Denver and Aurora area residents saw their incomes rise slower than the national average last year but continue to sit among the top earners in the U.S.

Per capita personal income in the region grew 4.6 percent, well behind the 5.4 percent increase for all the metro areas across the country, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said Tuesday.

"We would have hoped to surpass those national yardsticks, and the fact we're not is troubling," said Patty Silverstein, an economist with Development Research Partners in Littleton.

However, she noted income levels in Denver and Aurora picked up the pace from 2005 levels. "I think that's a glimmer of good news," she said, citing the 2005 increase in per capita personal income of 4.4 percent.

Denver and Aurora still ranked No. 16 in the nation on a list of more than 360 metro regions with per capita personal income of $44,299, the report found.

Colorado's metro areas did not fare too well in 2006 relative to the rest of the nation.

Grand Junction was an exception.

The area, helped by the surging energy sector, was the only spot to record faster growth than the metro U.S. average. Per capita personal income in that Western Slope region rose 5.7 percent.

Fred Crowley, an economist at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, called the figures "perplexing," considering jobless rates are low.

Colorado's unemployment rate dipped to 3.5 percent in June from 4.4 percent a year earlier.

"You'd expect (the income data) to be much better," he said.

Silverstein suggested that relatively big increases in population might have diluted the income gains in Colorado and that a lack of home appreciation also could have played a role.

Crowley's region - Colorado Springs - showed particular weakness. Per capita personal income in that metro area climbed a mere 2.7 percent.

The economist attributed the anemic growth around Colorado Springs to sluggishness in manufacturing and construction.

Boulder matched the metro U.S. number, boosting per capita personal income by 5.4 percent.

Boulder ranked No. 10 in the nation, recording per capita personal income of $48,324.

The BEA calculates the per capita figure by taking total income and dividing it by the population, including children and those who do not work.

It includes salaries and other sources such as dividend, interest and rental income.

Looking at it another way, Denver-Aurora experienced a 6.6 percent rise in overall personal income, matching the number for metro areas across the U.S.

At the same time, inflation in Denver, Boulder and Greeley was 3.6 percent.

patonj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2544