Income

Definition

Personal income per capita (in 2021 dollars)

Why is it Important?

Personal income per capita is an important measure of the local economy.¹ Increases in personal income allow St. Louis area residents to live a higher quality of life and increases circulation of money in the local economy.

How are we Doing?

Personal income increased from the baseline year 2010 to 2021 by $11,650 per capita. This is a 21.9 percent increase. The average income growth for the country as a whole was larger, $13,588, or 26.9 percent.

For 2021, this income per capita was the 27th highest among the 50 most populous metropolitan areas. St. Louis is just above the personal income per capita for the United States as a whole ($64,143). This follows a long-term trend of the region’s income levels being about average for the United States. On change in income per capita from 2010 to 2021, the region does not rank as well among the peer regions, ranking 36th. Income per capita for the United States increased 26.9 percent over this time period, compared to 21.9 percent for the St. Louis MSA. Over a longer time period, 2001 to 2021, the region had a slightly slower average annual change in per capita income compared to the nation as a whole, 1.5 percent and 1.6 percent, respectively. 

 

Geographic Level

St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). View map.

Notes

¹BEA personal income includes income received by all persons from all sources, including wages, benefits, rental income, and transfer payments, and is based primarily on administrative data sources. 

Data Sources

Bureau of Economic Analysis