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As it is in many U.S. states, income in Idaho is on an upward trend. Idaho lost ground in per capita personal income from 2009-2011 as it recovered from the Great Recession. But what’s also growing is the gap between personal income in Idaho and in the national as a whole.Data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis show Idahoans earned less in 2012 than residents of almost every other state in the country.A closer look at hourly wages reveals half of Idaho’s workforce earned $14.58 an hour or less in 2012. The hourly wage in Idaho, on average, is $18.48.Idaho also had a larger share of hourly workers earning minimum wage in 2012 than ever before. The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates 31,000 Idahoans made $7.25 an hour or less in 2012. That’s a 63 percent increase from 2011.

Idaho’s Income Gap Continues To Grow

On Wednesday, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis will release personal income data for 2012. In anticipation of that release, StateImpact Idaho pulled together personal income data going back to 1990 and compared it with the U.S. average. The data show a widening gap between Idaho and the country as a whole.

As recently as 2006, Idaho’s personal income was 83.4 percent of the U.S. average. Last year, it was just 79.1 percent of the national average. While the trend lines look similar for Idaho and the nation, you’ll notice personal income in Idaho hasn’t recovered the ground it lost during the recession. Click here to continue reading...

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