Spokane’s economy in two charts
November 1, 2010 4 Comments
How might I represent the local economic situation in just one or two charts?
The chart I made previously comparing Spokane per capita income as a percent of the State and the U.S. per capita income, over time is perhaps the definitive chart. The long term trend in income is a huge indicator.
Another chart I previously made dug deeper in to the decline in the ratio and looked at the income growth rate compared to the state. This chart highlights that the income growth rate is approximately twice as fast as in Spokane County. (The spike in 2009 is due to lower paid workers being laid off their jobs, raising the average wage. Also, the government was caught by Bloomberg News using inflated national wage data for 2009.)
The long term decline in income is a symptom, not the cause. A host of related issues are associated with the long term decline including poverty rates, health, education, worker productivity, crime and the desirability of the area as a place to live and work.
To me, these two charts are the definitive charts – and the two scariest charts on this web site (I guess this is my Halloween post – its scary!)
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