Economics

Georgians’ income tends to be below the national average

Georgia has historically had low income levels. In 2005, the per capita income in Georgia was $30,914. The U.S. average was $34,471. Among all 50 states, Georgia ranks 37th for the lowest per capita income in the nation. Georgia has 92 counties with a per capita income below Louisiana (currently the lowest of any state in the nation, $24,664).
(Map - 2005 PCI)

In 2000, the median household income was $42,433. With regard to income, significant differences exist among groups with different race or ethnic backgrounds with regard to income as the table below demonstrates.

Size of Business Establishments

More than half (53.7 percent) of all firms in Georgia have fewer than four employees. Only 187 business establishments employ more than 1,000 employees.
(Spreadsheet - Georgia Firms 2006)

Interpretation of data presented in Firms, Employment, and Wages Link (by Professor Bachtel): The data show the relationship between the number of firms, the number of people employed in those firms, and the wages they receive. In 2006, 3.8 percent of Georgia’s businesses were manufacturing industries. Those establishments, however, employed 11.1 percent of the state’s work force and paid 12.2 percent of the wages.

Wholesale/retail trade accounted for 21.5 percent of the total firms, employed 17.0 percent of the workforce, yet only paid 15.5 percent of the wages. While government agencies only represented 3.2 percent of all employers, they employed 16.3 percent of the workforce and paid 15.4 percent of all wages.

There were 261,436 total firms and an annual average of 4,023,570 employees in Georgia in 2006. The average factory wage was $849 per week and the average weekly wage of all workers was $776.

Today’s economic structure is moving away from a dependence on manufacturing jobs to a greater reliance on the service sector, hence the proliferation of small-sized firms. Manufacturing activity, however, is important to the vitality of a community because these enterprises pay relatively high wages and often rely on other local firms for raw materials and services. They also generate a sizable amount of local tax revenue.

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