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 counties.

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 county 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 Crowley County's annual total industry earnings over 1970-2022 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 Crowley County over time.

When measured in current dollars, Crowley County's total industry earnings increased 1,367.17%, from $5M in 1970 to $75M in 2022. When measured in constant 2017 dollars to adjust for inflation, it advanced 149.91%, from $26M in 1970 to $65M in 2022.

Figure 2 tracks Crowley County's and Colorado's annual real total industry earnings for the period 1969-2022 to illustrate real total industry earnings patterns over time. During this 54-year period, Crowley County's real total industry earnings rose from $21M in 1969 to $65M in 2022, for a net gain of $44M, or 214.26%. In comparison, Colorado's real total industry earnings advanced from $35,511M in 1969 to $271,035M in 2022, for a net advance of $235,523M, or 663.23%.

Another interesting and insightful way of contrasting the total industry earnings growth of Crowley County is to compare its individual percentage contributions to Colorado's statewide 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 Colorado's total industry earnings, while a declining share shows it grew more slowly.

In 1969, Crowley County's total industry earnings comprised 0.06% of Colorado's total industry earnings, while in 2022 it comprised 0.02% thereby yielding a -0.03% share-shift.

Figure 4 displays the short-run pattern of Crowley County's real total industry earnings growth by tracking the year-to-year percent change over 1970-2022. The average annual percent change for the entire 53-year period is also traced 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, Crowley County's real total industry earnings grew at an annual rate of 5.09% over 1970-2022. The county posted its highest growth in 1984 (99.33%) and posted its lowest growth in 1982 (-54.56%). In 2022, Crowley County's real total industry earnings declined by -23.69%

Over the past five decades some counties have experienced extreme swings in growth, and often such swings have tended to coincide with the decades themselves. Figure 5 again illustrates the annual percent change in Crowley County's real total industry earnings since 1970, but this time they are displayed with average growth rates for the decade of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020-2022.

During the 1970s, Crowley County's annual real total industry earnings growth rate averaged 8.15%. It averaged 14.60% throughout the 1980s, 5.35% throughout the 1990s, -1.98% during the 2000s, 2.19% in the 2010s, -4.39% thus far this decade (2020-2022).