Per Capita Personal Income in Linn and Benton Counties
October 02, 2025The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) recently released new estimates of per capita personal income (PCPI) by county. Personal income data is not among the most current economic indicators – the “new” county estimates are for 2023. Despite the time lag in producing personal income data, they are still valuable for evaluating a county’s economic health.
Personal income data includes wage and salary income, but it also includes other sources of income. One other source of income is transfer payments from the government. Transfer payments include social security income, food stamps, Medicare and Medicaid, welfare income, and student grants and loans received from the government. Personal income also includes interest, dividends, and capital gains that people receive. Farm income is another component captured in personal income data.
Benton County’s ($60,307) per capita income level in 2023 exceeded Linn County but lags behind Oregon and the U.S. Linn County’s ($57,016) per capita income level was significantly less than both the state and the nation.
Both counties and Oregon all had a gain in PCPI from 2022 to 2023. Benton County’s PCPI grew 7.2%, faster than Oregon and the U.S. Linn County’s PCPI expanded 5.3%, slightly slower than Oregon’s growth of 5.8% and the U.S. growth of 5.4%.
Looking at the annual average percent change from 2001 to 2023, Benton County’s 3.2% per capita personal income growth was slower than Linn County’s 3.9% growth. Linn County was similar to Oregon’s 4.0% growth and the nation (3.7%).
In 2023 Oregon’s PCPI was 97.2% of the U.S. PCPI. Linn County’s PCPI was 81.7% of the U.S. PCPI in 2023 and Benton County’s was 86.4%.
