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 traces Grant County's and North Dakota'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, Grant County's real total industry earnings rose from $56M in 1969 to $69M in 2022, for a net gain of $14M, or 24.28%. In comparison, North Dakota's real total industry earnings increased from $8,661M in 1969 to $35,366M in 2022, for a net gain of $26,705M, or 308.33%.

Figure 2 shows Grant County's real total industry earnings growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with North Dakota, the United States. The growth indices shown here express each region's real total industry earnings in 1969 as a base figure of 100, and the real total industry earningss in later years as a percentage of the 1969 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.

Grant County's overall real total industry earnings growth was 24.28% over 1969-2022 trailed North Dakota's increase of 308.33%, and fell below the United States' increase of 278.59%.

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

In 1969, Grant County's total industry earnings totaled 0.64% of North Dakota's total industry earnings, while in 2022 it equated to 0.20% thereby yielding a -0.45% share-shift.

Figure 4 shows the short-run pattern of Grant 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 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, Grant County's real total industry earnings grew at an annual rate of 12.88% over 1970-2022. The county recorded its highest growth in 1981 (516.99%) and posted its lowest growth in 1980 (-86.08%). In 2022, Grant County's real total industry earnings grew by 1.86%

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 traces the annual percent change in Grant County's real total industry earnings since 1970, but this time they are overlayed with average growth rates for the decade of the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s, and 2020-2022.

During the 1970s, Grant County's annual real total industry earnings growth rate averaged 2.18%. It averaged 42.43% in the 1980s, 9.12% in the 1990s, 6.55% during the 2000s, 2.76% in the 2010s, 17.32% thus far this decade (2020-2022).

Figure 6 compares the decade average growth rates for Grant County noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for North Dakota and the nation. As the chart reveals, Grant County's average annual real total industry earnings growth trailed North Dakota's average throughout the 1970s (2.18% vs. 4.68%), recorded above North Dakota's average throughout the 1980s (42.43% vs. 0.07%), recorded above North Dakota's average during the 1990s (9.12% vs. 3.45%), outgained North Dakota's average in the 2000s (6.55% vs. 3.77%), trailed North Dakota's average in the 2010s (2.76% vs. 3.89%), and outgained North Dakota's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (17.32% vs. 2.25%).

Finally, relative to nationwide real total industry earnings growth trends, Grant County recorded underneath the nation throughout the 1970s (2.18% vs. 3.13%), recorded above the nation throughout the 1980s (42.43% vs. 2.62%), outpaced the nation during the 1990s (9.12% vs. 3.43%), surpassed the nation during the 2000s (6.55% vs. 1.47%), registered above the nation over the 2010s (2.76% vs. 2.53%), and exceeded the nation over 2020-2022 (17.32% vs. 1.48%).