Urban Institute: West Virginia Income Below 1970 Level

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The Urban Institute is out with another one of its terrific demographic studies. In a brief with the wonderfully Reganesque title of Is Your State Better Off Now Than It Was Fifty Years Ago?, Urban analyzed the change in median household income by state from 1970 to 2023. While 49 of the states saw some growth in inflation-adjusted median household income during this period, West Virginia was an outlier, with the state seeing a reduction in income of 0.5% or $213. Michigan posted the next weakest number, with a constant dollar increase of only $1,948 or 2.9%. Utah topped the chart with a 78% ($40,820) increase in median household income, followed by Colorado with a 67% ($37,145) gain. New Hampshire, California, and Arizona rounded out the top five. The exhibit below is reproduced from the Urban Institute’s brief. While no pronounced pattern is evident from the graphic, the Midwest generally posted weaker median household income growth from 1970 to 2023 than the rest of the country. 



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