America’s Most Wealthy States

By Michael B. Sauter, Samuel Weigley, Brian Zajac and Alexander E. M. Hess
247wallstreet.com

Based on the 2011 Census Bureau American Community Survey, 24/7 Wall St. identified the states with the highest and lowest median household income.

Between 2010 and 2011, Vermont was the only state where median income increased. Income fell in 18 states and remained statistically unchanged in 31. In Hawaii, which remained one of the wealthiest states in the country, median income decreased by more than $3,000 between 2010 and 2011 alone.

(However, note the median household income, meaning these geographic areas have more growth than the poorer ones and if you want positive activity, these are the areas to concentrate. Editor)

10.
California
Median household income: $57,287
Population: 37,691,912 (the highest)
Unemployment rate: 11.7% (2nd highest)
Pct. below poverty line: 16.6% (18th highest)

Four of the 10 wealthiest cities in the country with populations of more than 100,000 are affluent suburbs of either San Francisco or Los Angeles. Meanwhile, California towns like Stockton, Victorville and Fresno, located inland, have among the highest poverty rates in the country.

9.
Delaware
Median household income: $58,814
Population: 907,135 (6th lowest)
Unemployment rate: 7.3% (16th lowest)
Pct. below poverty line: 11.9% (11th lowest)

Almost 6% of the families in the state earned more than $200,000 last year, one of the highest proportions among all states. Meanwhile, fewer than 10% of the state’s residents were without health insurance in 2011, the eighth-lowest across the nation.

8.
Hawaii
Median household income: $61,821
Population: 1,374,810 (11th lowest)
Unemployment rate: 6.7% (11th lowest)
Pct. below poverty line: 12% (12th lowest)

From 2007 to 2011, the percentage of families living below the poverty line increased from 8% to 12%, while the unemployment rate rose from 2.7% to 6.7%. Despite all this, Hawaii remained relatively wealthy. The state’s poverty and unemployment rates for 2011 were well below the national benchmarks.

7.
Virginia
Median household income: $61,882
Population: 8,096,604 (12th highest)
Unemployment rate: 6.2% (8th lowest)
Pct. below poverty line: 11.5% (8th lowest)

In the city of Arlington, located in the capital region, nearly 20% of families earned more than $200,000 annually, almost four times the national rate. However, the wealth does not spread out to the rural regions of the state where 3.7% of families earned less than $10,000 a year, a large percentage for a state that is considered wealthy.

6.
New Hampshire
Median household income: $62,647
Population: 1,318,194 (9th lowest)
Unemployment rate: 5.4% (4th lowest)
Pct. below poverty line: 8.8% (the lowest)

The state’s poverty rate was just 8.8% last year, the lowest in the nation. Also, only 2.7% of families earned less than $10,000, which, along with Vermont, was the lower than any other state in the country. With only 5.4% of the New Hampshire’s workforce unemployed in 2011, most residents were able to earn enough to avoid poverty.

5.
Massachusetts
Median household income: $62,859
Population: 6,587,536 (14th highest)
Unemployment rate: 7.4% (18th lowest)
Pct. below poverty line: 11.6% (9th lowest)

Just under 10% of families in the state made more than $200,000 in 2011, the fourth-highest rate in the country. Massachusetts also had the lowest percentage of the population without health insurance in 2011, at a mere 4.3% — a whopping 10.8 percentage points below the national rate. The high rate of insured residents has much to do with a 2006 law signed by then-Gov. Mitt Romney. The law provided near universal health care coverage to all Massachusetts citizens

4.
Connecticut
Median household income: $65,753
Population: 3,580,709 (22nd lowest)
Unemployment rate: 8.8% (19th highest)
Pct. below poverty line: 10.9% (5th lowest)

Second only to New York, Connecticut had one of the largest gaps between the rich and the poor. At nearly 11%, the proportion of families living below the poverty line in Connecticut is the fifth lowest in the country. Meanwhile, 11.2% of families earned more than $200,000 in 2011, the highest proportion of all states.

3.
New Jersey
Median household income: $67,458
Population: 8,821,155 (11th highest)
Unemployment rate: 9.3% (14th highest)
Pct. below poverty line: 10.4% (3rd lowest)

In New Jersey, 10.9% of families earned more than $200,000 last year and just 10.4% of residents lived below the poverty line, fewer than all states except for New Hampshire. Still, there were areas in the state where poverty was more widespread. In Newark, 31.6% of residents lived below the poverty line, while Paterson’s poverty rate was 28.9%. In contrast to the state as a whole, families in Newark were more than 16 times more likely to earn less than $10,000 than over $200,000 a year. Similarly, in Paterson, 16.2% of families earned under $10,000 per year, while just 1.4% earned more than $200,000 annually.

2.
Alaska
Median household income: $67,825
Population: 722,718 (4th lowest)
Unemployment rate: 7.6% (22nd lowest)
Pct. below poverty line: 10.5% (4th lowest)

In 2011, Alaska moved ahead of New Jersey to take the spot of the state with the second-highest median household income in the country. The state benefits from its vast natural resources, particularly oil, natural gas, and timber. Since 1957, the state has collected nearly $100 billion in taxes from oil and gas companies, and Alaska oil production has accounted for more than 13% of total U.S. production. Most residents reap the benefits from these payments. Income inequality in the state is the second-lowest in the country. Just 3% of Alaskan families earned less than $10,000 per year compared to the 5.1% nationwide. Meanwhile, despite the state’s high median income, just 5% of families earned more than $200,000 per year.

1.
Maryland
Median household income: $70,004
Population: 5,828,289 (19th highest)
Unemployment rate: 7% (15th lowest)
Pct. below poverty line: 10.1% (2nd lowest)

Maryland is one of three states, along with New Jersey and Connecticut, where more than 10% of families earned more than $200,000 in 2011. Across the U.S., only 5.6% of families made more than $200,000 in 2011.

Full Story:
http://247wallst.com/2012/09/20/americas-richest-states/2/