Per capita income hit $10,000

Per capita personal income in the United States ranged last year from a high of $14,000 in Alaska to a low of $7,256 in Mississippi, Commerce Department figures show.

The report said most of the 11 states with high per capita personal incomes - at least 7 percent, or $736, above the US average -- were in the urbanized Northeastern and Western parts of the nation. Most of the 19 states with low per capita personal incomes -- at least 7 percent, or $736, below the US average -- were in the Southeast and Rocky Mountain regions.

The nationwide average was $10,517 in 1981, compared with $9,511 in 1980.

The Commerce Department report defined per capita personal income as ''the total personal income for residents divided by the resident population as of July 1.''