In 2023, the median annual wage for all U.S. workers was $48,060, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which means Americans in around half the states earned less than that benchmark, while workers in the other half earned more.
Check out this map to see the median amount workers earn in every U.S. state:
The Northeast and Western regions tend to have higher-earning populations compared with the South and some states in the Midwest.
Massachusetts tops the rankings with the highest median wage of $60,690 for individual workers, while Mississippi has the lowest median wage in the country at $37,500.
Here's the median annual wage for workers in every state:
- Alabama: $41,350
- Alaska: $56,140
- Arizona: $47,680
- Arkansas: $39,060
- California: $54,030
- Colorado: $54,050
- Connecticut: $56,130
- Delaware: $49,280
- Florida: $45,070
- Georgia: $45,480
- Hawaii: $50,510
- Idaho: $44,240
- Illinois: $48,730
- Indiana: $45,470
- Iowa: $46,460
- Kansas: $45,250
- Kentucky: $43,730
- Louisiana: $41,320
- Maine: $47,590
- Maryland: $55,810
- Massachusetts: $60,690
- Michigan: $46,940
- Minnesota: $50,880
- Mississippi: $37,500
- Missouri: $45,080
- Montana: $45,690
- Nebraska: $46,440
- Nevada: $44,810
- New Hampshire: $49,980
- New Jersey: $54,860
- New Mexico: $43,620
- New York: $56,840
- North Carolina: $45,440
- North Dakota: $48,830
- Ohio: $46,690
- Oklahoma: $41,480
- Oregon: $50,010
- Pennsylvania: $47,430
- Rhode Island: $50,970
- South Carolina: $42,220
- South Dakota: $43,680
- Tennessee: $43,820
- Texas: $45,970
- Utah: $47,020
- Vermont: $49,630
- Virginia: $49,920
- Washington: $59,920
- West Virginia: $39,770
- Wisconsin: $47,590
- Wyoming: $47,250
Local wages typically correlate with local cost of living, which means many of the states where workers earn the most are also the states that are most expensive to live in.
Massachusetts, for example, has the second-highest cost of living in the U.S., while Mississippi has the second-lowest living costs, according to the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center state-by-state cost of living index, based on Council for Community and Economic Research survey data.
A few states are outliers, though. In Wyoming, workers have the 26th highest median wage, but the 18th lowest cost of living. Florida, similarly, has the 14th lowest median wage, but is only the 29th cheapest state to live in, according to MERIC.
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