Median Income by State

Key Takeaways

• The United States is the wealthiest country in the world in terms of total global wealth percentage. It also has the world’s most millionaires.
• Though the U.S. is the wealthiest country, that wealth is not distributed evenly; many states have a low median household income and high rates of poverty.
• The states with the highest median household income are Maryland, Massachusetts, and New Jersey.
• The states with the lowest median household income are Mississippi, West Virginia, and Arkansas.

The Americas account for 39.3% of global wealth as of 2024, an increase from 37.3% in 2022, according to UBS’s Global Wealth Report 2025. Strong financial markets in the U.S., coupled with a stable currency, are the factors behind America’s wealth growth. In fact, the U.S. is the richest country on Earth in terms of total wealth: $181.6 trillion as of 2025. The Asia-Pacific (APAC) region follows closely, accounting for 35.9% of global wealth.

The U.S. also has the most millionaires in the world, with almost 24 million of them, and with over five million more projected by 2029. This means that four out of ten millionaires in the world are based in North America, accounting for 43.2% of the world’s total number of millionaires.

Western Europe is next in the number of millionaires, accounting for 26.2% of the distribution of millionaires around the world.

However, that wealth is not distributed equally across all parts of the United States. Income inequality in the U.S. is considerable. Despite the considerable total wealth, 11.1% of the U.S. population lived in poverty as of 2024. This represents about 36.8 million people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Another inequality stamp: The median wealth per adult in the United States for 2025 was $124,041. In the highest-ranking country—Luxembourg—it was $395,340.

Measuring Wealth: What Median Income Tells Us

Median income is a particularly good way to look at how people are doing, both nationally and among states in the U.S. Here’s why.

There are several ways to assess wealth in a given area. A state’s gross domestic product (GDP) offers a glimpse into its overall economic health, but not necessarily how individuals and households are doing.

Mean income (the total of all values divided by the number of values in a dataset—otherwise known as the average) is the primary mathematical value for making comparisons. However, having a large number of high-earning one-percenters or low-income people in a region can skew the end result in revealing how much money individuals earn.

The median gives you a better picture. It is determined by lining up all values in a dataset in numerical order, and then finding the “middle” value. A state’s median income is exactly halfway between what people earn on both sides of the wealth spectrum. That makes median income a much more accurate assessment of what the average American makes annually than the actual average income.

How Race and Gender Affect Income

Structural racism and sexism severely and negatively impact many Americans and their families. Here, we look at individual income to focus on how individual workers are faring.

A significant contributing factor to American income inequality is a disparity in earnings by race. The differences are stark. Controlling for other factors, a 2024 study by Payscale points to a gender pay gap for Black women of $0.80 for every $1 earned by White men. Black men earned 84.6% as much as White men (median weekly earnings) in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Additionally, Black and Hispanic families own less wealth than White families. In 2022 (the most recent data available), a typical (median) White family had a wealth of $285,000, while a typical Black family had a wealth of $44,900, and a typical Hispanic family had a wealth of $61,600.

A prominent income gap exists between men and women in the United States. Women make approximately 83 cents for every dollar of men’s wages in an uncontrolled gender pay gap, while women make 99 cents for every dollar in a controlled gender pay gap. Controlled gender pay gaps take into consideration job title, education, experience, industry, job level, and hours worked.

Contributing to these discrepancies: Men constitute 36.4% of minimum-wage workers as of 2023, while women account for just 11% of Fortune 500 CEOs as of 2025.

For the fourth quarter of 2025, Asian and White women earn a median of $1,395 and $1,108 per week, respectively; Black women and Hispanic or Latinas earn a median of $942 and $889 per week, respectively.

Median Household Income

One of the measures of income provided by the U.S. Census Bureau—and the one we chose to use for our state-to-state comparison—is median household (HH) income. This is the total gross income of all persons 15 years or older within a housing unit.

When the Census Bureau measures and compares how different parts of the nation are doing, “median HH Income is perhaps the single most widely used measure of income in the census,” as the Missouri Census Data Center explains. Median household income can include households with only one resident as well as those with multiple residents who are not related (i.e., roommates).

Median household income is different from the two other measures that the census uses:

• Median per capita income, which looks at each individual person’s income, rather than treating a household as a singular entity
• Median family income, which only considers households with two or more people related by birth, marriage, or adoption

As of 2024, the median U.S. annual household income was $83,730.

Richest States by Median Income

The map above shows the pattern of median income across the U.S. Let’s start with a look at the richest states.

Special Consideration: District of Columbia

• Median household income: $109,870 (2024)
• Population: 702,250 (July 1, 2024)
• Unemployment rate: 6.7% (December 2025)
• Poverty rate: 14.0% (2023)

The District of Columbia is not a state, of course, but the U.S. Census Bureau includes it among the 50 states when listing median income. Its inclusion makes sense, given the fact that the District’s median income is higher than that of any state. As is likely unsurprising, the federal government is the largest employer in the nation’s capital.

D.C. has the highest population density in the U.S., along with the second-highest median value of owner-occupied housing units. Despite its high income and small population, D.C. also has the highest poverty rate of any of the richest states.

1. Massachusetts

• Median household income: $103,960 (2024)
• Population: 7.13 million (July 1, 2024)
• Unemployment rate: 4.8% (December 2025)
• **Poverty rate: **10.4% (2023)

Massachusetts’ economy was originally heavily dependent on agriculture and maritime trade, though manufacturing would become more prominent in the 19th century. Today, education and professional and business services employ the largest portion of the Bay State’s workforce. Its leisure and hospitality industry is also a major economic powerhouse.

2. Maryland

• Median household income: $103,678 (2024)
• Population: 6.26 million (July 1, 2024)
• Unemployment rate: 4.2.% (December 2025)
• Poverty rate: 9.5% (2023)

Maryland’s private-sector industries were responsible for $382.4 billion in economic output in 2024. The Free State ranked third in the nation for its number of federal employees, which makes sense, given its adjacency to Washington, D.C. Both the Social Security Administration and the Food and Drug Administration are headquartered in Maryland.

3. New Jersey

• Median household income: $103,556 (2024)
• Population: 9.5 million (July 1, 2024)
• Unemployment rate: 5.4% (December 2025)
• Poverty rate: 9.7% (2023)

Not only does New Jersey have the largest population of the three richest (and the three poorest) states, but it also has the largest population density of any state in the U.S. New Jersey’s largest industries are pharmaceuticals and life sciences. New Jersey is also the birthplace of major industries, such as organized baseball, professional basketball, movies, and passenger flights.

Poorest States by Median Income

Now, the opposite end of the spectrum. These states have the lowest median incomes.

1. Mississippi

• Median household income: $56,447 (2024)
• Population: 2.94 million (July 1, 2024)
• Unemployment rate: 3.7% (December 2025)
• Poverty rate: 18% (2023)

Despite 35% of Mississippi land being dedicated to farmland, the federal government is the fourth-biggest employer in the Magnolia State, after trade, transportation, and utilities. In addition to having the highest poverty rate of any state in the country, Mississippi is also known as the “hungriest state” in the U.S., with 20% of its population being food insecure.

2. West Virginia

• Median household income:$59,608 (2024)
• Population: 1.76 million (July 1, 2024)
• Unemployment rate: 4.6%(December 2025)
• Poverty rate: 16.7% (2023)

The Equality State is another case where the federal government is the largest employer, but this time, it hasn’t pushed enough people out of poverty. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, West Virginia’s 1938 unemployment rate was the highest in U.S. history.

3. Louisiana

• Median household income: $60,756 (2024)
• Population: 4.6 million (July 1, 2024)
• Unemployment rate: 4.2% (December 2025)
• Poverty rate: 18.9% (2023)

Chemical, petroleum, and coal products are Louisiana’s leading industries.Despite the low income and high poverty rate, several major companies are headquartered in Louisiana, spanning the energy, technology, healthcare, and logistics sectors, such as Lumen Technologies, Entergy, and Ochsner Health.

Which State Has the Highest Median Income?

The state that has the highest median income is Massachusetts, with a median income of $103,960 in 2024. The District of Columbia, which is not a state, has the highest median income overall, with a median income of $109,870 in 2024.

What Is Middle-Class Income?

What is considered middle-class income will depend on a person’s location. A middle-class person in Arkansas may not be a middle-class person in New York City, for example, where the cost of living is much higher. According to the Pew Research Center, an individual should have an income between $56,600 to $169,800 to be considered middle class (estimated figures as of 2022).

What Percentage of Americans Make Over $100k?

Only 18% of Americans make more that $100K a year. Among those aged 35 to 44, the figure rises to 25%.

The Bottom Line

Though the United States is by far the wealthiest country in the world, income and wealth inequality exist throughout the nation, which can be evidenced in the difference in median income and poverty throughout the states as well as by gender and race across the board.

Correction—Sept. 27, 2024_: _This article has been corrected to state that Black women earned approximately $0.80 for every $1 earned by White men, according to a 2023 study by Payscale.