Including employer contributions to retirement funds such as 401(k) accounts, health insurance and other programs the average worker received 2006 compensation of $47,876. When everyone who didn’t work is counted, from infants to senior citizens, the $13.5 billion in per capita income for the year averaged $32,970 for each Clark County resident.

Across the country, per person income ranged from $110,292 in New York City to $9,140 in Loup County, Neb.

The bureau’s snapshot of income sources gives an overview of how Clark County compares to the rest of the region and which industries have the largest payrolls. But the figures also take more than a year to compile, and therefore do not reflect the loss of 400 construction jobs in the county over the past 12 months, the recent uptick in the unemployment rate, and other changes since the start of 2007.

Us versus them

Although average pay in Clark County has consistently lagged the larger metro area, wages grew faster here, about 3.5 percent per year from 2002 through 2006, compared with 3.2 percent per year for the area as a whole.

Beyond the metro area, Clark County’s $38,840 average wage is behind the state ($43,727) and the nation ($41,991), but ahead of Oregon ($37,251) and our neighbors to the north in Cowlitz County ($35,696).

Compared to some regions of the country, income changes in the Northwest were rather sedate.

In St. Bernard Parish, La., personal income grew 648 percent from 2005 to 2006, as the area began to recover from Hurricane Katrina’s devastation. In Slope County, N.D., incomes fell 43 percent, making it one of 222 counties where incomes dropped because of farming declines.

Largest payrolls

The largest source of income in the county is the government. Add federal, state and local agencies to military pay, and government-­related employers in Clark County paid $1.3 billion in 2006, up 34.3 percent over five years. With 24,041 people working government jobs that year, pay averaged about $53,800.

In the private sector, manufacturing was the biggest source of Clark County income even though payrolls declined 16.4 percent over five years. Payrolls were $871 million in 2006, or an average of $62,560 for the 13,924 industrial workers.

Health care payrolls climbed 60 percent over the same period to $795 million, an average of $40,130 per year for 19,820 workers.

Not just wages

All told, Clark County personal income totaled $13.5 billion before taxes in 2006, with about 68.8 percent of that total coming in the form of traditional paychecks.
Dividends, interest and rent were the next biggest source of income, accounting for 17.5 percent of the total, followed by retirement funds, at 12 percent.

Unemployment benefits and ­public assistance programs such as welfare and food stamps made up under 2 percent of Clark County’s income.

Courtney Sherwood writes about business and the economy. Reach her at 360-735-4553 or courtney.sherwood@columbian.com.