Jacksonville Ranks 38th for Income Growth

Jacksonville ranks 38th in a new bizjournals study of income growth among 100 large U.S. cities over the last quarter-century.

As of 2008, per-capita income in metro Jacksonville was $39,305, up nearly 225 percent from 1983 and up 26.2 percent between 2003 and 2008, bizjournals reported. Bizjournals is the online division of American City Business Journals, the parent company of the Jacksonville Business Journal

The rankings were based on comparisons of growth among 100 cities over 25 different time spans, all ending in 2008, ranging from a 25-year span to one year, so the results are weighted toward more recent growth.

Bizjournals ranked New Orleans No. 1, noting that the city has experienced rapid income growth since it was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

New Orleans’ per-capita income (now $44,136) grew 255.8 percent between 1983 and 2008, and 50.9 percent -- highest of all 100 cities -- between 2003 and 2008.

Rounding out the top 10: Oklahoma City; Bridgeport-Stamford, Conn.; Tulsa, Okla.; Houston; El Paso, Texas; San Francisco-Oakland; Baton Rouge, La.; Birmingham, Ala.; and Boston.

See income growth chart.

Source: Jacksonville Business Journal