What Was The Median Household Income In America In 2021?
I did a median household income post the first three years of this blog. But last year the Census Bureau had massive delays in publishing the 2020 data so I didn’t do a post when they eventually released it. Plus, the 2020 data was very weird and skewed due to massive unemployment payouts and covid relief money.
Well this year the Census folks got back to their usual timeline of publishing the official data in September for the year prior. So we have the recently published 2021 data and let’s get to the map!
2021 Median Household Income
The median household income for America as a whole in 2021 was $70,784. This was a very slight decline from the 2020 number which was $71,186.
I ran the official 2021 Census Bureau data by state through my high energy dynamo-mapping machine and this is what it looks like: (click for a larger version)
The three states with the highest median household income are:
- Maryland $97,332
- New Hampshire $88,841
- New Jersey $88,559
(Note: D.C. is not a state but if it were it would rank second)
The three states with the lowest median household income are:
- Mississippi $46,637
- West Virginia $46,836
- Arkansas $50,784
Trends?
For anyone who follows these trends it would appear there aren’t really any surprises here. The south and especially the southeast states have the lowest general household incomes, while the coastal states are generally higher.
But for a super-geek of this stuff like myself there are some very interesting developments. I’m going to keep this post short and just publish the data and map for 2021, but I’m hoping to do a follow up post soon about this 2021 data with some analysis added, so stay tuned!
Note – If you want to see the first three years I did these posts here they are for the years 2017, 2018, and 2019.
Wow, Oregon’s median income is higher than CA? That doesn’t sound right.
I’m not very surprised, the exodus from Cali – especially higher earners, has been reported on extensively. Oregon has seen a significant increase though.
Huge number of homeless/ illegals in CA probably also skews numbers lower.
True that CA has lots of homeless etc but the official Census data (which is used for policymaking) is based on surveys and I highly doubt they’re surveying homeless people. Illegal immigrants perhaps….
Interesting Dave, it’s surprising Texas with all its growth over the last few years is still on the lower end of the spectrum. Quick, someone tell Elon!
Elon knew that. Moved there to lower his cost of labor… Also, lower taxes makes lower income effectively higher…
All true!
Well Texas has increased quite well over the years, it’s still in the south and thus a lower COL, so that keeps overall numbers lower.
The Texas Labor Market Review shows that the oil industry and IT industry are hiring, but a large portion of new jobs are in Leisure & Hospitality. L&H jobs tend to be the lowest paid jobs a person can have.
That’s great inside info, thanks. The population explosion of Austin surely demands TONS more restaurants, coffee shops etc so it’s not just techies moving there.
it’s strange being in ny state with the high paid nyc folks contrasted with some of the poorest counties in northern ny and the adirondack park. i wonder how new hampshire is so high? maybe lack of overall poverty helps things out. if you visit there is doesn’t appear conspicuously “rich.”
New York State does have a wild dichotomy, always will due to NYC. Some of those small towns in the Catskills are really poor and spooky-depressing. As for NH, have you been to the lakes region? It’s pretty darn rich, and beautiful too. I’d love to own a house there on a lake as it’s also near the majestic White Mountains but I don’t think I’d pay the price tag for it.
Wow, who would have thought Utah beating out California. Oregon not doing too bad either. It doesn’t seem like CA is getting any less crowded, or poorer from the hoards of Teslas driving around.
Utah has seen great covid-growth, while CA has had people fleeing. Cali’s median has not gone up much in 5 years, while UT and OR have done well like other western states.
Maybe in a few more years it’ll be affordable to move to California! Loved SF back in the 90s when it was sketchier, looks like it’s headed back that way.
Thanks for the data man, looking forward to the analysis.
I good friend of mine lived in NYC in the 80’s and 90’s when they topped 1000 homicides a year, and he says the same. He kinda liked the tough seediness of it. I got more than my fill of that growing up in Baltimore 🙂
Interesting data Dave! Thanks for sharing.
cheers!
Can I use your map in a class assignment?
Sure Angie, I’d be honored!