The Richest And Poorest US States
Maryland is the richest US state while Mississippi is the poorest.
Like the rest of the world, the United States has been in financial turmoil following the global pandemic. Years later, the recovery process has faced complications like high interest rates and spiking inflation. This has caused a divide creating a clear, rich state and poor state scenario. The wealthiest place to live is Maryland, with a household income of $90,203, with Mississippi the most impoverished at $48,716.
The data was compiled by Stacker, who examined the economies of each state, and Washington D.C. Income statistics were obtained from the September 2022 1-Year American Community Survey, released by Census Bureau. The information, which included median earnings, unemployment, health insurance coverage, and poverty levels, was used to calculate rich states and poor states.
The findings revealed that the population of Maryland earned 29.4 percent more than the median income of the United States. Households earning less than $10,000 were calculated at 122,990, with those earning over $200,000 at 355,084. Median earnings for workers were at $50,548, divided between men and women, with the former taking more home in the rich state.
The Maryland unemployment rate was found to be at a manageable 5.9 percent, living up to its rich state status. Only 7.4 percent of families displayed income below the poverty line, while 93.9 percent of households could afford health insurance. Meanwhile, Mississippi earned 30.1 percent less than the country’s median income, with households earning less than $10,000 calculated at 105,133.
Compared to the rich state, only 40,061 Mississippi households earned over $200,000. Median earnings for workers were found to be a mere $32,242, divided between men and women. Interestingly, the unemployment rate of 6.4 percent wasn’t too different from Maryland. However, 14.4 percent of families live below the poverty line, while 88.1 percent of homes have health insurance.
Rounding out the rich state list is Washington, D.C. in second place with a median household income: of $90,088. Massachusetts was third with $89,645 in the same category. New Jersey took fourth place with $89,296, while New Hampshire was placed at number five with a median household income of $88,465. This was followed by California, Hawaii, Washington, Connecticut, and Colorado.
On the opposite end of the rich states spectrum were the country’s poorest-earning states. West Virginia took second with a median household income of $51,248. This was followed by Louisiana at $52,087, Arkansas at $52,528, and Alabama at $53,913. The top ten were New Mexico, Kentucky, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Tennessee.
Other areas of the country surveyed were caught between rich state and poor state status. While the information about median earnings was split to highlight the inequalities between men and women, the Census only collects data with a binary gender understanding. It does not consider other identities and potentially fluid sex and gender.
Although federal aid has been helping American citizens and businesses manage the economic downturn, the rich state and poor state paints a dark picture of the country’s finances. Since 2021, the poverty rate has increased, while earning inequality has grown from 2020 to 2021. As people made less money for the same work, the prices of everyday items skyrocketed.
