual Percent Change, 1970-2022

Figure 5.

Figure 5 displays the short-run pattern of Worcester 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, Worcester County's real total personal income grew at an annual rate of 2.56% over 1970-2022. The county posted its highest growth in 2000 (9.15%) and recorded its lowest growth in 2022 (-5.47%). In 2022, Worcester County's real total personal income declined by -5.47%

Worcester 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 Worcester County's real total personal income since 1970, but this time they are displayed with average growth rates for the decade of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020-2022.

During the 1970s, Worcester County's annual real total personal income growth rate averaged 2.51%. It averaged 4.10% during the 1980s, 2.30% during the 1990s, 2.12% throughout the 2000s, 2.19% during the 2010s, 1.13% 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 Worcester County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Massachusetts and the nation. As the chart reveals, Worcester County's average annual real total personal income growth recorded above Massachusetts' average throughout the 1970s (2.51% vs. 2.01%), recorded under Massachusetts' average in the 1980s (4.10% vs. 4.31%), recorded under Massachusetts' average in the 1990s (2.30% vs. 2.63%), outgained Massachusetts' average in the 2000s (2.12% vs. 2.04%), trailed Massachusetts' average throughout the 2010s (2.19% vs. 2.82%), and amounted to less than Massachusetts' average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (1.13% vs. 1.33%).

Finally, relative to nationwide real total personal income growth trends, Worcester County fell below the nation during the 1970s (2.51% vs. 3.50%), recorded above the nation over the 1980s (4.10% vs. 3.16%), trailed the nation in the 1990s (2.30% vs. 3.27%), topped the nation throughout the 2000s (2.12% vs. 2.06%), posted below the nation over the 2010s (2.19% vs. 2.72%), and fell below the nation over 2020-2022 (1.13% vs. 2.10%).

Real* Total Personal Income Growth:

Average Annual Percent Change

	1970-2022	1970-1979	1980-1989	1990-1999	2000-2009	2010-2019	2020-2022	2022
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
Worcester	2.56	2.51	4.10	2.30	2.12	2.19	1.13	-5.47
Massachusetts	2.68	2.01	4.31	2.63	2.04	2.82	1.33	-4.94
United States	2.89	3.50	3.16	3.27	2.06	2.72	2.10	-4.19

*Real total personal income growth determined using the Implicit Price Deflator for
Personal Consumption (2017=1.00).

Interactive Table Tip: To augment your analysis click on the column headers in the following table to rank and/or sort the data.

Worcester County:
Total Personal Income, 1969-2022


Year	Current Dollars (1000s)	Implicit Price Deflator2	Constant Dollars (1000s)	Index1	Percent Change	Percent of Statewide Total
1969	2,430,547	0.189	12,871,615	100.0	N	10.11
1970	2,594,942	0.198	13,128,311	102.0	1.99	10.00
1971	2,757,710	0.206	13,383,693	104.0	1.95	9.94
1972	2,997,414	0.213	14,067,083	109.3	5.11	10.00
1973	3,321,534	0.225	14,791,957	114.9	5.15	10.20
1974	3,613,346	0.248	14,574,057	113.2	-1.47	10.27
1975	3,921,883	0.269	14,601,203	113.4	0.19	10.37
1976	4,257,163	0.283	15,025,458	116.7	2.91	10.46
1977	4,634,541	0.302	15,358,368	119.3	2.22	10.46
1978	5,180,125	0.323	16,049,464	124.7	4.50	10.58
1979	5,784,808	0.351	16,460,769	127.9	2.56	10.62
1980	6,514,305	0.389	16,734,240	130.0	1.66	10.61
1981	7,235,303	0.424	17,058,359	132.5	1.94	10.58
1982	7,806,117	0.448	17,435,655	135.5	2.21	10.41
1983	8,360,681	0.467	17,912,163	139.2	2.73	10.26
1984	9,436,336	0.484	19,480,865	151.3	8.76	10.28
1985	10,192,871	0.501	20,333,688	158.0	4.38	10.27
1986	11,074,413	0.512	21,621,689	168.0	6.33	10.34
1987	12,056,303	0.528	22,833,042	177.4	5.60	10.43
1988	13,238,261	0.549	24,128,791	187.5	5.67	10.37
1989	14,046,909	0.573	24,531,372	190.6	1.67	10.40
1990	14,471,942	0.598	24,210,693	188.1	-1.31	10.40
1991	14,560,932	0.618	23,571,295	183.1	-2.64	10.29
1992	15,161,529	0.634	23,906,542	185.7	1.42	10.22
1993	15,684,134	0.650	24,129,437	187.5	0.93	10.17
1994	16,536,825	0.664	24,921,371	193.6	3.28	10.21
1995	17,329,993	0.678	25,577,815	198.7	2.63	10.10
1996	18,385,845	0.692	26,567,988	206.4	3.87	10.09
1997	19,710,697	0.704	27,995,366	217.5	5.37	10.20
1998	20,880,243	0.710	29,422,468	228.6	5.10	10.16
1999	22,112,088	0.720	30,710,807	238.6	4.38	10.07
2000	24,746,208	0.738	33,521,454	260.4	9.15	10.14
2001	25,458,284	0.753	33,808,244	262.7	0.86	10.02
2002	25,456,196	0.763	33,367,233	259.2	-1.30	10.06
2003	26,437,117	0.779	33,939,863	263.7	1.72	10.25
2004	27,912,290	0.798	34,965,976	271.7	3.02	10.30
2005	28,984,280	0.821	35,292,023	274.2	0.93	10.27
2006	30,816,531	0.844	36,495,181	283.5	3.41	10.16
2007	32,546,317	0.866	37,579,315	292.0	2.97	10.19
2008	34,017,913	0.892	38,149,504	296.4	1.52	10.20
2009	33,556,056	0.889	37,736,931	293.2	-1.08	10.14
2010	34,897,577	0.905	38,554,894	299.5	2.17	10.08
2011	36,717,963	0.928	39,565,065	307.4	2.62	10.11
2012	38,190,892	0.945	40,399,107	313.9	2.11	10.14
2013	38,147,654	0.958	39,827,997	309.4	-1.41	10.06
2014	39,471,768	0.971	40,641,847	315.7	2.04	9.96
2015	41,495,653	0.973	42,647,564	331.3	4.94	9.82
2016	42,870,002	0.983	43,618,495	338.9	2.28	9.77
2017	44,338,618	1.000	44,338,618	344.5	1.65	9.64
2018	46,163,888	1.020	45,237,869	351.5	2.03	9.54
2019	48,446,886	1.035	46,802,707	363.6	3.46	9.54
2020	52,689,154	1.046	50,355,191	391.2	7.59	9.73
2021	55,587,692	1.090	50,997,415	396.2	1.28	9.53
2022	55,942,537	1.160	48,208,455	374.5	-5.47	9.48

1 1969 = 100

2 Implicit Price Deflator for Personal Consumption (2017=1.00).

*Real total personal income determined using the Implicit Price Deflator for
Personal Consumption (2017=1.00).

N Data not available for this year or not meaningful.

Source: Calculations by the Massachusetts Regional Economic Analysis Project (MA-REAP)
with data provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis

November 2023

REAP_PI_CA1400_300_PSN

Interactive Table Tip: To augment your analysis click on the column headers in the following table to rank and/or sort the data.

Massachusetts:
Total Personal Income, 1969-2022


Year	Current Dollars (1000s)	Implicit Price Deflator2	Constant Dollars (1000s)	Index1	Percent Change	Percent of Nationwide Total
1969	24,041,879	0.189	127,320,230	100.0	N	3.04
1970	25,961,402	0.198	131,343,732	103.2	3.16	3.03
1971	27,741,966	0.206	134,637,059	105.7	2.51	3.00
1972	29,977,946	0.213	140,688,690	110.5	4.49	2.95
1973	32,574,071	0.225	145,063,776	113.9	3.11	2.87
1974	35,182,241	0.248	141,903,929	111.5	-2.18	2.83
1975	37,801,838	0.269	140,736,552	110.5	-0.82	2.77
1976	40,688,841	0.283	143,609,364	112.8	2.04	2.72
1977	44,297,892	0.302	146,798,423	115.3	2.22	2.68
1978	48,938,719	0.323	151,625,725	119.1	3.29	2.64
1979	54,486,376	0.351	155,041,903	121.8	2.25	2.63
1980	61,411,923	0.389	157,757,714	123.9	1.75	2.65
1981	68,412,222	0.424	161,292,519	126.7	2.24	2.64
1982	75,002,101	0.448	167,523,846	131.6	3.86	2.70
1983	81,459,378	0.467	174,520,906	137.1	4.18	2.74
1984	91,789,284	0.484	189,494,589	148.8	8.58	2.80
1985	99,275,106	0.501	198,043,221	155.5	4.51	2.83
1986	107,091,781	0.512	209,086,044	164.2	5.58	2.88
1987	115,602,354	0.528	218,935,559	172.0	4.71	2.94
1988	127,633,759	0.549	232,632,387	182.7	6.26	2.99
1989	135,075,580	0.573	235,894,553	185.3	1.40	2.93
1990	139,212,594	0.598	232,894,344	182.9	-1.27	2.84
1991	141,495,403	0.618	229,053,328	179.9	-1.65	2.79
1992	148,383,518	0.634	233,969,596	183.8	2.15	2.74
1993	154,231,900	0.650	237,279,846	186.4	1.41	2.73
1994	162,007,777	0.664	244,149,402	191.8	2.90	2.73
1995	171,515,864	0.678	253,145,001	198.8	3.68	2.73
1996	182,243,752	0.692	263,346,606	206.8	4.03	2.74
1997	193,168,882	0.704	274,360,336	215.5	4.18	2.73
1998	205,509,178	0.710	289,584,142	227.4	5.55	2.71
1999	219,633,348	0.720	305,042,080	239.6	5.34	2.75
2000	244,147,371	0.738	330,724,406	259.8	8.42	2.83
2001	254,058,068	0.753	337,385,552	265.0	2.01	2.83
2002	252,959,517	0.763	331,571,898	260.4	-1.72	2.77
2003	257,917,997	0.779	331,114,074	260.1	-0.14	2.72
2004	270,865,468	0.798	339,315,605	266.5	2.48	2.71
2005	282,138,090	0.821	343,538,775	269.8	1.24	2.68
2006	303,265,438	0.844	359,149,027	282.1	4.54	2.69
2007	319,406,998	0.866	368,800,441	289.7	2.69	2.68
2008	333,450,507	0.892	373,949,206	293.7	1.40	2.68
2009	330,773,419	0.889	371,985,717	292.2	-0.53	2.74
2010	346,269,933	0.905	382,559,530	300.5	2.84	2.76
2011	363,076,328	0.928	391,229,180	307.3	2.27	2.73
2012	376,591,179	0.945	398,365,857	312.9	1.82	2.71
2013	379,250,360	0.958	395,955,732	311.0	-0.61	2.70
2014	396,488,668	0.971	408,241,954	320.6	3.10	2.68
2015	422,547,551	0.973	434,277,383	341.1	6.38	2.73
2016	438,598,480	0.983	446,256,237	350.5	2.76	2.76
2017	459,778,749	1.000	459,778,749	361.1	3.03	2.76
2018	483,954,440	1.020	474,246,612	372.5	3.15	2.76
2019	507,712,735	1.035	490,482,099	385.2	3.42	2.77
2020	541,420,498	1.046	517,437,280	406.4	5.50	2.76
2021	583,363,067	1.090	535,190,564	420.3	3.43	2.73
2022	590,400,289	1.160	508,777,168	399.6	-4.94	2.71

1 1969 = 100

2 Implicit Price Deflator for Personal Consumption (2017=1.00).

*Real total personal income determined using the Implicit Price Deflator for
Personal Consumption (2017=1.00).

N Data not available for this year or not meaningful.

Source: Calculations by the Massachusetts Regional Economic Analysis Project (MA-REAP)
with data provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis

November 2023

REAP_PI_CA1400_300_PSN

Interactive Table Tip: To augment your analysis click on the column headers in the following table to rank and/or sort the data.

United States:
Total Personal Income, 1969-2022


Year	Current Dollars (1000s)	Implicit Price Deflator2	Constant Dollars (1000s)	Index1	Percent Change
1969	791,229,000	0.189	4,190,165,758	100.0	N
1970	855,525,000	0.198	4,328,265,709	103.3	3.30
1971	924,613,000	0.206	4,487,323,465	107.1	3.67
1972	1,016,408,000	0.213	4,770,076,966	113.8	6.30
1973	1,133,468,000	0.225	5,047,731,018	120.5	5.82
1974	1,244,912,000	0.248	5,021,223,733	119.8	-0.53
1975	1,362,505,000	0.269	5,072,617,275	121.1	1.02
1976	1,495,704,000	0.283	5,279,017,400	126.0	4.07
1977	1,651,632,000	0.302	5,473,329,799	130.6	3.68
1978	1,855,849,000	0.323	5,749,934,936	137.2	5.05
1979	2,073,296,000	0.351	5,899,598,782	140.8	2.60
1980	2,313,972,000	0.389	5,944,235,512	141.9	0.76
1981	2,590,995,000	0.424	6,108,676,176	145.8	2.77
1982	2,777,640,000	0.448	6,204,105,336	148.1	1.56
1983	2,969,333,000	0.467	6,361,584,112	151.8	2.54
1984	3,275,415,000	0.484	6,761,937,695	161.4	6.29
1985	3,508,482,000	0.501	6,999,046,441	167.0	3.51
1986	3,717,756,000	0.512	7,258,548,586	173.2	3.71
1987	3,931,800,000	0.528	7,446,308,852	177.7	2.59
1988	4,264,433,000	0.549	7,772,592,728	185.5	4.38
1989	4,605,107,000	0.573	8,042,309,775	191.9	3.47
1990	4,897,332,000	0.598	8,192,943,538	195.5	1.87
1991	5,072,291,000	0.618	8,211,045,100	196.0	0.22
1992	5,406,546,000	0.634	8,524,985,809	203.5	3.82
1993	5,643,648,000	0.650	8,682,535,385	207.2	1.85
1994	5,933,938,000	0.664	8,942,579,420	213.4	3.00
1995	6,278,125,000	0.678	9,266,058,093	221.1	3.62
1996	6,660,854,000	0.692	9,625,094,288	229.7	3.87
1997	7,068,422,000	0.704	10,039,373,926	239.6	4.30
1998	7,584,003,000	0.710	10,686,661,406	255.0	6.45
1999	7,978,449,000	0.720	11,081,025,264	264.5	3.69
2000	8,620,234,000	0.738	11,677,052,911	278.7	5.38
2001	8,990,104,000	0.753	11,938,732,039	284.9	2.24
2002	9,146,700,000	0.763	11,989,225,466	286.1	0.42
2003	9,474,684,000	0.779	12,163,560,736	290.3	1.45
2004	10,008,929,000	0.798	12,538,275,270	299.2	3.08
2005	10,540,800,000	0.821	12,834,755,927	306.3	2.36
2006	11,291,446,000	0.844	13,372,153,008	319.1	4.19
2007	11,925,044,000	0.866	13,769,145,681	328.6	2.97
2008	12,423,410,000	0.892	13,932,275,429	332.5	1.18
2009	12,058,253,000	0.889	13,560,635,845	323.6	-2.67
2010	12,547,501,000	0.905	13,862,497,514	330.8	2.23
2011	13,299,818,000	0.928	14,331,082,712	342.0	3.38
2012	13,905,749,000	0.945	14,709,785,897	351.1	2.64
2013	14,063,283,000	0.958	14,682,748,144	350.4	-0.18
2014	14,778,160,000	0.971	15,216,235,418	363.1	3.63
2015	15,467,113,000	0.973	15,896,476,839	379.4	4.47
2016	15,884,741,000	0.983	16,162,082,333	385.7	1.67
2017	16,658,962,000	1.000	16,658,962,000	397.6	3.07
2018	17,514,402,000	1.020	17,163,073,878	409.6	3.03
2019	18,343,601,000	1.035	17,721,060,157	422.9	3.25
2020	19,609,985,000	1.046	18,741,324,605	447.3	5.76
2021	21,392,812,000	1.090	19,626,252,970	468.4	4.72
2022	21,820,248,000	1.160	18,803,588,325	448.8	-4.19

1 1969 = 100

2 Implicit Price Deflator for Personal Consumption (2017=1.00).

*Real total personal income determined using the Implicit Price Deflator for
Personal Consumption (2017=1.00).

N Data not available for this year or not meaningful.

Source: Calculations by the Massachusetts Regional Economic Analysis Project (MA-REAP)
with data provided by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis

November 2023

REAP_PI_CA1400_300_PN

Outline of Analysis

Download, Print or Share

Please stay tuned...
while your request is processing:

Outline of Analysis

Download, Print or Share

Please stay tuned...while your request is processing:

Please stay tuned...
while your request is processing: