MILITARY GROWTH DRIVES FASTEST RISE IN INCOME

FACTOID: Take note to number 4 of this below illustration. If you haven't been following along with the BRAC decision of moving the 7th Special Forces Group from Fort Bragg to Eglin, you have been missing a lot. The 7th Special Forces Group (over 2000 strong have begun to take up residence in our area, with thousands more coming). As you can see they have made an economic impact on the Fort Bragg community and will be making a big impact on ours soon. Oh yea, for the ones wondering what the impact will be on Fort Bragg, NOTHING. In fact, Fort Bragg's mission is expanding with other troops. So don't think they will have any problems selling their homes in the Fort Bragg area (See the next Blog Entry).


Military Growth Drives Fastest Rise in Income
Incomes are growing fastest in U.S. metro areas with a military base, according to an analysis by USA Today of per-capita income rankings.

After adjusting for inflation, military compensation rose 84 percent from 2000 through 2009. During that time, private sector compensation rose 9 percent and federal civil workers’ compensation grew 37 percent, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The 10 metro areas (and their military connections) that saw the biggest percentage gains in per-capita income 2000 to 2009 were:

1. Jacksonville, N.C. – Camp Lejeune
2. Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, La. – military shipbuilding
3. Manhattan, Kan. – Fort Riley
4. Fayetteville, N.C. – Fort Bragg and Pop Air Force Base
5. Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, Texas – Fort Hood
6. Lawton, Okla. – Fort Sill
7. Farmington, N.M. – none
8. Hanford-Corcoran, Calif. - Naval Sir Station Lemoore
9. Clarksville, Tenn. – Fort Campbell
10. Cheyenne, Wyo. – Warren Air Force Base

Source: USA Today, David Cauchon (08/23/2010)