Louisiana workers took home bigger paychecks in 2017, as per capita personal income rose 2.9% year-over-year, according to a new Governing magazine analysis of data released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
The rise is in per capita personal income can be attributed to the economic rebound the state has made since 2016, Governing reports. Nationally, per capita, personal income increased 2.4% between 2016 and 2017, with Western states leading the nation. The largest per capita increase—3.5%—was seen in California, due to minimum wage hike at the state and municipal level.
Personal income is made up of three components: net earnings, property income and transfer receipts such as government assistance like Medicare, Social Security and retirement benefits from private employers.
Net earnings in Louisiana grew by 1% while property income rose 2.7%. Louisiana experienced the largest gain—8.3%—in transfer receipts of any other state by far. The state’s Medicaid transfers alone rose $2.4 billion after it expanded coverage in 2016, Governing reports.
