Economic strength is more than rock-bottom taxes
Update, 7:59 PM Wednesday: Goof in column that occurred to me as I washed the dishes:
Family income is only 11 percent less than that of the nation and ranks 39th - ahead of every southern state except Texas, Florida and Georgia.
Virginia, of course, is also a southern state. In 2006 median family income in Virginia was $66,886. In North Carolina it was $52,336.
My Wednesday column is on the American Legislative Exchange Council's state-by-state economic scorecard. I argue that low taxes and low wages -- ALEC's preferred criteria -- aren't the only way to measure a state's economic competitiveness. The column includes a few pieces of data and state comparisons in other categories, such as household income and education. Below are the footnotes, as it were.
"Virginia Crushes Maryland in Economic Ranking of All 50 States" was the provocative headline on last week's announcement by a pro-markets, pro-limited-government research group. That's true -- if you don't measure poverty, education, business creation, household income, homeownership growth, venture-capital investment, broadband access, major-league sports, cultural opportunities, sprawl and pollution.
Poverty: 8.2 percent of Marylanders lived below the poverty line in 2006; 9.2 percent of Virginians lived below the poverty line. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.
Education: 35 percent of Marylanders over 25 held a bachelor's degree in 2006. 33 percent of Virginians held a bachelor's degree. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey. Maryland wins in advanced degrees, too.
Business creation: In 2002 and 2003 Maryland ranked 23rd for the number of jobs created by start-up businesses. Virginia ranked 33rd. In 2005 Maryland ranked 12th for new companies while Virginia ranked 20th. Source: U.S. Small Business Administration and Census data compiled by the Corporation for Enterprise Development.
Household income: Maryland was No. 1 nationally for median household income in 2006. Virginia was No. 9. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.
Homeownership: Maryland ranked 28th for growth in the homeownership rate between 2001 and 2005; Virginia ranked last in the nation, with a decline in homeownership.
Virginia, however, edged Maryland out last year in the percentage of owner-occupied homes, 69.9 percent vs. 69.4 percent. Sources: Census data and Census data via the Corporation for Enterprise Development.
Venture-capital investment. Maryland was 8th in the nation in 2005; Virginia, 9th. Source: Corporation for Enterprise Development.
Broadband access. Maryland was 9th nationally in 2005; Virginia, 14th.
Major league sports, cultural opportunities: Self-evident, I believe.
Sprawl: More people (53 percent) work outside their county of residence in Virginia than in any state in the country. Maryland is No. 2 at 47 percent. Source: Census Bureau. The Sierra Club's 1999 sprawl and land-planning report ranked Virginia behind Maryland in every category measured.
Pollution: Maryland ranked 19th in toxic releases per capita in 2002; Virginia was 24th. Source: Corporation for Enterprise Development.
Maryland is No. 4 in per-capita college graduates, No. 3 in doctorate-level engineers and scientists and No. 7 in the recent increase of high-school graduates.
All from the Corporation for Enterprise Development.
In 1959 [North Carolina] was one of the poorest places in the nation, ranking 45th with a median family income 30 percent below that of the country as a whole.
Source: Statisical Abstract of the United States, 1981. North Carolina median family income in 1959 was $3,956, compared with national median family income of $5,660.
Today, North Carolina... family income is only 11 percent less than that of the nation and ranks 39th -- ahead of every southern state except Texas, Florida and Georgia.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey. 2006 North Carolina median family income was $52,336 compared with median family income of $58,526 for the nation.
Comments
Interesting that one can think to compare the 2 states and leave out D.C. which has such effect on both.
Take away D.C. and P.G. no longer has the wealthiest African-Americans in the U.S. for example. D.C. would also count as the cultural headquarters for Va.
How many of those home sales were speculative and paid for by D.C. residents? How much of the job creation is because of the bloated spending practices of the Feds?
BRAC and the O'Malley tax increase will probably skew the numbers in offsetting ways, but will not show any particular strength for the Md systems other than we depend on large State and Federal taxes.
Posted by: John H. Clemson | December 26, 2007 10:42 AM
Jay,
Very interesting article and blog today. I think, in general, people tend to be blinded by taxes when they assess both individual, state, and federal economic health. Economies are extremely complex beyond taxes.
John,
I would say that DC is mutually beneficial to both MD and VA. At least in potential; it may be the case that MD is better at taking advantage of proximity to the nation's capitol. I don't think that considering DC's influence really changes the argument.
Posted by: Kyle B | December 26, 2007 11:50 AM
Kyle, Jay,
It depends on whether one thinks that filtering money through the Fed is a better way to invest. I would be a lot happier if Maryland was not so dependent on other people's money. So much money is stripped along the way by the bureaucracies involved whether they are state or federal. The inefficiencies and lack of result oriented monitoring are staggering.
I like neither big government nor big corporations.
Corporate accountability (and corporate giving)is almost non-existent for us Marylanders when other states entice national headquarters out of our state as Maryland is seen as a bad place in which to do business. We are left with having to use more tax dollars to try to play the same enticement game on a piecemeal basis while industrial jobs move south and Maryland taxes services.
Posted by: John H. Clemson | December 26, 2007 1:26 PM
Well, considering that most the polls about the "best places to live" usually require socialist expenditures: mass tranist, public parks, etc., it only seems fair to have one devoted to a more Libertarian bent. I suppose we can take the results of this poll and the other "left wing" polls and you come out with something more realistic. Maryland probably ranks about 25 for state. Crime, taxes, and overcrowding are a few downsides....
Posted by: Mark | December 26, 2007 9:46 PM
Thank you for your column "Taxes aren't everything in economy," discussing the value of taxes for a community. Rational discourse demands that the benefits and the negatives be examined. Slogans, such as "no taxes" undermine the discussions that should be going on.
We need more critical thinking and objective data, not tied to specific right wing organizations (or other) to lay this out for the people.
Thanks for doing your job, Jay.
Posted by: Ron Putz | January 1, 2008 1:25 PM