The most recent personal income data available for comparisons at the time of this document were from 2008—the first full year of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression in its length, depth, and breadth.
In 2008, according to BEA, per capita personal income (PCPI) in the SEAGO region was nearly 25 percent below the national level; however, it was only 1.2 percent below the U.S. nonmetropolitan level and was higher than the Arizona nonmetropolitan level.
Part of the reason for the generally favorable comparison to U.S. and statewide nonmetropolitan areas is that, although the SEAGO region does not currently include a metropolitan area, Cochise County is on the cusp of becoming a metropolitan area.
The county‘s largest city is Sierra Vista, with a population of 46,597 as of mid-2009, according to ADOC estimates. According to ADOC projections, Sierra Vista‘s population will soon reach 50,000. When that occurs, Cochise County will transition from the Sierra Vista-Douglas Micropolitan Statistical Area to the Sierra Vista Metropolitan Statistical Area.
In 2006, ADOC projected Sierra Vista‘s population would reach 50,000 in 2009; however, subsequent slowed population growth as a result of the national recession has delayed the transition. Because Cochise County is on the verge of becoming a metropolitan area, it shares economic characteristics of both metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas.
Since Cochise County accounts for nearly 60 percent of the SEAGO region‘s population, the regional economic picture is heavily influenced by it.
To a lesser extent, higher PCPI in Greenlee County also contributes to a favorable comparison to U.S. nonmetropolitan areas. Greenlee County has a higher PCPI than Cochise County; however, due to the county‘s smaller population (only 3.7 percent of the SEAGO regional population) it has a lesser impact on regional PCPI.
Moreover, from September 2007 through September 2010, Greenlee County lost 1,350 goods-producing jobs, most of which were in mining—the county‘s largest industry. The full effect of these job losses on PCPI is not yet reflected in the PCPI data, which were current only through 2008 as this document was being prepared.
Graham County has the lowest PCPI in the SEAGO region at just 62.3 percent of the U.S. level and 80.5 percent of the U.S. nonmetropolitan level, according to BEA figures. Santa Cruz County has the second-lowest PCPI at 65.9 percent of U.S. PCPI and 85.1 percent of the U.S. nonmetropolitan PCPI.
Although PCPI in the SEAGO region is lower than nationwide, the region experienced significant catch-up growth from 2000 to 2008, according to BEA figures. While U.S. PCPI grew by 32.5 percent from 2000 to 2008, with U.S. nonmetropolitan PCPI growth ahead of that at 38.4 percent, the overall SEAGO region saw PCPI increase by 64.3 percent—nearly twice the national rate of growth.
Greenlee County saw the largest gain in PCPI in the SEAGO region at 80.6 percent, while Santa Cruz County saw the slowest rate of growth at 52.1 percent — still 60 percent greater than the U.S. level. Much of the PCPI growth in the SEAGO region followed trends at the state level for nonmetropolitan areas.
While Arizona‘s statewide PCPI grew at a slightly slower rate than the U.S. and U.S. nonmetropolitan rates, the state‘s nonmetropolitan PCPI grew at nearly twice the rate of the overall statewide PCPI growth (metropolitan and nonmetropolitan combined).
PCPI in the SEAGO region grew ahead of the statewide nonmetropolitan rate; PCPI in each county within the region also grew at a faster rate except Santa Cruz County, which grew 14.4 percent slower, according to BEA figures.
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