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 Virginia Beach City'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 Virginia Beach City over time.

When measured in current dollars, Virginia Beach City's total industry earnings increased 4,013.68%, from $408M in 1970 to $16,782M in 2022. When measured in constant 2017 dollars to adjust for inflation, it advanced 600.70%, from $2,064M in 1970 to $14,462M in 2022.

Figure 2 tracks Virginia Beach City's and Virginia'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, Virginia Beach City's real total industry earnings rose from $2,002M in 1969 to $14,462M in 2022, for a net gain of $12,460M, or 622.48%. In comparison, Virginia's real total industry earnings advanced from $73,551M in 1969 to $354,078M in 2022, for a net gain of $280,527M, or 381.41%.

Figure 3 portrays Virginia Beach City's real total industry earnings growth in a broader context by offering direct comparisons across time with Virginia, 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.

Virginia Beach City's overall real total industry earnings growth was 622.48% over 1969-2022 outpaced Virginia's increase of 381.41%, and topped the United States' increase of 278.59%.

Another interesting and insightful way of highlighting the total industry earnings growth of Virginia Beach City is to compare its individual percentage contributions to Virginia's statewide total industry earnings over time, as shown in Figure 4. A rising share means a region's total industry earnings grew faster, or declined less, than Virginia's total industry earnings, while a declining share shows it grew more slowly.

In 1969, Virginia Beach City's total industry earnings comprised 2.72% of Virginia's total industry earnings, while in 2022 it comprised 4.08% thereby yielding a +1.36% share-shift.

Figure 5 displays the short-run pattern of Virginia Beach City'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, Virginia Beach City's real total industry earnings grew at an annual rate of 3.86% over 1970-2022. The independent city recorded its highest growth in 1978 (10.85%) and posted its lowest growth in 2008 (-3.99%). In 2022, Virginia Beach City's real total industry earnings declined by -1.69%

Over the past five decades some independent cities have experienced extreme swings in growth, and often such swings have tended to coincide with the decades themselves. Figure 6 again illustrates the annual percent change in Virginia Beach City'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, Virginia Beach City's annual real total industry earnings growth rate averaged 5.56%. It averaged 6.57% throughout the 1980s, 4.08% in the 1990s, 2.10% in the 2000s, 1.76% throughout the 2010s, 1.35% thus far this decade (2020-2022).

Figure 7 compares the decade average growth rates for Virginia Beach City noted in the previous graph with the corresponding decade averages for Virginia and the nation. As the chart reveals, Virginia Beach City's average annual real total industry earnings growth outpaced Virginia's average during the 1970s (5.56% vs. 3.72%), registered above Virginia's average during the 1980s (6.57% vs. 4.23%), outperformed Virginia's average throughout the 1990s (4.08% vs. 3.37%), trailed Virginia's average during the 2000s (2.10% vs. 2.58%), outpaced Virginia's average during the 2010s (1.76% vs. 1.69%), and fell below Virginia's average over the 3 year period of the current decade, 2020-2022 (1.35% vs. 1.71%).

Finally, relative to nationwide real total industry earnings growth trends, Virginia Beach City recorded above the nation over the 1970s (5.56% vs. 3.13%), topped the nation over the 1980s (6.57% vs. 2.62%), topped the nation throughout the 1990s (4.08% vs. 3.43%), outperformed the nation throughout the 2000s (2.10% vs. 1.47%), fell below the nation in the 2010s (1.76% vs. 2.53%), and recorded underneath the nation over 2020-2022 (1.35% vs. 1.48%).