I work in Hillsboro, OR where evidence of a strong economy is everywhere. It’s tempting to assume that family income must be growing by leaps and bounds in Washington County, too, and to extrapolate and assume all is well statewide.

Not so much.

In fact, even Washington County isn’t doing that great, despite the presence of Intel, which has been growing like kudzu, feverishly sprouting buildings and good jobs.

Way back, growth in the U.S. economy was accompanied by income increases across the board, improving the lot of the poor and expanding the middle class. Everybody shared in the rising tide.

But that hasn’t been happening for a long time. Now a lot of people find themselves working harder, but just treading water.

“Over the past 25 years, the (U.S.) economy has grown 83 percent, after adjusting for inflation — and the typical family’s income hasn’t budged,” according to a recent analysis by the Washington Post. “In that time, corporate profits doubled as a share of the economy. Workers today produce nearly twice as many goods and services per hour on the job as they did in 1989, but as a group, they get less of the nation’s economic pie.”

The result? In 81 percent of America’s counties, median family income is lower today than it was 15 years ago, the Post analysis revealed.

What about in Oregon? I decided to look deeper. The data shows that in 25 Oregon counties, the inflation-adjusted median family income is lower today than it was 15 years ago.

That’s true even in Washington County where median household income, adjusted for inflation, actually peaked in 1999 at $72,787. That year was also the peak for such wildly dispersed counties as Clackamas, Deschutes and Malheur.

The situation is even worse in counties such as Baker and Lake where median family income, adjusted for inflation, hit its peak 35 years ago.

If you really want to hit bottom, there are six counties, including Curry, Lane and Wheeler, where medium family income, adjusted for inflation, peaked 45 years ago. That’s right, almost half a century ago, when Richard Nixon was inaugurated President and the Apollo 11 astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., took their first walk on the moon.

So what we have in Oregon is an economy in which few of us are really better off economically then we were years ago.

Here’s the county-by-county breakdown of when median household income, adjusted for inflation, peaked in each of Oregon’s 36 counties and the level at which it peaked.

County	Peak Year	Amount
Hood River	2013	$56,725
Sherman	2009	$52,664
Washington	1999	$72,787
Clackamas	1999	$72,264
Columbia	1999	$63,555
Yamhill	1999	$62,070
Polk	1999	$59,218
Benton	1999	$58,558
Deschutes	1999	$58,159
Multnomah	1999	$57,733
Marian	1999	$56,673
Linn	1999	$52,326
Crook	1999	$50,759
Jackson	1999	$50,734
Clatsop	1999	$50,289
Jefferson	1999	$49,678
Tillamook	1999	$48,026
Wallowa	1999	$44,726
Josephine	1999	$43,406
Malheur	1999	$42,525
Morrow	1979	$57,126
Wasco	1979	$54,645
Harney	1979	$54,318
Umatilla	1979	$50,513
Lake	1979	$49,714
Grant	1979	$48,786
Union	1979	$48,006
Lincoln	1979	$47,053
Baker	1979	$42,760
Lane	1969	$52,736
Coos	1969	$52,171
Gilliam	1969	$49,892
Klamath	1969	$49,511
Curry	1969	$49,042
Wheeler	1969	$40,675

SOURCES: U.S. Census and American Community Survey. Amounts in 2013 dollars.