Industry earnings are incomes received by people who are directly involved with producing goods and services. Earnings, referred to also as "labor and proprietors income", include (1) wage and salary disbursements, (2) other labor income such as employer contributions to private retirement and medical insurance programs, and (3) the net incomes of proprietors (i.e., the owners of unincorporated enterprises).

In contrast to the more frequently cited employment data, earnings data more accurately reflect qualitative differences in labor's contributions toward the production of goods and services, namely the productivity differences reflected in variations in earnings per job. Earnings data, therefore, are better for comparing and tracking long-term trends and identifying short-run shifts in the level and composition of economic activity within and among states.

Just like the employment data compiled by BEA, earnings data are reported on a place-of-work, or more accurately on a place-where-earned, basis.

Note: the BEA earnings data presented and discussed here in the context of comparing and assessing the economic growth and performance of state and regional economies are entirely separate and apart from--and should not be confused with--corporate earnings, which are compiled from the balance sheets of individual private corporations.

Figure 1 depicts the Plains' annual total industry earnings over 1959-2023 in current and constant (2017) dollars. Constant dollar measurements remove the effects of inflation. They allow for comparison of changes in the real purchasing power of the Plains over time.

When measured in current dollars, the Plains' total industry earnings increased 3,827.01%, from $25,892M in 1959 to $1,016,785M in 2023. When measured in constant 2017 dollars to adjust for inflation, it advanced 398.33%, from $169,340M in 1959 to $843,868M in 2023.

Figure 2 shows the Plains' real total industry earnings growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with the United States. The growth indices shown here express each region's real total industry earnings in 1958 as a base figure of 100, and the real total industry earningss in later years as a percentage of the 1958 base figure. This method allows for more direct comparison of differences in real total industry earnings growth between regions that may differ vastly in size.

The Plains' overall real total industry earnings growth was 400.89% over 1958-2023 trailed the United States' increase of 544.91%.

Another interesting and insightful way of contrasting the total industry earnings growth of the Plains is to compare its individual percentage contributions to the United States' total total industry earnings over time, as shown in Figure 3. A rising share means a region's total industry earnings grew faster, or declined less, than the United States' total industry earnings, while a declining share shows it grew more slowly.

In 1958, the Plains' total industry earnings comprised 8.12% of the United States' total industry earnings, while in 2023 it equated to 6.31% thereby yielding a -1.81% share-shift.

Figure 4 highlights the short-run pattern of the Plains' real total industry earnings growth by tracking the year-to-year percent change over 1959-2023. The average annual percent change for the entire 65-year period is also illustrated on this chart to provide a benchmark for gauging periods of relative high--and relative low--growth against the backdrop of the long-term average.

On average, the Plains' real total industry earnings grew at an annual rate of 2.55% over 1959-2023. The Plains recorded its highest growth in 1973 (11.96%) and recorded its lowest growth in 1980 (-6.63%). In 2023, the Plains' real total industry earnings grew by 0.55%

Over the past six decades some BEA regions have experienced extreme swings in growth, and often such swings have tended to coincide with the decades themselves. Figure 5 again depicts the annual percent change in the Plains' real total industry earnings since 1959, but this time they are overlayed with average growth rates for the decade of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020-2023.

During the 1960s, the Plains' annual real total industry earnings growth rate averaged 4.36%. It averaged 3.06% during the 1970s, 1.56% throughout the 1980s, 3.36% in the 1990s, 1.59% throughout the 2000s, 1.93% in the 2010s, 1.75% thus far this decade (2020-2023).

Figure 6 compares the decade average growth rates for the Plains noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for the nation.

Relative to nationwide real total industry earnings growth trends, the Plains recorded underneath the nation in the 1960s (4.36% vs. 4.72%), trailed the nation throughout the 1970s (3.06% vs. 3.13%), recorded underneath the nation in the 1980s (1.56% vs. 2.62%), posted below the nation over the 1990s (3.36% vs. 3.43%), led the nation throughout the 2000s (1.59% vs. 1.47%), posted below the nation over the 2010s (1.93% vs. 2.53%), and outgained the nation over 2020-2023 (1.75% vs. 1.62%).