A new analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data shows states with significant oil and natural gas resources fared the best in weathering the recession from December 2007 to June 2009.

In a 42-page report issued Wednesday by Sentier Research LLC, former Census Bureau officials Gordon Green and John Coder found that seven of the nine states that had the largest increases in real median annual household income (RMAHI) between 2007 and 2010 — Wyoming, North Dakota, Alaska, Louisiana, West Virginia, Oklahoma and Texas — are large energy producers. The data was obtained from the census bureau’s American Community Survey.

“Oil was a big part of the study,” Green told NGI. “Much of it is an oil story.”

According to the study, Wyoming fared the best among the states and posted a 3.6% increase in RMAHI, from $52,794 to $54,700.

Wyoming may have been able to avoid the brunt of the recession and its aftermath largely because its main industry, aside from travel and tourism, is mineral extraction,” the report said. “Wyoming’s mineral commodities include crude oil, natural gas, coal and coalbed methane, uranium, and trona.”

North Dakota and Alaska were the second and third states to make the list, respectively. North Dakota saw a 2.9% increase in its RMAHI (from $46,905 to $48,245), while Alaska’s RMAHI climbed 2.2% (from $66,160 to $67,600).

Although the researchers acknowledged that both North Dakota and Alaska were sparsely populated, much of the former’s growth “has been fueled by development of the Bakken oil shale fields located in the western part of the state.” Meanwhile, Alaska has a “very robust economy based on oil and natural gas industries that generate very large revenues for its residents.”

The researchers found that RMAHI had increased in Louisiana, West Virginia and Oklahoma by 1.6%, 1.2% and 1.0%, respectively. Petroleum products were a major facet of the Louisiana economy; coal was king in West Virginia and natural gas reigned in Oklahoma. In Texas, RMAHI increased 0.8%, from $49,218 to $49,600.

Green and Coder also noted what metropolitan areas of the country saw the greatest increase in RMAHI. Of the top 10, seven were in Texas, two were in Louisiana and one was in Pennsylvania.

Lafayette, LA, was at the top of the metropolitan area list, with a RMAHI increase of 12.2% (from $42,067 to $47,200), followed by Corpus Christi, TX (up 9.4%, from $46,274 to $50,621), Odessa, TX (up 8.6%, from $47,433 to $51,492), and Longview-Marshall, TX (up 8.4%, from $41,623 to $45,133).

The researchers also took note of Grand Junction, CO, which saw its RMAHI increase 7.6%, from $49,429 to $53,300. That city, they said, “has the largest known concentration of oil shale in the world. The key drivers of its economy are mining for natural gas and oil, agriculture, livestock, health care and tourism.”

Rounding out the top metropolitan areas in the report were Galveston-Texas City, TX; McAllen-Edinburg-Pharr-Mission, TX; Johnstown, PA; Amarillo, TX; and Brazoria, TX. The researchers said petroleum refining and shipping were key to the economy of Galveston-Texas City, while Amarillo benefited from petroleum extraction and Brazoria was boosted by petrochemical manufacturing.

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