Federal Reserve Economic Data

FRED offers plenty of U.S. county-level data, including per capita personal income. One can look closely at individual counties in FRED and create regional maps in GeoFRED. This map focuses on New York City and the surrounding counties. One peculiarity worth noting is that each city borough is also its own state county: New York (Manhattan borough), Bronx, Kings (Brooklyn borough), Queens, and Richmond (Staten Island borough). There are stark contrasts in income across all these counties, with Manhattan clearly on top. The surrounding counties, however, have incomes higher than any borough other than Manhattan. Thus, even the Big Apple obeys the rule that incomes are generally higher for suburban residents.

How this graph was created: The original post referenced an interactive map from our now discontinued GeoFRED site. The revised post provides a replacement map from FRED’s new mapping tool. To create FRED maps, go to the data series page in question and look for the green “VIEW MAP” button at the top right of the graph. See this post for instructions to edit a FRED map. Only series with a green map button can be mapped.

Suggested by Christian Zimmermann

Fortunes can vary widely from one neighborhood to the next and also from one state to the next. The map above, which looks at U.S. states, shows median household income. This measure of income is basically a line through the middle: Half the households within that state receive more income and half receive less income. The map shows some regional correlations, but it is quite interesting to see how median income in one state can be almost twice as high (or low) as it is in a neighboring state. Use the “View on GeoFRED” link above to visit the site. There you can interact with each state on the map and gather more details about it. You can also change the applicable date to see how the distribution of the median income has changed over the years.

How this map was created: The original post referenced an interactive map from our now discontinued GeoFRED site. The revised post provides a replacement map from FRED’s new mapping tool. To create FRED maps, go to the data series page in question and look for the green “VIEW MAP” button at the top right of the graph. See this post for instructions to edit a FRED map. Only series with a green map button can be mapped.

Suggested by Christian Zimmermann