We can’t all be Lawrence sports bar owners or Final Four T-shirt salesmen. The world would run out of money. Well, a new report suggests the rest of the world has largely avoided giving its money to Kansas. Personal income growth in Kansas was among the slowest in the U.S. in 2017, according to the federal numbers.

The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis has calculated personal income figures for each state. Those figures measure basically the total amount of money — whether it be wages, dividends, Social Security checks — that individuals received for 2017. Personal income in Kansas in 2017 grew by 1.0 percent. In other words, it was significantly less than the approximately 2.5 percent rate of inflation.

Kansas was a definite laggard in the income area. Nationally, personal income grew by 3.1 percent in 2017. Only North Dakota, Iowa and Alaska had personal income growth rates that were lower than Kansas’.

Here’s a look at how Kansas compared to the other states in the BEA’s Plains region:

• Iowa: up 0.3 percent

• Kansas: up 1.0 percent

• Minnesota: up 3.0 percent

• Nebraska: up 1.4 percent

• North Dakota: down 0.3 percent

• South Dakota: up 1.4 percent

• Plains region average: up 1.7 percent

The Plains region doesn’t include a couple of our neighbors, so here’s their numbers: Colorado: up 4.1 percent and Oklahoma up 2.0 percent.

The other piece of information that is interesting is the per capita income figures. Those are a bit more of a mixed bag for Kansas. The report shows we continue to be ahead of some of our neighbors, but we certainly aren’t in the top tier.

• Kansas: $47,603 per capita

• Colorado: $53,504 per capita

• Iowa: $45,996 per capita

• Minnesota: $53,043 per capita

• Missouri: $43,661 per capita

• Nebraska: $50,395 per capita

• North Dakota: $54,643 per capita

• Oklahoma: $43,449 per capita

• South Dakota: $48,281 per capita

The reason behind the decline in Kansas is no secret. The amount of income farmers and ranchers are receiving continues to drop as commodity prices remain in a rut. Nationally, farm earnings decreased 6.6 percent for the year. That marked the fourth consecutive annual decrease in farm earnings. So, everyone is in that boat, but it hits Kansas particularly hard because agriculture is a bigger part of the Kansas economy than in most other states. In some ways, this report is a measurement of how well Kansas has diversified its economy. It shows that we continue to heavily rely on the agricultural sector.

To put in perspective how much low crop prices are hurting the Kansas economy, the BEA estimates that farm earnings fell by $900 million in 2017. The only states that saw larger dollar losses in the farm sector were California (an example of a state with a huge agriculture industry but also several other huge industries to offset it), Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa.

But perhaps more interesting is to look at what else fell in Kansas. There were several sectors of the economy that saw declines in Kansas despite those industries posting increases nationally. It is one thing when you decline when everybody else does, but it is another when you run counter to the trend. Those industries in Kansas included:

• Construction: down $32 million in earnings

• Durable goods manufacturing: down $117 million in earnings

• Retail trade: down $20 million in earnings

• Information technology: down $135 million in earnings

• Military: down $14 million in earnings

• State and local government: down $77 million in earnings

With numbers like those, I think it is clear what Kansas’ economic strategy must become: Buy a Final Four T-shirt and wear it to a sports bar.