For 2007, Hawaii’s per-capita income grew faster than the nation as a whole, with a 6% increase, but it was inflation, once again, that ate up most of the growth.

The increase ranked as 10th highest among states, the agency reported yesterday. Hawai’i’s actual per-capita income last year was $39,239, up from the $37,023 of a year earlier. That placed Hawai’i as having the 18th highest per-capita income in the nation. The national average was $38,611.

But while Hawai’i ranked high in the increases in per-capita personal income, people here probably didn’t feel as if they were 6 percent richer last year. That’s because the rise in personal income was not as big when inflation was considered. In 2007, inflation in Honolulu rose by 4.8 percent. So the inflation-adjusted gain in per-capita income here was less than 2 percent.

Nationally, inflation rose 2.6 percent last year. Given that, the inflation-adjusted gain in per-capita personal income was more than 2 percent nationally.