Show Me the Money!

Midland, Texas, located on the Southern Plains of the state's western area, earned the number 2 ranking in personal income per capita of the nation's metro areas because of mining and related industries. In Odessa, Texas, personal income per capita rose 14.8 percent in 2011.

Personal income in all of the nation's 366 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) rose in 2011 for the first time since 2007, reveals a Nov. 26, 2012 report from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis.

Of the 50 counties with the fastest personal income growth in 2011, 45 were located in the Plains; 41 of the 45 counties were in Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota. Increases in farm income were a major factor in the growth rates for most of these counties. Note: Eastern Montana and western North Dakota are undergoing an oil boom.

The Top 10 Metro Areas for Personal Income per Capita
• Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn. $78,504 (Note: This region has the nation's highest share of the top-fifth income earners," such as hedge fund managers, mixed in with lots of $30,000 income earners.)

• Midland, Texas $65,173
• San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, Calif. $61,395
• San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. $61,028
• Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. $59,345
• Naples-Marco Island, Fla. $59,264
• Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H. $57,893
• New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, N.Y.-N.J.-Penn. $56,770
• Barnstable Town, Mass. $55,465
• Trenton-Ewing, N.J. $54,445