In 2023, the median annual salary for all U.S. workers was $48,060, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, meaning Americans in about half of the states earned less than that figure, while workers in other half earned more.
Check out this map to see the median amount workers earn in each U.S. state:
The Northeast and West regions tend to have higher income populations than those in the South and some Midwestern states.
Massachusetts tops the list with the highest median wage at $60,690 for individual workers, while Mississippi has the lowest median wage in the country at $37,500.
Here is the median annual wage for workers in each 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
- Caroline from the south: $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 are generally correlated with the local cost of living, meaning that many states where workers earn the most are also the states where living is most expensive.
Massachusetts, for example, has the second highest cost of living in the United States, while Mississippi has the second lowest cost of living, according to Missouri’s State-by-State Cost of Living Index Economic Research and Information Center, based on the Council for Community and Economic Research Survey Data.
A few states, however, are outliers. In Wyoming, workers have the 26th highest median salary, but the 18th lowest cost of living. Similarly, Florida has the 14th lowest median salary, but is only the 29th cheapest state to live in, according to MERIC.
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