Incomes grew faster in rural Colorado than they did in the state’s metro areas during 2005, according to numbers released by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Per-capita personal income in Colorado grew 4.7 percent in 2005 from 2004 to $37,510.
Incomes rose 5.6 percent in rural areas of the state to $30,141 versus a 4.6 percent growth rate to $38,713 in metro areas.
Four counties enjoyed growth rates in per-capita personal incomes above 10 percent – Crowley, Jackson, Cheyenne and Rio Blanco.
All four areas are mostly rural counties with income levels below the state average.
At the other extreme, four rural counties with below-average incomes saw per-capita personal incomes fall during 2005: Mineral, down 0.2 percent; Yuma, down 1 percent; Custer, down 1.4 percent; and Lincoln, down 1.6 percent.
Drought damage to farm crops took a bite out of county incomes in 2005, said Patricia Vice, executive director of Lincoln County Economic Development in Limon.
Incomes in the county are about where they were in 2000, when the last census was taken, she said.
Lincoln County is expanding its role as a trucking and railroad hub and trying to lure small manufacturers looking for ample land and access to Denver International Airport, which is about an hour’s drive away.
Among the state’s more populated counties, Boulder and El Paso enjoyed the largest increases in personal incomes in 2005. Those with the smallest gains included Pueblo, Broomfield and Weld counties.
Per-capita personal income represents income from wages, dividends, rents, capital gains, government payments and other sources divided by population.
Pitkin County, home of Aspen, had the highest per-capita personal income by far – $77,970. At the other extreme was nearby Saguache County, with a per-capita personal income of $17,999 in 2005.
Although rural areas showed more income momentum in 2005, the total dollars they generated remains a fraction of the state’s more developed counties.
Of the $174.9 billion in personal income reported in 2005 in Colorado, $155.2 billion of it was in metropolitan areas and less than $20 billion in the vast stretches of rural Colorado.
Staff writer Aldo Svaldi can be reached at 303-954-1410 or asvaldi@denverpost.com.
