South Coast Local Area Personal Income
May 04, 2026New figures published from the Bureau of Economic Analysis show healthy gains in Oregon and South Coast per capita personal income (PCPI) between 2023 and 2024. PCPI is just one of the figures recently released in the State and Local Area Personal Income series available now for 2024.
PCPI is one of the most often cited figures to measure an area’s overall economic health and prosperity. But there are a few factors that make this an imperfect yardstick to compare local areas and economies. Since the data use total income – earnings from work; personal current transfer receipts; and dividends, interest, and rent – and divide that by total population, areas with a higher concentration of older residents can show lower PCPI. The reason is that as people leave the labor force, they have likely passed their peak earning years and therefore have less contribution to the net earnings component of income. Remember PCPI represents income, rather than wealth. Older residents may have substantial wealth, but not have as much relative income, and this wealth would not be captured in PCPI figures, unless it was income-generating investments that would show up in the “dividends, interest, and rent” portion of PCPI. Just as we’ve seen corporate profits rising much faster than average U.S. worker wages, faster growth in overall economic output doesn’t necessarily mean equally fast growth in per capita personal income – especially looking at wage and salary components.
Another limitation of comparing local economies using PCPI is that there is no accounting for the differences in cost-of-living among local areas. Places with lower cost of living and lower PCPI can be relatively as well-off as areas with higher cost of living and higher PCPI. Knowing the limitations of the data can help you understand how to view the figures in a clearer context.
In 2024, Coos County’s PCPI was $62,682 which was an increase of 6.5% from 2023 and was the 955th highest PCPI among 3,115 U.S. counties. Curry County’s PCPI was $61,282 in 2024, up by 7.5% over the year. Curry County had the 1,052nd highest PCPI among U.S. counties in 2024. The South Coast’s PCPI increase was slightly stronger than growth for Oregon statewide (5.0%) and the U.S. increase (4.6%). Coos County’s PCPI was 88.5% of the statewide PCPI and 85.6% of the U.S. average PCPI. Curry County’s PCPI was 86.5% of the state average and 83.7% of the U.S. PCPI figure in 2024.
Per capita personal current transfer receipts made up about 18.3% of U.S. personal income, 37.0% in Coos County, and 38.9% in Curry County. About 93% of the South Coast’s personal current transfer receipts were from “retirement and other income,” reflecting our slightly older population with more retirees than the state overall. Both Coos County ($21,555) and Curry County ($22,648) had higher per capita retirement and other income than Oregon ($13,762). Coos County ($1,428) and Curry County ($1,160) also had greater per capita “income maintenance” than the Oregon average ($978). Those consist largely of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments; Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC); family assistance; general assistance; expenditures for food under the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); and other assistance benefits.
Dividends, interest, and rent income accounted for about 17.7% of Coos’ personal income in 2024, just slightly less than the share for Oregon and the U.S, both at 21.0%. Dividends, interest, and rent accounted for 23.8% of Curry County personal income. Since the late 1960’s, Coos County’s PCPI gap with Oregon has ranged between -7.3% in the late 1970’s to a maximum of nearly -22% lower than the statewide in the year 2000. In 2024, the gap between Coos and Oregon’s PCPI was $8,653 or -13.6% below Oregon’s PCPI figure. Curry County’s PCPI was roughly parallel to Coos over the years, with Coos County’s income just slightly greater than Curry’s since 2013. In 2024, Curry County’s PCPI was $11,226 below the statewide figure, or -17.6% lower.
There are many other data and statistics available from the State and Local Personal Income series published by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. For more information, visit the website to explore interactive tables, maps, and other data.