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Show Per Capita Personal Income Usually, Utah has a lower per capita income than that of the nation, which could suggest that Utah's population would be less healthy when compared to the nation. However, a number of health indicators demonstrate that Utah ranks favorably above the national average. Thus, in Utah, the relationship between socioeconomic status and good health runs contray to what might be expected. This is because per capita income is calculated by dividing the total personal income by the total population. Utah has a younger population which leads to fewer people in the work force, which reduces per capita income. As an example, in 1990, only 56% of Utahns were in the working age population. Almost 37% of the Utah population were below the age of 17 years and 9% older than 65. Many of the children and elderly within this classification did not receive an income but are included in the total population measurement. Since 1978, the gap between Utah and national income levels has increased. The difference was the greatest in 1989 when Utah's per capita personal income was only 73% of the national average. Subsequently, the margin of difference has narrowed and has just recently risen to the 80% level. Figure 8 Table 9. Per Capita Personal Income Utah as Year Utah U.S. %of U.S. 1969 $3,053 $3,840 79.5 1970 3,327 4,077 81.6 1971 3,582 4,327 82.8 1972 3,906 4,699 83.1 1973 4,248 5,211 81.5 1974 4,651 5,676 81.9 1975 5,022 6,100 82.3 1976 5,556 6,690 83.0 1977 6,088 7,334 83.0 1978 6,764 8,196 82.5 1979 7,431 9,118 81.5 1980 8,019 10,062 79.7 1981 8,790 11,114 78.9 1982 9,190 11,729 78.4 1983 9,597 12,384 77.5 1984 10,436 13,588 76.8 1985 11,137 14,448 76.4 1986 11,424 15,185 75.2 1987 11,886 15,990 74.3 1988 12,461 17,062 73.0 1989 13,224 18,172 72.9 1990 14,230 19,191 74.1 1991 14,919 19,689 75.8 1992 15,672 20,631 76.0 1993 16,547 21,365 77.4 1994 17,371 22,180 78.3 1995 18,468 23,348 79.1 1996 19,595 24,426 80.2 1997 20,739 25,611 81.0 Table 9. Source: 1969-1997: Economic Report to the Governor (1998). p.89 Per Capita Personal Income 1969 1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 1997 74 |