Abstract
Per capita incomes may differ from 1 region of the US to another, not only because of changes in earnings rates, but also because of the change in the proportion of the population at work or because of differing level of transfers and property income. The relative income gains of low income regions, such as the South and the Mountain region, are partly accounted for by rising employment ratios, while the Mid-Atlantic states lost substantial ground (relatively) because the proportion of the population at work did not keep pace with that elsewhere. The regional pattern of the income components of per capita transfers, dividends, interest, and rent is found to follow that of earned income. The effect of changes in relative transfer payments per capita is magnified by the national expansion in the importance of transfer payments. The South, which benefited in the 60s and 70s from rapid investment, fared relatively well in the last decade's recessions, while in the Northeast, Great Lakes, and Pacific states, relative earnings fell.