Mapped: Median Income by State in 2024

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52 mins ago

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June 25, 2024 Graphics/Design:

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Median Income by State in 2024, Adjusted for Cost of Living

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

To gain insight into the U.S. economy, we’ve visualized the median income by state, as of May 2024. These figures come from WalletHub, which sourced income data from the U.S. Census Bureau and adjusted it for cost of living according to the Cost of Living Index (COLI).

ℹ️ Median income refers to the income level at the midpoint of the income distribution within each state. Using California as an example, half of the state’s households earn more than $124,000, while the other half earn less (after cost of living adjustments). Data and Key Takeaways

All of the numbers we used to create this graphic are listed in the table below.

RankStateMedian Annual Income
(adjusted for cost of living) 1DC$162,265 2Hawaii$141,832 3Massachusetts$127,760 4Maryland$124,693 5California$123,988 6New Jersey$117,847 7Connecticut$114,156 8Alaska$113,934 9New Hampshire$110,205 10Rhode Island$104,252 11Washington$103,748 12Colorado$97,301 13New York$91,366 14Oregon$91,100 15Utah$89,786 16Vermont$89,695 17Virginia$89,393 18Delaware$87,173 19Minnesota$86,364 20Nevada$80,366 21North Dakota$79,874 22Maine$79,800 23Illinois$78,304 24Wyoming$76,307 25Pennsylvania$74,711 26Arizona$74,375 27Wisconsin$72,602 28Nebraska$72,384 29Texas$70,513 30Idaho$70,041 31South Dakota$69,266 32Iowa$68,974 33Montana$68,937 34Florida$68,818 35Kansas$68,489 36Georgia$66,612 37Indiana$64,170 38North Carolina$63,025 39South Carolina$62,909 40Michigan$62,446 41Ohio$61,904 42Missouri$59,715 43Tennessee$59,077 44New Mexico$58,911 45Oklahoma$57,215 46Louisiana$56,282 47Kentucky$55,629 48Alabama$55,480 49West Virginia$52,719 50Arkansas$51,032 51Mississippi$46,880

The Cost of Living Index, published by the Council for Community and Economic Research (C2ER), was established in 1968, and allows for consistent place-to-place cost comparisons.

The index considers six categories of spending: groceries, housing, utilities,

Mapped: The Income Needed to Live Comfortably in Every U.S. State

Published

5 hours ago

on

June 12, 2024 Graphics/Design:

See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.

The Income Needed to Live Comfortably in Every U.S. State

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Individuals in the top 11 most expensive states in the U.S. need an annual income exceeding $100,000 to live comfortably.

This map shows how much income single adults need to live comfortably in each U.S. state. SmartAsset calculated the income needed using the cost of necessities sourced from the MIT Living Wage Calculator, last updated on Feb. 14, 2024.

In this case, “comfortable” was defined as the annual income required to cover a 50/30/20 budget, allocating 50% of earnings to necessities such as housing and utility costs, 30% to discretionary spending, and 20% to savings or investments.

Massachusetts Ranks First

Massachusetts is the most expensive state to live comfortably in. A single adult needs to make at least $116,022 annually or $55.78 per hour.

RankStateSalary needed for a single working adult 1Massachusetts$116,022 2Hawaii$113,693 3California$113,651 4New York$111,738 5Washington$106,496 6Colorado$103,293 7New Jersey$103,002 8Maryland$102,918 9Oregon$101,088 10Rhode Island$100,838 11Connecticut$100,381 12Virginia$99,965 13New Hampshire$98,093 14Arizona$97,344 15Georgia$96,886 16Alaska$96,762 17Vermont$95,763 18Illinois$95,098 19Delaware$94,141 20Utah$93,683 21Nevada$93,434 22Florida$93,309 23Maine$91,686 24Pennsylvania$91,312 25North Carolina$89,690 26Minnesota$89,232 27Idaho$88,733 28South Carolina$88,317 29Wyoming$87,651 30Texas$87,027 31Tennessee$86,403 32Indiana$85,030 33Montana$84,739 34Kansas$84,656 35Michigan$84,365 36Wisconsin$84,115 37Missouri$84,032 38Alabama$83,824 39Nebraska$83,699 40New Mexico$83,616 41Iowa$83,366 42Mississippi$82,742 43Louisiana$82,451 44South Dakota$81,453 45Ohio$80,704 45Kentucky$80,704 47North Dakota$80,538 48Oklahoma$80,413 49Arkansas$79,456 50West Virginia$78,790

West Virginia is the least expensive for a single adult, who only needs to make an estimated $37.88 per hour, or $78,790 annually.

To live comfortably on your own in the top five states, a person