Sioux City Journal
05-18-07
DES MOINES -- The Sioux City area had the lowest per-capita income of the
state's nine metropolitan areas in 2005, according to newly released federal
estimates.
The area, which includes portions of Nebraska and South Dakota, had a percapita income of $29,392. In addition to being the lowest, the region's per-capita
income is also one of the slowest growing, up just 13.2 percent since 2000. Only
the Cedar Rapids area had slower growth.
Sioux City has been at the bottom since 2002 when it was passed by Waterloo
and Dubuque.
The local-area income figures were released by the Iowa State Data Center,
compiled from a nationwide study released three weeks ago by the U.S. Bureau
of Economic Analysis.
"I'm really not surprised. We've had a difficult time getting industry to locate in
western Iowa," said Rep. Clarence Hoffman, R-Denison.
The figures are not adjusted for inflation, so the percentage growth doesn't
translate directly into a change in buying power. When inflation is taken into
account, Sioux City's per-capita income is virtually unchanged since 2000.
Iowa State University economist Dan Otto says per-capita income is one of
the best gauges of a region's economic health.
"I think it's a better indicator than just focusing on jobs. It's a measure of the
quality of jobs and well-being of citizens in an area," he said.
Iowa has nine metropolitan areas, which are regions with at least 50,000
residents in the core urban area. The state also has 15 so-called micropolitan
areas, which are regions with a core of more than 10,000, but less than 50,000.
Three of the micropolitan areas are in Northwest Iowa: Spencer, Spirit Lake and
Storm Lake.
The Storm Lake region, with a per-capita income of $26,898, is the lowest of all
the micropolitan and metropolitan areas and one of two in the entire state that
declined in per-capita income between 2004 and 2005.
The other region with a year-to-year decline was Spirit Lake, though that region
is in a different world economically, with the highest per-capita income of
micopolitan areas, $33,970.
Spencer is the middle of the pack with $29,970.
Hoffman, one of the top legislators on economic development issues, says he
hopes that the growth of the ethanol industry will improve incomes in western
Iowa. He says most of the growth is too recent to show up in 2005 numbers.
He said he also sees some problems in the area that won't be solved easily, such
as the lack of a Regents university and a tax system that is less business friendly
than South Dakota's.
Dan Gearino can be reached at 515-243-0138 and dan.gearino@lee.net.