Median Household Income by State 2026: The Complete Ranking

• By Steven Hill
Median Household Income by State 2026: The Complete Ranking

The U.S. median household income reached $83,730 in 2024 — an all-time high in nominal dollars, according to the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey released in September 2025. Adjusted for inflation, that figure equals the 2019 pre-pandemic record of $83,260, meaning that five years of wage gains largely returned purchasing power to where it stood before the inflation surge of 2020 to 2022. 1

But the national median flattens an enormous range. Between Massachusetts at the top and Mississippi at the bottom, the gap is nearly $55,000 per year — a difference larger than the median income of the lowest-earning states. Where you live is, in many cases, the single most powerful predictor of household income — more powerful than education or industry alone. 1

This matters beyond the abstract. Every ZIP code page on ZipCodePlus.com displays the median household income for that specific area. Understanding how your ZIP code’s income compares to the state and national median is one of the most useful pieces of context for evaluating any location — whether you are considering a move, buying a home, or simply trying to understand the economic character of a neighborhood.

What Median Household Income Actually Measures

Before the rankings, a few definitions matter.

Median household income is the income level at which exactly half of all households earn more and half earn less. It includes the combined income of everyone in the household aged 15 and older — wages, salaries, self-employment income, investment returns, government transfers, and any other cash income source. 2

The median is the right measure because the average (mean) is distorted upward by the very highest earners. A single billionaire moving into a neighborhood does not change what the family next door earns — but it raises the average dramatically. The median is immune to this distortion and gives a far more accurate picture of what a typical household actually brings in.

Two Census Bureau datasets report household income by state:

  • The Current Population Survey (CPS ASEC) — used for the national headline figure of $83,730
  • The American Community Survey (ACS) 1-Year Estimates — reports a slightly lower national median of $81,604 due to methodology differences, and is the primary source for state-level comparisons

Both are from the Census Bureau’s September 2025 release covering 2024 income. State figures in this article use ACS 1-year estimates unless noted otherwise. 1

The Top 10 Highest-Income States

1. Massachusetts — $104,828

Massachusetts leads all 50 states with a median household income of approximately $104,828, according to ACS 2024 data. The state’s income advantage is structural: 48% of Massachusetts adults hold a bachelor’s degree or higher — the highest rate in the nation — and the state’s economy is anchored by technology, biotechnology, financial services, healthcare, and a dense concentration of world-class universities. 3

The Boston metro area alone — with a median household income of $117,825 — is the third-highest-earning major metro in the country, trailing only San Francisco and Washington D.C. High incomes are real, but so is the cost of living: Massachusetts consistently ranks among the most expensive states for housing and childcare. Browse ZIP codes in Massachusetts →

2. Maryland — $102,905

Maryland owes much of its high median income to its position adjacent to Washington D.C. Federal government employment, defense contracting, and the growing cybersecurity and federal technology sectors generate well-above-average wages throughout the state. The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria metro area — which includes large portions of Maryland — reports a median household income of $126,244, second only to San Francisco among the nation’s 25 largest metros. 3 Browse ZIP codes in Maryland →

3. New Jersey — approximately $100,000+

New Jersey benefits from its position between two of the country’s most productive economic zones — New York City and Philadelphia. Many New Jersey residents commute to high-wage jobs in Manhattan’s financial, legal, and media sectors while living in the state’s suburban communities. The state also has strong pharmaceutical and healthcare industries of its own. High income comes paired with one of the highest costs of living and highest property tax rates in the country. Browse ZIP codes in New Jersey →

4. Connecticut — $96,049

Connecticut has one of the highest per capita incomes in the country, driven by financial services — particularly hedge funds and private equity firms concentrated in the Fairfield County corridor — along with insurance, aerospace, and proximity to New York City. The income figures are real, but Connecticut also has a significant affordability challenge in its smaller cities and a persistent economic divide between its wealthy suburbs and post-industrial urban centers. Browse ZIP codes in Connecticut →

5. California — $95,521

California ranks fifth nationally, lifted by the extraordinary compensation levels in Silicon Valley and the broader San Francisco Bay Area, where the median household income reaches $135,590 — the highest of any major metro in the country. The state’s aggregate income figures are pulled up significantly by tech equity compensation. The honest caveat is that California’s housing costs are among the highest in the nation, which means that a $95,000 median income in California buys far less than the same income in states ranked much lower on this list. Browse ZIP codes in California →

6. Hawaii — $95,322

Hawaii earns its high ranking through a combination of government spending, military presence, and tourism — but its income advantage is almost entirely consumed by the nation’s highest housing costs. A household earning $95,000 in Hawaii faces living expenses that would require $130,000 or more in most mainland states. Browse ZIP codes in Hawaii →

7. Washington — $94,605

Washington is home to Amazon and Microsoft, two of the highest-paying large employers in the country. The Seattle metro’s tech concentration drives wages across the entire state’s economy. Washington also has no state income tax, which means more of that income stays in workers’ pockets compared to similarly compensated workers in California or New York. Browse ZIP codes in Washington →

8. Utah — $96,000+

Utah is the highest-earning landlocked state in the Mountain West, powered by the Silicon Slopes tech corridor between Salt Lake City and Provo. Utah’s income growth has been among the fastest in the nation over the past decade, and the state benefits from above-average household sizes — more earners per household contribute to higher household totals. Browse ZIP codes in Utah →

9. Colorado — $97,113

Colorado ranks among the top ten with a median of approximately $97,113, driven by Denver’s growing tech and aerospace economy, a highly educated workforce, and strong outdoor recreation tourism. Colorado is notable for being the highest-earning landlocked state in the contiguous U.S. The Denver metro’s income growth has been particularly strong over the past decade as tech and remote workers have relocated to the state. Browse ZIP codes in Colorado →

10. New Hampshire — $96,838

New Hampshire rounds out the top ten, supported by low unemployment, strong manufacturing and technology wages, and proximity to the Boston economy. The state’s elimination of both its income tax and sales tax makes the effective purchasing power of this income higher than the raw number suggests. Browse ZIP codes in New Hampshire →

The Bottom 10 States by Median Household Income

At the other end of the spectrum, ten states report median household incomes below $70,000 — a gap from the top that reflects not just wage differences but fundamentally different economic structures. 2

StateMedian Household Income (2024)
Mississippi$59,127
West Virginia$55,948
Louisiana$58,229
Arkansas~$61,000
New Mexico~$62,000
Alabama~$63,000
Oklahoma~$64,000
Kentucky~$65,000
South Carolina~$66,000
Montana~$67,000

Mississippi remains the lowest-earning state, with a median household income of $59,127 — less than 57% of Massachusetts. The state has a 20% poverty rate, limited high-wage industry concentration, and lower educational attainment rates that reinforce the income gap. 2

West Virginia at $55,948 is technically the second-lowest, reflecting the long-term economic impact of the coal industry’s decline and a lack of replacement high-wage employers. 2

The important counterpoint: lower-income states also have lower costs of living. Mississippi’s cost of living index of approximately 85 (vs. the national average of 100) means that $59,000 there buys more than in many states. A dollar earned in Mississippi buys roughly 15% more than the national average. This does not fully close the income gap — but it narrows the real-world purchasing power difference considerably. For a deeper analysis of how income and costs interact, see Cost of Living by State — 2026.

What Drives the Income Gap Between States

The roughly $55,000 spread between the highest and lowest states is not random. Four structural factors explain most of it.

Industry concentration. States with high concentrations of technology, finance, healthcare, law, and defense contracting report higher incomes. Massachusetts has biotech and universities. Maryland has federal contracting. Washington has tech giants. Mississippi, West Virginia, and Louisiana have economies more concentrated in lower-wage industries — agriculture, energy extraction, service work — without the high-wage employment base that drives median income up.

Educational attainment. The relationship between education and income is among the strongest in economics. States where a higher percentage of adults hold college degrees report higher household incomes, both because educated workers earn more and because high-education workforces attract high-wage employers. Massachusetts leads the nation in both education (48% with a bachelor’s degree or higher) and income. Mississippi ranks near the bottom in both. 3

Urbanization. Metropolitan areas concentrate economic opportunity, enable specialization, and create competition for talent that drives wages upward. States with large, productive metro areas — Massachusetts (Boston), Maryland (D.C. suburbs), Washington (Seattle) — earn more than states with smaller, less economically dense urban centers. The San Francisco metro at $135,590 pulls California’s entire state median up; remove that metro and the state’s figure would look very different.

Household structure. Median household income reflects the combined income of everyone in the household. States with higher rates of dual-income households, larger average household sizes, or lower rates of single-person households will report higher median household income even if individual wages are comparable. Utah’s above-average household sizes partially explain its high ranking.

The Critical Caveat: Income Without Cost Context Is Misleading

A $95,000 household income in California does not buy the same quality of life as $95,000 in Tennessee or Nebraska. Housing costs, taxes, childcare costs, and everyday expenses vary enormously by state — enough to flip the effective purchasing power comparison between high-income and low-income states in some cases.

The most meaningful comparison is income relative to local cost of living — sometimes called real or inflation-adjusted income at the state level. When Minnesota reports a median family income of over $109,000 adjusted for cost of living, it is meaningfully higher than California’s raw $95,521 that faces coastal cost structures. 4

A few concrete examples of how cost adjustment changes the picture:

  • California ranks 5th in raw income but falls significantly when adjusted for its housing and cost burden
  • Minnesota ranks lower in raw income than several coastal states but higher in effective purchasing power after costs
  • Tennessee and Texas benefit significantly from no state income tax, making their effective take-home income higher than raw median income comparisons suggest

For the full cost-of-living context, see Cheapest States to Live In 2026 and States With No Income Tax in 2026.

Income Varies Enormously Within States — Down to the ZIP Code

State-level medians are useful context but should not be the basis for specific location decisions. Within California, for example, ZIP codes in rural inland counties report median household incomes of $40,000 to $50,000 — while ZIP codes in wealthy Bay Area communities exceed $200,000. That is a fourfold difference within the same state.

The same variation exists in every state. When evaluating any specific neighborhood — for a move, a home purchase, or simply to understand the area — the ZIP code level is where income data becomes actionable.

Every ZIP code page on ZipCodePlus.com displays the median household income for that specific area alongside housing costs, demographics, sales tax rates, and climate data. A few examples to explore:

Sources

Page last updated: April 2026. Income data from U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2024 1-Year Estimates (ACSBR-025, September 2025) and Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (P60-286, September 2025). State rankings reflect the most recent available data and will be updated when the Census Bureau releases 2025 ACS data in fall 2026.

Footnotes

  1. Salario.io — ‘Average Household Income 2026: By State, Race, Age & Education,’ citing U.S. Census Bureau CPS ASEC P60-286 and ACS ACSBR-025, September 2025. https://salario.io/blog/average-household-income/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  2. Plootus — ‘Median Household Income by State 2024: Census Data,’ citing Census Bureau ACS 2024 1-Year Estimates. https://www.plootus.com/median-household-income ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  3. The World Data — ‘Average Household Income by State in US 2025,’ citing U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2024 1-Year Estimates. https://theworlddata.com/average-household-income-by-state/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  4. WalletHub — ‘Best & Worst States to Raise a Family in 2026,’ citing median family income adjusted for cost of living. https://wallethub.com/edu/best-states-to-raise-a-family/31065 ↩

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