State by state median income, COL analysis and quality of life: (living in, cost of)

[dreamofmonterey]

Detailed comparison here on a state by state basis.


Young people may also be interested to know the minimum wage laws for each state. There are FIVE states in the US with no minimum wage laws: Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas and South Carolina.

Income by State RankState Cost of Living Index Data adjusted for COL1

Maryland$69,272$70,545$68,080$62,372124.81$55,5022
New Jersey$68,342$70,378$67,035$64,169128.47$53,1973
Connecticut$67,034$68,595$65,967$59,972130.22$51,4774
Alaska$66,953$68,460$64,333$57,639132.64$50,4775
Hawaii$64,098$67,214$63,746$60,681165.56$38,7166
Massachusetts$64,081$65,401$62,365$56,236117.8$54,3987
New Hampshire$60,567$63,731$62,369$60,489116.68$51,9098
Virginia$59,330$61,233$59,562$55,10897.66$60,752
District of Columbia$59,290$57,936$54,317$47,221 139.92$42,3749
California$58,931$61,021$59,948$53,770132.56$44,45610
Delaware$56,860$57,989$54,610$52,214102.4$55,52711
Washington$56,548$58,078$55,591$53,439103.98$54,38412
Minnesota$55,616$57,288$55,082$57,363102.23$54,40313
Colorado$55,430$56,993$55,212$54,039102.23$54,22114
Utah$55,117$56,633$55,109$55,17995.15$57,92615
New York$54,659$56,033$53,514$48,201128.29$42,60616
Rhode Island$54,119$55,701$53,568$52,003123.25$43,91017
Illinois$53,966$56,235$54,124$49,28096.08$56,16818
Nevada$53,341$56,361$55,062$50,819101.39$52,61019
Wyoming$52,664$53,207$51,731$47,22798.66$53,37920
Vermont$51,618$52,104$49,907$51,622120.38$42,879
United States$50,221$52,029$50,740$46,242 21
Wisconsin$49,993$52,094$50,578$48,87496.45$51,83322
Pennsylvania$49,520$50,713$48,576$47,791100.67$49,19023
Arizona$48,745$50,958$49,889$46,729103.73$46,99224
Oregon$48,457$50,169$48,730$45,485110.47$43,86425
Texas$48,259$50,043$47,548$43,42591.04$53,00926
Iowa$48,044$48,980$47,292$47,48993.98$51,12227
North Dakota$47,827$45,685$43,753$43,75395.91$49,86728
Kansas$47,817$50,177$47,451$44,26491.31$52,36829
Georgia$47,590$50,861$49,136$46,84192.21$51,61030
Nebraska$47,357$49,693$47,085$48,12691.09$51,98931
Maine$45,734$46,581$45,888$45,040116.42$39,28432
Indiana$45,424$47,966$47,448$44,80694.19$48,22633
Ohio$45,395$47,988$46,597$45,83793.85$48,37034
Michigan$45,255$48,591$47,950$47,06495.25$47,51235
Missouri$45,229$46,867$45,114$44,65191.66$49,34436
South Dakota$45,043$46,032$43,424$44,62498.53$45,71537
Idaho$44,926$47,576$46,253$46,39593.04$48,28738
Florida$44,736$47,778$47,804$44,44898.39$45,46839
North Carolina$43,674$46,549$44,670$42,06196.21$45,39440
New Mexico$43,028$43,508$41,452$40,82798.88$43,51541
Louisiana$42,492$43,733$40,926$37,94396.15$44,19342
South Carolina$44,625$43,329$40,82298.71$42,99743
Montana$42,322$43,654$43,531$38,629100$42,32244
Tennessee$41,725$43,614$42,367$40,67689.49$46,62545
Oklahoma$41,664$42,822$41,567$40,00190.09$46,24746
Alabama$40,489$42,666$40,554$38,47392.74$43,65947
Kentucky$40,072$41,538$40,267$38,46689.21$44,91948
Arkansas$37,823$38,815$38,134$37,42090.61$41,74349
West Virginia$37,435$37,989$37,060$37,22794.4$39,656

50 Mississippi$36,646$37,790$36,338$35,26192.26$39,720


Income inequality in the United States

[sxrckr]

From the map - only 2 counties in Texas in the highest median income category? Looks like suburban Houston and suburban DFW....


edit - looks like most states don't have any counties in the highest category, ok.

[Chicago60614]

Originally Posted by sxrckr

From the map - only 2 counties in Texas in the highest median income category? Looks like suburban Houston and suburban DFW....


edit - looks like most states don't have any counties in the highest category, ok.

Cause you have to adjust for cost of living.

[dreamofmonterey]

Originally Posted by sxrckr

From the map - only 2 counties in Texas in the highest median income category? Looks like suburban Houston and suburban DFW....


edit - looks like most states don't have any counties in the highest category, ok.

That's what I noticed too. The rural areas really outnumber the higher median income areas, to an extreme. Looking at a visual of it gives a better picture.

[dreamofmonterey]

Iowa, Minnesota and North Dakota seem to be most evenly distributed, in that the COL isn't outweighing median income. As well as parts of western Pennsylvania and upstate NY.

[dreamofmonterey]

This is a good site for comparisons also.

The States With The Worst Income Inequality - 24/7 Wall St.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by dreamofmonterey

Young people may also be interested to know the minimum wage laws for each state. There are FIVE states in the US with no minimum wage laws: Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas and South Carolina.

That's good to know. Young people get screwed the most in states with high minimum wages as over qualified older people remain more comfortable in lesser jobs and due to the lower amount of total potential jobs due to the higher labor costs.

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by dreamofmonterey

Young people may also be interested to know the minimum wage laws for each state. There are FIVE states in the US with no minimum wage laws: Louisiana, Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas and South Carolina.

Okay, but that doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things, considering they default to whatever the federal minimum is.

4 states with lower than federal minimum, default to federal minimum
5 states with no minimum, default to federal minimum
22 states with minimum equal to federal minimum

Only 19 states and DC with higher than federal minimum

U.S. Department of Labor - Wage and Hour Division (WHD) - Minimum Wage Laws in the States (http://www.dol.gov/whd/minwage/america.htm - broken link)

[GraniteStater]

Originally Posted by Andy

That's good to know. Young people get screwed the most in states with high minimum wages as over qualified older people remain more comfortable in lesser jobs and due to the lower amount of total potential jobs due to the higher labor costs.

Most of the RTW states have lost jobs and have much higher poverty rates in many cases. Much of it comes down to educational attainment.

[sxrckr]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

Cause you have to adjust for cost of living.

You sure about that? I see lots of high COL areas in the high median income category too....