Fayetteville's income figures beat out Raleigh, Charlotte

Fayetteville's income figures beat out Raleigh, Charlotte
By Paul Woolverton
Staff writer
Published: 10:07 PM, Mon Aug 09, 2010

The average pay in North Carolina's two largest military communities, Fayetteville and Jacksonville, in 2009 surpassed that of any other metropolitan area in the state, according to data released Monday by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

"That's tremendous news," Fayetteville Mayor Tony Chavonne said. "How many times have you heard 'low-wealth county' and 'low-wealth community' associated with Fayetteville and Cumberland County. I think this goes, along with other indicators that we're getting, to show that that's behind us, and we're moving past that, and that's a great story."

Fayetteville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce spokeswoman Kristie Meave said Chamber officials can't remember the last time, if ever, that Fayetteville's per capita income exceeded that of bigger metro areas such as Raleigh-Cary, Charlotte and Durham-Chapel Hill.

Statistics going back to 1999 show that Fayetteville and Jacksonville were at the bottom in per capita pay in the state and their wages steadily rose over the next 10 years.

Per capita income in the Fayetteville metro area, which includes Cumberland and Hoke counties, was $40,917 in 2009, up 4.8 percent from 2008's $39,054. In the Jacksonville metro area, it was $44,664 in 2009, the highest in the state and an 11.9 percent increase from 2008's $39,932.



unhappycamper comment: Tell me war isn't good for bidness.

Not so good for the people who have to fight it and the people who have to pay for it.