As inflation affects prices across industries, a new report puts Jefferson City and surrounding counties at the top of the list of Missouri metro areas whose income levels struggle to keep pace.
The Jefferson City metropolitan statistical area -- which includes Callaway County and is designated as a small metro with a population of 100,000-349,999 residents -- ranked 42 out of 355 total U.S. metros based on the percentage change in per capita income between 2010-20. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis shows a 15.8 percent increase in per capita income (the average income earned per person in a given area in a year) during that period, rising to $54,018.
The national rate outpaced the Capital City by around 10 points with a 25.9 percent increase, rising by $12,244 to settle at $59,515 in 2020, according to the report compiled by business service site LLC.org.
The rest of Missouri's metros also saw far greater income hikes in terms of percentages. St. Joseph and Columbia's per capita income increased by 20.3 percent, ranking them at 98 with an $8,204 increase to $48,584 and 102 with an increase of $9,251 to $54,758 by 2020, respectively.
Joplin rounded out the state's mid-sized metros at rank 141 after its per capita income rose to $48,491, an increase of $8,769 and 22.2 percent.
Kansas City, labeled a large metro -- those with populations exceeding a million -- fared slightly better in terms of percentages with a 22.4 percent increase in per capita income over the decade, increasing by $11,249 to $61,555. The area came in at No. 150.
The Springfield area ranked 161 with a 22.8 percent increase and a per capita income of $49,750 by 2020, a $9,231 increase. St. Louis rounded out the state's metros at rank 209 after a 24.8 percent increase, its 2020 per capita income of $63,832 an increase of $12,691 compared to the year before.
Missouri as a whole ranked No. 20 among the rest of the U.S., posting a 21.4 percent and $9,898 increase that put its per capita income at $56,067.
While Missouri's metros were around the middle of the pack, other communities across the country reached higher highs -- and much lower lows.
The San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara area of California saw a massive increase in per capita income over the course of the decade, leaping up by 74.5 percent. Average income shot up to $108,914, a $46,504 increase. The area outpaced the Promo-Orem region of Utah, the second-bottom in the ranking, by more than 19 points.
Jacksonville, North Carolina -- another small metro -- was the top rank on the list with a per capita decrease of 5 percent as income decreased by $2,513 to $47,712. It was the only metro included on the list to experience a decrease. Top-ranked Alaska saw a 10.9 percent per capita increase, while Utah saw the largest increase at 43.1 percent.
The report notes this data is from 2020, before the current run of high inflation amid the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain issues took hold. The Consumer Price Index (CPI), a measure of the average change in prices for goods and services, has shown year-to-year increases of more than 5 percent every month since last May; the peak was in March as increases hit 8.5 percent.
"The U.S. economy is now a full year into a historic run of inflation," the report reads. "While the Federal Reserve has begun to raise interest rates to cool the economy, supply chain challenges and strong consumer demand throughout the pandemic have sent inflation to its highest levels in four decades. While countless headlines over the last year have invoked widespread concerns about inflation, not every household experiences rising prices in the same way."
Even before this high inflation run, wage increases just narrowly beat price increases on the national level for much of the decade. The latest data for 2022, however, shows average hourly earnings increasing by slightly more than 5 percent compared to the previous year, while the CPI has leaped from a near-zero increase in 2020 to more than 8 percent so far this year.
That inflation also affects elements of daily life for consumers, such as rent. Another recent report, however, noted the Jefferson City area sat nearly $100 below the national average in terms of rent increases over the past three years.