Posted on 02/14/2026 8:01:48 PM PST by SeekAndFind
Since 2019, U.S. household incomes have surged - rising from $68,700 to $83,730 nationally, a 21.9% increase in just five years.
But where you live matters a lot.
While some states tracked close to the national average, others saw incomes climb at nearly double the pace, driven by booming local industries and major investment.
States like Colorado posted outsized gains, while Georgia’s expanding EV industry brought billions in investment and rising paychecks.
The map, via Visual Capitalist's Dorothy Neufeld, shows which states saw the fastest growth in median household income from 2019 to 2024, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau.
Below, we show the change in median household income for all 50 U.S. states and D.C. between 2019 and 2024 using nominal figures (not adjusted for inflation):
| Rank | State | Change in Median Household Income 2019-2024 | Median Household Income 2019 | Median Household Income 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colorado | 46.9% | $72,500 | $106,500 |
| 2 | Georgia | 43.4% | $56,630 | $81,210 |
| 3 | Maine | 36.3% | $66,550 | $90,730 |
| 4 | Montana | 36.1% | $60,190 | $81,920 |
| 5 | Tennessee | 34.0% | $56,630 | $75,860 |
| 6 | Rhode Island | 31.6% | $70,150 | $92,290 |
| 7 | Massachusetts | 29.9% | $87,710 | $113,900 |
| 8 | Florida | 29.6% | $58,370 | $75,630 |
| 9 | Iowa | 29.4% | $66,050 | $85,480 |
| 10 | Missouri | 29.4% | $60,600 | $78,390 |
| 11 | California | 28.8% | $78,100 | $100,600 |
| 12 | New Hampshire | 28.7% | $86,900 | $111,800 |
| 13 | North Dakota | 25.8% | $70,030 | $88,080 |
| 14 | Mississippi | 25.0% | $44,790 | $55,980 |
| 15 | Ohio | 24.5% | $64,660 | $80,520 |
| 16 | South Dakota | 24.3% | $64,260 | $79,850 |
| 17 | Michigan | 23.9% | $64,120 | $79,460 |
| 18 | South Carolina | 23.8% | $62,030 | $76,780 |
| 19 | Idaho | 23.7% | $65,990 | $81,650 |
| 20 | Utah | 23.0% | $84,520 | $104,000 |
| 21 | Wisconsin | 22.6% | $67,350 | $82,560 |
| 22 | New York | 20.8% | $71,850 | $86,830 |
| 23 | Texas | 20.8% | $67,440 | $81,490 |
| 24 | Wyoming | 20.8% | $65,130 | $78,680 |
| 25 | New Mexico | 20.8% | $53,110 | $64,140 |
| 26 | Oregon | 20.5% | $74,410 | $89,700 |
| 27 | Virginia | 20.2% | $81,310 | $97,720 |
| 28 | Kansas | 19.9% | $73,150 | $87,690 |
| 29 | Arizona | 19.9% | $70,670 | $84,700 |
| 30 | Arkansas | 18.9% | $54,540 | $64,840 |
| 31 | Washington | 18.3% | $82,450 | $97,500 |
| 32 | New Jersey | 18.0% | $87,730 | $103,500 |
| 33 | Nebraska | 17.9% | $73,070 | $86,140 |
| 34 | West Virginia | 17.6% | $53,710 | $63,150 |
| 35 | Louisiana | 17.5% | $51,710 | $60,740 |
| 36 | Alabama | 16.7% | $56,200 | $65,560 |
| 37 | Alaska | 16.4% | $78,390 | $91,260 |
| 38 | Kentucky | 16.4% | $55,660 | $64,790 |
| 39 | Delaware | 15.7% | $74,190 | $85,860 |
| 40 | Indiana | 15.0% | $66,690 | $76,710 |
| 41 | Maryland | 14.8% | $95,570 | $109,700 |
| 42 | Vermont | 14.7% | $74,310 | $85,260 |
| 43 | Connecticut | 13.7% | $87,290 | $99,240 |
| 44 | Nevada | 13.7% | $70,910 | $80,590 |
| 45 | Pennsylvania | 13.4% | $70,580 | $80,060 |
| 46 | Minnesota | 13.4% | $81,430 | $92,350 |
| 47 | Illinois | 13.2% | $74,400 | $84,210 |
| 48 | District of Columbia | 12.6% | $93,110 | $104,800 |
| 49 | Hawaii | 11.6% | $88,010 | $98,240 |
| 50 | Oklahoma | 9.9% | $59,400 | $65,310 |
| 51 | North Carolina | 9.9% | $61,160 | $67,220 |
Colorado’s thriving tech industry helped push median income up 46.9%, the fastest rise across states.
With $165,606 in average earnings across the sector in 2023, Colorado ranked sixth-highest nationally. From software to renewable energy, employment growth has expanded by double- or even triple-digit percentages across various roles since 2018.
Georgia ranks in a close second, with median incomes climbing 43.4%. In particular, the EV and aerospace sectors are playing a key role in job creation. Since 2018, the state has seen $27.3 billion in investment across EV, aerospace, and battery manufacturers including Rivian and SK Battery America.
Maine, meanwhile, saw wages rise 36.3%. In 2024, wages across the tech sector saw the steepest jump of 11.4% while those in the construction sector saw strong gains of 8.5%. Other factors, such as its older population and tight labor market, have further boosted wages.
Falling near the middle of the pack were New York and Texas, each with wage gains of 20.8% between 2019 and 2024.
By contrast, North Carolina and Oklahoma saw only 9.9% cumulative wage growth, the weakest performance nationwide. Median household income in both states remains well below the U.S. average and still trails pre-pandemic levels.
To learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on average hourly earnings by state in 2025.
2019 to 2024? That’s ancient data. The world has changed a lot since then. Georgia was buoyed by batteries for EVs? How’s that working out? People and businesses are fleeing places like Portland, OR and Minneapolis, MN. Dem run states are hemorrhaging people.
Besides, a percentage growth number is fine as long as you ignore the cost of living in those places.
To me, the main insight is that the growths were distributed across regions. It used to be Southern states in general populating the bottom of the list, not anymore. In each level (top, middle, bottom) we find states of various regions.
Exactly. Theses numbers are virtually meaningless unless you factor in the cost of living in each state relative to its income increase.
Fast rising incomes mean little when the cost of living is outpacing it.
Why is Georgia doing so well?
Georgia doing so well! Huge Atlanta Airport. Enlarged sea port at Savana. Subsidies for film industry. Friendly attitude towards investment for manufacturing. Lots of lakes and vegetation for tourism. Military bases. Love of football.
We are just poor apparently.
GEORGIA: Umpteen $Billions of private, federal and state money gambled on the huge Hyundai EV operation in Bryan County that will likely wildly underperform, which will also drag down the GA Hyundai battery production factory.
Check back in a couple years...
This report says nothing.
My real estate tax in Georgia doubled in the same time frame.
Biden’s and the insane lefts’ spending and subsequent inflation is what is driving most of those numbers.
> This report says nothing.<
It’s a malicious use of statistics.
An increase from $10 to $20 is a 100% increase.
An increase from 30 to $36 is a 20% increase.
Oh, that poor $36 guy is way behind the $20 guy. (Elon only paid 15% and a Secretary pays 20%).
EC
Are those annual income figures before tax gross or after tax income?
Usually it’s pre-tax income. It would take extra effort to calculate the average after tax income of each state.
Are they using the term income as the commies have changed it, or in it’s original meaning?
You are correct.
You see large “percent change” used whenever the writer wants to make a point while conveniently leaving out the values used to calculate the reported percentage.
Torture the numbers - until they tell you what you want to say.
In this case, they left cost-of-living, population shifts, and unemployment figures out*... so, I said, “This report says nothing.”
* and other variables that I’m too lazy to think of.
Thomas Sowell always said to be wary of household income vs per capita income.
Didn’t read the article. Does this include adjustments, per state, for cost of living average/state?
Thx.
What happened in 2019..... Lockdowns and remote work. Where I lived and currently live, every scrap of property was bought site unseen for cash by someone from Silicon Valley who kept the same pay working remote. There were no new jobs or factories to bring up the pay for locals. But there were hundreds of Californians moving up here (Eastern Oregon, North Idaho, Rocky side of Montana.) sure it is anecdotal evidence but the timeline used is exactly what I saw, and lots of smaller mountain towns saw as well.
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