
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, December 15, 1994                   TAG: 9412150026
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: CHARLOTTESVILLE                                 LENGTH: Short

STUDY FINDS INCOME RISING

The purchasing power of Virginia taxpayers has increased after three straight years of decline, a University of Virginia study indicates.

The median after-tax income for married Virginia couples was $40,454 in 1992, the most recent year for which figures are available, according to a study by the university's Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service.

The 1992 figure, obtained from state tax returns, represented an increase of 4.6 percent over the previous year, said economist Samuel R. Kaplan, the study's author.

``Basically, the increase reflects the end of the recession,'' he said.

The top five localities for married couples' real income were in Northern Virginia: Fairfax County, $67,096; Falls Church, $63,659; Loudoun County, $59,966; Arlington County, $56,989, and Prince William County, $54,818.

Incomes for Western Virginia localities include: Alleghany County, $33,421; Bedford County, $35,855; Botetourt County, $38,201; Craig County, $30,465; Franklin County, $30,358; Henry County, $30,563; Montgomery County, $34,233; Pulaski County, $30,702; Roanoke County, $42,397, and Rockbridge County, $28,791. For cities in the region: Bedford, $30,484; Buena Vista, $29,791; Clifton Forge, $28,018; Covington, $30,235; Lexington, $37,690; Martinsville, $32,883; Radford, $36,794; Roanoke, $30,703, and Salem, $35,928.

The locality with the lowest total was Lee County in Southwest Virginia, where couples had an average after-tax income total of $22,099.

by CNB