The geography of nonemployment income

Abstract

Income from sources not related to current employment accounted for 31.6% of total personal income in the United States during 1986. Areas where non-employment income makes up a disproportionally large share of personal income include amenity-laden retirement regions such as peninsular Florida and the Texas hill country; regions where farmland leasing is common, such as the Great Plains; and such places as Appalachia where low income occasions various forms of income subsidies. The variables most strongly associated with concentrations of nonemployment income are the percentage of older population, per capita income and percent rural farm population. Results have both theoretical and practical implications for economic base studies and migration.