Americans earned an extra $1.1 trillion in 2020...

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Last year, total personal income for the nation increased 6.1 percent due to so-called 'transfer receipts,' the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) revealed in preliminary results released on Wednesday. Transfer receipts include aid like the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES Act), which sent $1,200 economic impact payment to almost all citizens. The BEA analysis found that 2020 was at least the second straight year of growth for personal income after it also rose 3.9 percent in 2019.

Transfer receipts were found to be the leading contributor of the increase in personal income in every state, accounting for the entire $1.1 trillion.Aid from the CARES Act far surpassed other forms of assistance such as state unemployment insurance compensation, Medicaid payments, Medicare benefits and Social Security checks.Arizona and Montana tied for the states with the highest change in personal income at 8.4 percent. The other three states rounding out the top five are Utah, Idaho and Rhode Island, respectively.