What's Under the Performance Hood

The analysis of rural counties in this fedgazette issue centers on two variables that policymakers and other community leaders often point to as measures of health: population growth and per capita income growth.

Data on these two variables were gathered from the 1990 and 2000 censuses for the 274 counties that were not located within a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) in 1990. (MSA designation is given to a growth area around and including large cities of 50,000, or any urbanized area with a total population of more than 100,000). The exclusion of MSA counties was done to measure and compare rural, or non-MSA, against themselves.

In each category, rural counties were then rank ordered based on the rate of change (rather than nominal levels) during the 1990s. For example, a county that saw its per capita income rise 50 percent to $20,000 was ranked higher—because of the improvement—than a county whose per capita income rose 25 percent to $30,000. As such, this ordering emphasizes positive change more than comparative well-being. This approach also mitigates the different wage scales in district states, an important point when comparing per capita income.

Counties that were ranked in either to top or bottom 30 percent in both categories were than tagged for further analysis in an effort to find some factors or traits common to each group. See the entire county data set spreadsheet, including all population and income figures.

Rural Counties in Top 30 Percent
in Both Population and
Per Capita Personal Income

(Based on Percent Change 1990—2000)

County	State	Population Percent Change	Per Capita Personal Income Percent Change
Mackinac	MI	11.9	59.3
Beltrami	MN	15.3	60.5
Carlton	MN	8.2	60.5
Douglas	MN	14.5	64.9
Goodhue	MN	8.4	59.8
Le Sueur	MN	9.4	62.9
Stillwater	MT	25.4	70.5
Brookings	SD	12.0	72.4
Butte	SD	14.9	59.5
Codington	SD	14.1	62.1
Dewey	SD	8.1	65.9
Shannon	SD	25.9	77.0
Stanley	SD	13.0	79.1
Todd	SD	8.4	74.9
Union	SD	23.5	107.9
Dunn	WI	11.0	59.6
Florence	WI	10.8	66.1
Forest	WI	14.2	63.3
Pierce	WI	12.3	64.6
Sawyer	WI	14.2	71.6
Vilas	WI	18.8	64.0

Rural Counties in Bottom 30 Percent
in Both Population and
Per Capita Personal Income

(Based on Percent Change 1990—2000)

County	State	Population Percent Change	Per Capita Personal Income Percent Change
Kittson	MN	-8.4	41.9
Lincoln	MN	-6.7	45.8
Norman	MN	-6.7	45.5
Traverse	MN	-7.4	36.5
Carter	MT	-9.5	41.3
Hill	MT	-5.6	39.1
Liberty	MT	-6.0	-2.8
Phillips	MT	-10.9	28.4
Powder River	MT	-11.1	34.3
Rosebud	MT	-10.7	40.5
Barnes	ND	-6.1	39.1
Eddy	ND	-6.6	17.4
Golden Valley	ND	-8.7	27.0
Griggs	ND	-16.6	42.4
McHenry	ND	-8.3	33.3
McLean	ND	-11.0	42.1
Nelson	ND	-15.8	13.5
Pierce	ND	-7.5	31.4
Sheridan	ND	-20.4	43.1
Steele	ND	-6.7	25.3
Wells	ND	-13.0	26.3
Jones	SD	-9.9	30.8
Perkins	SD	-14.5	39.2
Tripp	SD	-7.1	37.3

Related articles: fedgazette, November 2002 Rural Census Follow-up More than just a pretty place?

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