Is it just a lucky streak or has Montana's economy turned an important corner? New figures published recently by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis show Montanans' personal income climbed 5.8 percent last year. Income grew faster in only eight other states.
It's the third year in a row that Montana ranked among the top 10 states for income growth.
In 2006, personal income in Montana averaged $30,688 for every man, woman and child. That's only 85 percent of the national average ($36,276), which is lower than the average income in 41 other states.
Yet after lagging the nation in average income and annual growth of income for much of the past generation, we all should be able to agree the recent trend is positive. The state's gaining ground. We may not be keeping up with the Joneses, so to speak, but we're not falling further behind.
The importance of these income comparisons among the states is debatable. You might attain a higher income by moving elsewhere, but would it be enough to make you happy in your new state? Lower wages and incomes in Montana aren't an accident. The fact is many people are willing to accept less as a trade-off for living here.
On the flip side, average income can be a deceiving statistic. With Montana's relatively small population (about 940,000), it wouldn't take that many fabulously wealthy people moving here to raise the average, yet most of us wouldn't notice the difference.
The real measure of prosperity is at the personal level. If your income is high enough to provide you and your family with a good quality of life, then you're doing OK, no matter how it compares with the average income in Connecticut or Texas. If you don't have enough income to make ends meet, then averages and comparisons are irrelevant. Growth of income, too, is useful mostly in relation to the cost of living. If your income rises faster than your expenses, you're making progress.
The national rankings prepared by the Bureau of Economic Analysis make for interesting economic trivia, but perhaps more important than Montana's ranking is the fact that unemployment (2.5 percent in February) has never been lower, the economy has never been more diverse, average incomes are rising well above the rate of inflation and the population continues to grow.
Montana is moving on a good track. The favorable trend extends beyond a mere blip. But like many evolutionary changes in society, gauging the extent and significance of the economic changes under way in Montana will require more time - enough to gain the full benefit of every economist's and commentator's greatest tool: hindsight.
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