Guess how they voted!
source: 25/7 Wall Street
10. California
> Median household income: $57,287
> Population: 37,691,912 (the highest)
> Unemployment rate: 11.7% (2nd highest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 16.6% (18th highest)
California’s economy was hit especially hard by the housing downturn. Between the end of 2006 and the end of 2011, housing prices fell 46.7%, the fourth-largest decline in the country. Median income in the state has dropped steadily since a 2007 high of $65,005, while the poverty rate has climbed from 12.4% in 2007. Unemployment, meanwhile, has increased to 11.7% by 2011, second only to Nevada and well below the national rate of 8.9% that year. California’s cities are found at both ends of the income spectrum. Four of the 10 wealthiest cities in the country with populations of more than 100,000 are affluent suburbs of either San Francisco or Los Angeles. Meanwhile, California towns like Stockton, Victorville and Fresno, located inland, have among the highest poverty rates in the country.
9. Delaware
> Median household income: $58,814
> Population: 907,135 (6th lowest)
> Unemployment rate: 7.3% (16th lowest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 11.9% (11th lowest)
Delaware — the second smallest state by area and sixth least populous in the country — also happens to be one of the richest. Favorable corporate tax laws have led more than 60% of America’s Fortune 500 companies to incorporate in the state, increasing its tax revenue substantially. Almost 6% of the families in the state earned more than $200,000 last year, one of the highest proportions among all states. Meanwhile, fewer than 10% of the state’s residents were without health insurance in 2011, the eighth-lowest across the nation.
8. Hawaii
> Median household income: $61,821
> Population: 1,374,810 (11th lowest)
> Unemployment rate: 6.7% (11th lowest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 12% (12th lowest)
Since reaching $70,401 in 2008, when it ranked fifth nationally, median income in Hawaii has declined every year, while the poverty and unemployment rates have gone up. From 2007 to 2011, the percentage of families living below the poverty line increased from 8% to 12%, while the unemployment rate rose from 2.7% to 6.7%. Despite all this, Hawaii remained relatively wealthy. The state’s poverty and unemployment rates for 2011 were well below the national benchmarks.
7. Virginia
> Median household income: $61,882
> Population: 8,096,604 (12th highest)
> Unemployment rate: 6.2% (8th lowest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 11.5% (8th lowest)
Virginia’s unemployment rate in 2011 was much better than the national rate of 8.9%. Overall, the state’s economy is quite healthy, an issue that will no doubt be in focus in the upcoming election. As a key swing state, the question is whether voters give credit for this to President Obama or Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell. The northern region of the state, outside the Washington D.C. area, included the three wealthiest counties in the U.S. In the city of Arlington, located in the capital region, nearly 20% of families earned more than $200,000 annually, almost four times the national rate. However, the wealth does not spread out to the rural regions of the state where 3.7% of families earned less than $10,000 a year, a large percentage for a state that is considered wealthy.
6. New Hampshire
> Median household income: $62,647
> Population: 1,318,194 (9th lowest)
> Unemployment rate: 5.4% (4th lowest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 8.8% (the lowest)
New Hampshire is the first of three New England states among the nation’s 10 wealthiest. It is just one of eight states where median income exceeded $60,000 in 2011. In addition to a high median income, the state has proportionally few poor residents. The state’s poverty rate was just 8.8% last year, the lowest in the nation. Also,only 2.7% of families earned less than $10,000, which, along with Vermont, was the lower than any other state in the country. With only 5.4% of the New Hampshire’s workforce unemployed in 2011, most residents were able to earn enough to avoid poverty.
5. Massachusetts
> Median household income: $62,859
> Population: 6,587,536 (14th highest)
> Unemployment rate: 7.4% (18th lowest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 11.6% (9th lowest)
Massachusetts’s median income is well off its 2008 high of $68,055. Just under 10% of families in the state made more than $200,000 in 2011, the fourth-highest rate in the country. Massachusetts also had the lowest percentage of the population without health insurance in 2011, at a mere 4.3% — a whopping 10.8 percentage points below the national rate. The high rate of insured residents has much to do with a 2006 law signed by then-Gov. Mitt Romney. The law provided near universal health care coverage to all Massachusetts citizens. Among cities with populations of 100,000 or more, three Massachusetts cities — Boston, Worcester and Cambridge — had the lowest proportion of residents without health insurance at 5.5% or less compared to a national rate of more than 15%.
4. Connecticut
> Median household income: $65,753
> Population: 3,580,709 (22nd lowest)
> Unemployment rate: 8.8% (19th highest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 10.9% (5th lowest)
Connecticut is one of only three states, along with Maryland and New Jersey, to have had a higher percentage of families earning more than $200,000 a year than families living below the poverty line. The western region of the state is home to a sizable population of hedge funds, and their employees, along with residents who work in New York’s financial district, helping drive up the state’s median income. Second only to New York, Connecticut had one of the largest gaps between the rich and the poor. At nearly 11%, the proportion of families living below the poverty line in Connecticut is the fifth lowest in the country. Meanwhile, 11.2% of families earned more than $200,000 in 2011, the highest proportion of all states.
3. New Jersey
> Median household income: $67,458
> Population: 8,821,155 (11th highest)
> Unemployment rate: 9.3% (14th highest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 10.4% (3rd lowest)
In New Jersey, 10.9% of families earned more than $200,000 last year and just 10.4% of residents lived below the poverty line, fewer than all states except for New Hampshire. Still, there were areas in the state where poverty was more widespread. In Newark, 31.6% of residents lived below the poverty line, while Paterson’s poverty rate was 28.9%. In contrast to the state as a whole, families in Newark were more than 16 times more likely to earn less than $10,000 than over $200,000 a year. Similarly, in Paterson, 16.2% of families earned under $10,000 per year, while just 1.4% earned more than $200,000 annually.
2. Alaska
> Median household income: $67,825
> Population: 722,718 (4th lowest)
> Unemployment rate: 7.6% (22nd lowest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 10.5% (4th lowest)
In 2011, Alaska moved ahead of New Jersey to take the spot of the state with the second-highest median household income in the country. The state benefits from its vast natural resources, particularly oil, natural gas, and timber. Since 1957, the state has collected nearly $100 billion in taxes from oil and gas companies, and Alaska oil production has accounted for more than 13% of total U.S. production. Most residents reap the benefits from these payments. Income inequality in the state is the second-lowest in the country. Just 3% of Alaskan families earned less than $10,000 per year compared to the 5.1% nationwide. Meanwhile, despite the state’s high median income, just 5% of families earned more than $200,000 per year.
1. Maryland
> Median household income: $70,004
> Population: 5,828,289 (19th highest)
> Unemployment rate: 7% (15th lowest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 10.1% (2nd lowest)
Maryland, which has had the highest median income of all states since 2006, was the only state in the country to have a median income above $70,000 in 2011. The state’s 10.1% was well below the national rate of 15.9%. Furthermore, a sizable portion of the population is earning well above the median income. Maryland is one of three states, along with New Jersey and Connecticut, where more than 10% of families earned more than $200,000 in 2011. Across the U.S., only 5.6% of families made more than $200,000 in 2011.
source: 25/7 Wall Street
10. California
> Median household income: $57,287
> Population: 37,691,912 (the highest)
> Unemployment rate: 11.7% (2nd highest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 16.6% (18th highest)
California’s economy was hit especially hard by the housing downturn. Between the end of 2006 and the end of 2011, housing prices fell 46.7%, the fourth-largest decline in the country. Median income in the state has dropped steadily since a 2007 high of $65,005, while the poverty rate has climbed from 12.4% in 2007. Unemployment, meanwhile, has increased to 11.7% by 2011, second only to Nevada and well below the national rate of 8.9% that year. California’s cities are found at both ends of the income spectrum. Four of the 10 wealthiest cities in the country with populations of more than 100,000 are affluent suburbs of either San Francisco or Los Angeles. Meanwhile, California towns like Stockton, Victorville and Fresno, located inland, have among the highest poverty rates in the country.
9. Delaware
> Median household income: $58,814
> Population: 907,135 (6th lowest)
> Unemployment rate: 7.3% (16th lowest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 11.9% (11th lowest)
Delaware — the second smallest state by area and sixth least populous in the country — also happens to be one of the richest. Favorable corporate tax laws have led more than 60% of America’s Fortune 500 companies to incorporate in the state, increasing its tax revenue substantially. Almost 6% of the families in the state earned more than $200,000 last year, one of the highest proportions among all states. Meanwhile, fewer than 10% of the state’s residents were without health insurance in 2011, the eighth-lowest across the nation.
8. Hawaii
> Median household income: $61,821
> Population: 1,374,810 (11th lowest)
> Unemployment rate: 6.7% (11th lowest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 12% (12th lowest)
Since reaching $70,401 in 2008, when it ranked fifth nationally, median income in Hawaii has declined every year, while the poverty and unemployment rates have gone up. From 2007 to 2011, the percentage of families living below the poverty line increased from 8% to 12%, while the unemployment rate rose from 2.7% to 6.7%. Despite all this, Hawaii remained relatively wealthy. The state’s poverty and unemployment rates for 2011 were well below the national benchmarks.
7. Virginia
> Median household income: $61,882
> Population: 8,096,604 (12th highest)
> Unemployment rate: 6.2% (8th lowest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 11.5% (8th lowest)
Virginia’s unemployment rate in 2011 was much better than the national rate of 8.9%. Overall, the state’s economy is quite healthy, an issue that will no doubt be in focus in the upcoming election. As a key swing state, the question is whether voters give credit for this to President Obama or Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell. The northern region of the state, outside the Washington D.C. area, included the three wealthiest counties in the U.S. In the city of Arlington, located in the capital region, nearly 20% of families earned more than $200,000 annually, almost four times the national rate. However, the wealth does not spread out to the rural regions of the state where 3.7% of families earned less than $10,000 a year, a large percentage for a state that is considered wealthy.
6. New Hampshire
> Median household income: $62,647
> Population: 1,318,194 (9th lowest)
> Unemployment rate: 5.4% (4th lowest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 8.8% (the lowest)
New Hampshire is the first of three New England states among the nation’s 10 wealthiest. It is just one of eight states where median income exceeded $60,000 in 2011. In addition to a high median income, the state has proportionally few poor residents. The state’s poverty rate was just 8.8% last year, the lowest in the nation. Also,only 2.7% of families earned less than $10,000, which, along with Vermont, was the lower than any other state in the country. With only 5.4% of the New Hampshire’s workforce unemployed in 2011, most residents were able to earn enough to avoid poverty.
5. Massachusetts
> Median household income: $62,859
> Population: 6,587,536 (14th highest)
> Unemployment rate: 7.4% (18th lowest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 11.6% (9th lowest)
Massachusetts’s median income is well off its 2008 high of $68,055. Just under 10% of families in the state made more than $200,000 in 2011, the fourth-highest rate in the country. Massachusetts also had the lowest percentage of the population without health insurance in 2011, at a mere 4.3% — a whopping 10.8 percentage points below the national rate. The high rate of insured residents has much to do with a 2006 law signed by then-Gov. Mitt Romney. The law provided near universal health care coverage to all Massachusetts citizens. Among cities with populations of 100,000 or more, three Massachusetts cities — Boston, Worcester and Cambridge — had the lowest proportion of residents without health insurance at 5.5% or less compared to a national rate of more than 15%.
4. Connecticut
> Median household income: $65,753
> Population: 3,580,709 (22nd lowest)
> Unemployment rate: 8.8% (19th highest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 10.9% (5th lowest)
Connecticut is one of only three states, along with Maryland and New Jersey, to have had a higher percentage of families earning more than $200,000 a year than families living below the poverty line. The western region of the state is home to a sizable population of hedge funds, and their employees, along with residents who work in New York’s financial district, helping drive up the state’s median income. Second only to New York, Connecticut had one of the largest gaps between the rich and the poor. At nearly 11%, the proportion of families living below the poverty line in Connecticut is the fifth lowest in the country. Meanwhile, 11.2% of families earned more than $200,000 in 2011, the highest proportion of all states.
3. New Jersey
> Median household income: $67,458
> Population: 8,821,155 (11th highest)
> Unemployment rate: 9.3% (14th highest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 10.4% (3rd lowest)
In New Jersey, 10.9% of families earned more than $200,000 last year and just 10.4% of residents lived below the poverty line, fewer than all states except for New Hampshire. Still, there were areas in the state where poverty was more widespread. In Newark, 31.6% of residents lived below the poverty line, while Paterson’s poverty rate was 28.9%. In contrast to the state as a whole, families in Newark were more than 16 times more likely to earn less than $10,000 than over $200,000 a year. Similarly, in Paterson, 16.2% of families earned under $10,000 per year, while just 1.4% earned more than $200,000 annually.
2. Alaska
> Median household income: $67,825
> Population: 722,718 (4th lowest)
> Unemployment rate: 7.6% (22nd lowest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 10.5% (4th lowest)
In 2011, Alaska moved ahead of New Jersey to take the spot of the state with the second-highest median household income in the country. The state benefits from its vast natural resources, particularly oil, natural gas, and timber. Since 1957, the state has collected nearly $100 billion in taxes from oil and gas companies, and Alaska oil production has accounted for more than 13% of total U.S. production. Most residents reap the benefits from these payments. Income inequality in the state is the second-lowest in the country. Just 3% of Alaskan families earned less than $10,000 per year compared to the 5.1% nationwide. Meanwhile, despite the state’s high median income, just 5% of families earned more than $200,000 per year.
1. Maryland
> Median household income: $70,004
> Population: 5,828,289 (19th highest)
> Unemployment rate: 7% (15th lowest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 10.1% (2nd lowest)
Maryland, which has had the highest median income of all states since 2006, was the only state in the country to have a median income above $70,000 in 2011. The state’s 10.1% was well below the national rate of 15.9%. Furthermore, a sizable portion of the population is earning well above the median income. Maryland is one of three states, along with New Jersey and Connecticut, where more than 10% of families earned more than $200,000 in 2011. Across the U.S., only 5.6% of families made more than $200,000 in 2011.