Introduction
Looking at a state’s average median household income is one way to get an idea about the wealth distribution in a given state. The median income of a household is measured by adding all income generated by people who are employed and older than 15 years of age, during a year-long period, who live in the same house.
Individuals who live alone tend to have a lower median household income than people who live with others. Families where both adults are working, and perhaps their children are too, for instance, generally have a higher median household income because their income is composed of a family’s joint income, rather than the income of a single individual.
The median household income of a state is found by lining up the income of that state in numerical order, from lowest to highest, and then finding the number that is directly in the middle of that list. It splits the distribution neatly into two parts: households above the median income of a state, and households below the median income of a state.
The average median household income in the United States was $67,521, but most states range between $50,000—$90,000, with few outliers.
Learn more about the average income of each state by browsing the data in the charts.
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