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 Metropolitan Tennessee'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 Metropolitan Tennessee over time.

When measured in current dollars, Metropolitan Tennessee's total industry earnings increased 2,843.43%, from $9,043M in 1970 to $266,165M in 2022. When measured in constant 2017 dollars to adjust for inflation, it advanced 401.36%, from $45,749M in 1970 to $229,368M in 2022.

Figure 2 traces Metropolitan Tennessee's and Tennessee'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, Metropolitan Tennessee's real total industry earnings rose from $45,125M in 1969 to $229,368M in 2022, for a net gain of $184,242M, or 408.29%. In comparison, Tennessee's real total industry earnings advanced from $54,193M in 1969 to $261,732M in 2022, for a net gain of $207,540M, or 382.96%.

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

In 1969, Metropolitan Tennessee's total industry earnings totaled 83.27% of Tennessee's total industry earnings, while in 2022 it comprised 87.63% thereby yielding a +4.37% share-shift.

Figure 4 shows the short-run pattern of Metropolitan Tennessee'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, Metropolitan Tennessee's real total industry earnings grew at an annual rate of 3.15% over 1970-2022. Metropolitan Tennessee posted its highest growth in 1998 (10.03%) and recorded its lowest growth in 1980 (-3.04%). In 2022, Metropolitan Tennessee's real total industry earnings grew by 2.11%

Over the past five decades some metropolitan regions have experienced extreme swings in growth, and often such swings have tended to coincide with the decades themselves. Figure 5 again depicts the annual percent change in Metropolitan Tennessee'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, Metropolitan Tennessee's annual real total industry earnings growth rate averaged 4.05%. It averaged 2.78% during the 1980s, 4.58% during the 1990s, 1.29% throughout the 2000s, 3.02% throughout the 2010s, 3.33% thus far this decade (2020-2022).