These Are America’s Richest & Poorest States

Dora Mekouar

Leave a comment

(Left) A vacant store in Mississippi, America’s poorest state. (Right) A home in Maryland, the richest state in the U.S., according to US Census data. (Photo on left by Flickr user Jimmy Smith, photo on right by Flickr user Gramophone Maryland, both via Creative Commons license)

Mississippi is the nation’s poorest state while Maryland ranks as its richest, according to newly released information from the US Census Bureau.

In addition to Mississippi, the three poorest states include West Virginia and Arkansas. Relatively low levels of education could be a factor in the poverty and lower incomes in all three states.

At the other end of the spectrum are Maryland, New Jersey and Alaska, which rank as the country’s richest states. The median income in Mississippi was $39,680 compared to $73,971 in Maryland.

File photo of a home in West Virginia by Flickr user Richard Elzey via Creative Commons license.

Three states — Washington, North Dakota, and Connecticut — reported income increases of more than $2,000 in 2014. Kentucky, the fifth poorest poor state, experienced a significant decline in income; the typical household earned $1,139 less in 2014 than in 2013. Income levels were essentially the same in 2013 and 2014 in 33 states.

Overall, the United States added 3.2 million new jobs in 2014, up from the 2.3 million jobs that were added in 2013. At the end of 2014, there were 139 million jobs in the U.S., more than at the start of 2008, the peak before the recession.

But not all U.S. states are sharing in this prosperity; the poverty rate has actually increased in 12 states. The nation’s overall poverty rate was 14.8 percent, which means 46.7 million people were living in poverty in 2014.

The U.S. Census Bureau said these numbers presented no “statistically significant” change from the previous year. It’s the fourth year in a row that poverty rates were not statistically different from the previous year.

The real median income for family households was $68,426, which was also not statistically different from 2013. However, when compared to 2007 — the year before the U.S. fell into its most recent recession — the real median household income is actually 6.5 percent lower.

24/7 Wall Street crunched the numbers and came up with the list below.

(File photo in teaser image by Flickr user Kevin Bond via Creative Commons license.) 

AMERICA’S RICHEST AND POOREST STATES
50. Mississippi – Median household income: $39,680  Poverty rate: 21.5%
49. West Virginia – Median household income: $41,059  Poverty rate: 18.3%
48. Arkansas – Median household income: $41,262  Poverty rate: 18.9%
47. Alabama – Median household income: $42,830  Poverty rate: 19.3%
46. Kentucky – Median household income: $42,958  Poverty rate: 19.1%
45. Tennessee – Median household income: $44,361  Poverty rate: 18.3%
44. Louisiana – Median household income: $44,555  Poverty rate: 19.8%
43. New Mexico – Median household income: $44,803  Poverty rate: 21.3%
42. South Carolina – Median household income: $45,238  Poverty rate: 18.0%
41. Montana – Median household income: $46,328  Poverty rate: 15.4%
40. North Carolina – Median household income: $46,556  Poverty rate: 17.2%
39. Florida – Median household income: $47,463  Poverty rate: 16.5%
38. Oklahoma – Median household income: $47,529  Poverty rate: 16.6%
37. Idaho – Median household income: $47,861 Poverty rate: 14.8%
36. Missouri – Median household income: $48,363  Poverty rate: 15.5%
35. Ohio – Median household income: $49,308  Poverty rate: 15.8%
34. Georgia – Median household income: $49,321  Poverty rate: 18.3%
33. Indiana – Median household income: $49,446  Poverty rate: 15.2%
32. Maine – Median household income: $49,462  Poverty rate: 14.1%
31. Michigan – Median household income: $49,847  Poverty rate: 16.2%
30. Arizona – Median household income: $50,068  Poverty rate: 18.2%
29. South Dakota – Median household income: $50,979  Poverty rate: 14.2%
28. Oregon – Median household income: $51,075  Poverty rate: 16.6%
27. Nevada – Median household income: $51,450  Poverty rate: 15.2%
26. Kansas – Median household income: $52,504  Poverty rate: 13.6%
25. Wisconsin – Median household income: $52,622 Poverty rate: 13.2%
24. Nebraska – Median household income: $52,686  Poverty rate: 12.4%
23. Texas – Median household income: $53,035  Poverty rate: 17.2%
22. Pennsylvania – Median household income: $53,234  Poverty rate: 13.6%
21. Iowa – Median household income: $53,712  Poverty rate: 12.2%
20. Vermont – Median household income: $54,166  Poverty rate: 12.2%
19. Rhode Island – Median household income: $54,891  Poverty rate: 14.3%
18. Wyoming – Median household income: $57,055  Poverty rate: 11.2%
17. Illinois – Median household income: $57,444  Poverty rate: 14.4%
16. New York – Median household income: $58,878  Poverty rate: 15.9%
15. North Dakota – Median household income: $59,029  Poverty rate: 11.5%
14. Delaware – Median household income: $59,716  Poverty rate: 12.5%
13. Utah – Median household income: $60,922  Poverty rate: 11.7%
12. Colorado – Median household income: $61,303 Poverty rate: 12.0%
11. Washington – Median household income: $61,366  Poverty rate: 13.2%
10. Minnesota – Median household income: $61,481  Poverty rate: 11.5%
9. California – Median household income: $61,933  Poverty rate: 16.4%
8. Virginia – Median household income: $64,902  Poverty rate: 11.8%
7. New Hampshire – Median household income: $66,532  Poverty rate: 9.2%
6. Massachusetts – Median household income: $69,160  Poverty rate: 11.6%
5. Hawaii – Median household income: $69,592  Poverty rate: 11.4%
4. Connecticut – Median household income: $70,048  Poverty rate: 10.8%
3. Alaska – Median household income: $71,583  Poverty rate: 11.2%
2. New Jersey – Median household income: $71,919  Poverty rate: 11.1%
1. Maryland- Median household income: $73,971  Poverty rate: 10.1%