Earlier this year, Kiowa County officials pleaded a poverty of economic opportunities as they sought an initiative to legalize gambling in the county.
But figures from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis released Friday show the county enjoyed the biggest annual gain in per capita personal incomes in the state last year — 15.1 percent.
Kiowa also had a per capita income of $59,785, the fourth-best in the state, after Pitkin, Douglas and Clear Creek counties. Its unemployment rate of 2.1 percent in October was the seventh-lowest out of 64 counties in the state
To be fair, in a rural county of about 1,400 people, just a few successful farmers or ranchers can skew the per-person income figures higher.
Personal income includes wages from jobs but also from rental properties, financial investments, government payments and from sole proprietorships.
The annual growth rate of personal incomes per resident in Colorado fell from 4.8 percent in 2012 to 1.3 percent in 2013, according to the income report. Nationally, per capita personal incomes rose an average of 2 percent in metro areas and 2.1 percent in rural areas last year.
Growth in per capita income can get diluted when population growth is stronger, and that was the case in several metro counties.
Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Denver and Douglas counties all reported per capita income gains of 1 percent or lower last year.
Two counties actually saw per capita personal incomes decline in 2013 — Lincoln County was down 6.9 percent, and Washington County fell 2.9 percent.
Pitkin County, home to ritzy Aspen, continues to report the highest per capita personal income in the state at $83,425, followed by Douglas County at $75,457. The lowest incomes reported were in Crowley County, at $20,244, and Conejos County, at $26,573.
After Kiowa, Costilla County reported the second-strongest rate of income growth, 9 percent. But per capita incomes there rose from a much lower level — to $32,714 from $30,011.
Costilla also had the state’s highest unemployment rate in October at 6.9 percent.
MAP: Click to see an interactive map of per-capita income levels
Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410, asvaldi@denverpost.com or twitter.com/aldosvaldi