Audio By Carbonatix
Keep Phoenix New Times Free
We’re aiming to raise $10,000 by April 26. Your support ensures New Times can continue watching out for you and our community. No paywall. Always accessible. Daily online and weekly in print.
Arizona apparently deserves its reputatation as a mecca for low-paying jobs, ranking 40th in an economic analysis among states for per-capita income.
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reports, according to the Biz Journal this morning, that the average income for state residents if $34,999 — “well below the national average of $40,584.”
It could always be worse. Thankfully, the deep south and other western states keep Arizona from settling to the bottom. Advancing a smidgen up the ladder since 2009, we beat out the likes of Indiana, Kentucky and — at No. 50 — the Third World state of Mississippi.
We should strive to do better. A neat comparison of state economies in a January Economist piece shows that Arizona’s country-equivalent, going by gross domestic product and other factors, is Thailand.
While it’s astounding to think Arizona as a whole is as rich as a country with ten times the population, it’s all relative. California, (12th on the per-capita list despite its budget problems) matches with Italy in the Economist comparison.
Yeah, we’d trade a rice bowl for a meaty panini.
