THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INCOME AND RETAIL SALES IN LOCAL AREAS.

The article seeks to define the relationship between per capita income and retail sales according to geographic location and to describe the limitations of income statistics when reaching these conclusions. The article distinguishes between the uses of income data, to both indicate standards of living and to determine markets for certain goods and services. The article reports a lack of correlation between the median income per family and retail sales per capita and shows the results of a study to prove this. The article compares the suburban and urban relationship of income and retail sales, but points out that while cities are largely self-sufficient (not closed), they too rely on markets beyond their geographic boundaries.