S.L. topped Utah with 7% growth rate in '07

Salt Lake City, Logan and Provo-Orem saw per-capita personal income rise in 2007 at a greater rate than in 2006, while growth slowed in Ogden-Clearfield and St. George.

Estimates for the nation's metro areas in 2007, released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis, showed Salt Lake had the largest growth in Utah, at 7 percent, compared with a 5 percent rate in 2006. Provo-Orem's growth in 2007 was 6.9 percent, outpacing 2006's growth rate of 5 percent.

Logan saw per-capita growth of 6.6 percent, up from 3.5 percent a year earlier.

Nationally, per-capita income in metro areas was $40,536 — up 5.1 percent, compared with 5.7 percent in 2006.

In Utah, slowdowns could be seen in Ogden-Clearfield, where personal income grew 4.6 percent, compared with 5.3 percent in 2006; and St. George, with 2.9 percent growth that slipped from 3.8 percent in 2006.

Utah's relatively large families once again kept most of the state's metro areas ranked low compared to other parts of the country. While Salt Lake City's $37,620 in per-capita income put it 89th among the 363 areas, Ogden-Clearfield's $31,017 was ranked 241st; St. George's $24,951 was 352nd; Logan's $24,170 was 355th; and Provo-Orem's $23,720 was 359th.

Topping the per-capita income rankings was the Bridgeport, Stamford and Norwalk area of Connecticut, at $80,192. The smallest per-capita income was $18,320 in the McAllen, Edinburg and Mission area of Texas.

Overall personal income in the Utah areas was $41.4 billion in Salt Lake City, up 9.2 percent in 2007, compared with 7.9 percent in 2006; $16 billion in Ogden-Clearfield, up 7.6 percent, compared with 7.9 percent in 2006; $11.7 billion in Provo-Orem, up 9.7 percent compared with 8.9 percent in 2006; $3.3 billion in St. George, up 8.1 percent, slipping from 10.9 percent in 2006; and $2.9 billion in Logan, up 9 percent, outpacing 2006's growth rate of 4.9 percent.

Nationally, overall personal-income growth was 6.2 percent in 2007, down from 6.8 percent in 2006. The growth rate slowed in 208 areas, increased in 144 and was unchanged in 11.

The three areas with the fastest growth in personal income were in Mississippi and Louisiana, and they were helped by federal payments to rebuild homes destroyed or damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Five of the next 10 fastest-growing areas were boosted by activity in the oil and gas extraction industry.

The 20 slowest-growing areas were all in the Great Lakes region.

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E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com

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