According to Slate’s Matthew Yglesias:
Texas’ rapid economic growth has been largely a question of rapid population growth–it’s warm, it’s close to Mexico, and it has a very permissive building-permit regime, so lots of people have been moving there–but the Bureau of Economic Analysis’ new data release on personal income growth in 2011 shows a great year for Texas across the board.
Personal income grew in every metropolitan statistical area in America, but Texas was a star performer. Its biggest MSA, the Dallas-Fort Worth area, was in the top quintile of all American metro areas. So was Houston. So was San Antonio. So was Austin. So was El Paso. That’s five out of the state’s top five metro areas, and you can throw in Corpus Christie [sic] and some of the small West Texas cities for good measure.
Yes, that’s true, but the Bureau’s report also shows that the worst performing county in the United States – at -28.8 percent personal income growth – is Texas’ Lynn County, south of Lubbock. Not sure if that’s entirely related to the fact that it’s a dry county, but that’s where my money sits.
Odessa and Midland – 90 miles southwest of Lynn County – had the highest MSA growth, at 14.8 percent and 14.8 percent, respectively.
