Montgomery, AL – Economic gains in the last 15 years in Alabama have helped narrow the state's income gap when compared to the national average.
Federal statistics show Alabama's personal per capita income held at around 79 percent of the national average until the late 1990s, when the gap began closing.
In 2001, the state's per-capita income was $24,740, or 81 percent of the national average. In 2006, per capita income was $30,894, or 84 percent of the nation's average of $36,714, according to the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.
Sam Addy, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Alabama, says income of 84 percent of the national average is nearly the highest in state history.
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