2014's Richest and Poorest States

Richie Bernardo, Senior WriterOct 8, 2014

Richest and Poorest Sates
The wealth gap in post-recession America can be summarized in one cliché: the rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer. In 2014, the aid confederation Oxfam International reported that “the wealthiest one percent captured 95 percent of post-financial crisis growth since 2009.” Within the same period, overall income levels declined for the bottom 90 percent.

In even deeper trouble is the middle class, whose incomes “have been either stagnant or declining since peaking in 1999,” according to the Center for American Progress. At an income of $51,939 in 2013, the average middle-class household still earns almost $4,500 less than it did pre-recession. In fact, the median household now makes less compared with how much it earned in 1989.

And while there’s no sign of improvement for the poor and middle class any time soon, the U.S. did report the highest number, 7.1 million, of millionaire households in 2013. It also surpassed the rest of the world in the number of new households, 1.1 million, hitting the seven-figure income mark. If private wealth continues to grow at a compound annual rate of 3.3 percent in North America, it will reach an estimated $59.1 trillion by the end of 2018.

To identify the states with the highest and lowest net worth, WalletHub ranked the 50 states and the District of Columbia based on income, GDP per capita and federal taxes paid per capita. The results of our study, as well as additional insight from experts and a detailed methodology, can be found below.

Table of Contents

Main Findings - Population-Adjusted Rankings Non-Population-Adjusted Rankings Ask the Experts Methodology

Main Findings - Population-Adjusted Rankings

Overall Rank	State	Income Rank	GDP per Capita Rank	Taxes Paid per Capita Rank
T-1	District of Columbia	6	1	1
T-1	New Jersey	3	9	5
T-3	Connecticut	5	5	4
T-3	Maryland	1	11	14
5	Massachusetts	7	6	6
6	Alaska	2	2	33
7	Minnesota	11	14	3
8	Delaware	15	7	2
T-9	California	10	13	20
T-9	Virginia	8	19	22
11	Hawaii	4	20	44
12	New York	16	8	9
13	New Hampshire	9	23	29
T-14	Colorado	13	18	19
T-14	Washington	14	10	23
T-14	Wyoming	17	4	17
17	North Dakota	20	3	12
18	Illinois	18	17	11
19	Rhode Island	19	25	8
20	Texas	21	16	15
21	Utah	12	30	40
22	Nebraska	25	15	7
23	Pennsylvania	22	26	16
24	Iowa	24	21	35
25	Kansas	27	28	24
26	Vermont	23	34	38
T-27	Oregon	29	12	37
T-27	Wisconsin	28	27	26
29	Ohio	33	29	10
30	South Dakota	30	22	30
31	Nevada	26	33	41
32	Georgia	32	37	31
33	Missouri	36	35	18
34	Indiana	35	31	28
35	Arizona	31	41	42
36	Michigan	34	39	34
37	Louisiana	43	24	21
38	Florida	37	46	32
39	North Carolina	40	32	36
40	Oklahoma	42	36	27
41	Tennessee	44	38	25
42	Maine	38	45	45
43	Montana	39	42	46
44	Arkansas	50	43	13
45	Idaho	41	50	43
46	Kentucky	47	44	39
47	New Mexico	46	40	49
48	South Carolina	45	49	48
49	Alabama	48	47	47
50	West Virginia	49	48	50
51	Mississippi	51	51	51

Richest Poorest States Image

Non-Population-Adjusted Rankings

Overall Rank	State	Overall Rank	State
1	California	27	South Carolina
2	Texas	28	Alabama
3	New York	29	Oklahoma
4	Illinois	T-30	Kansas
5	Florida	T-30	Utah
6	New Jersey	32	Kentucky
7	Pennsylvania	33	Nevada
T-8	Ohio	34	Nebraska
T-8	Virginia	35	Arkansas
10	Massachusetts	36	New Hampshire
11	Maryland	37	Hawaii
12	Washington	38	New Mexico
T-13	Georgia	39	District of Columbia
T-13	Michigan	40	Rhode Island
15	North Carolina	41	Delaware
16	Minnesota	42	Idaho
17	Colorado	43	Mississippi
18	Wisconsin	44	Alaska
19	Connecticut	45	Maine
20	Indiana	46	West Virginia
21	Arizona	47	North Dakota
22	Missouri	T-48	Montana
23	Tennessee	T-48	South Dakota
24	Oregon	50	Wyoming
25	Louisiana	51	Vermont
26	Iowa

Ask the Experts

The wealth of a state depends more than on the income of its residents. It also may benefit from resources inherent to the land, providing an advantage over its neighbors. To elevate the discussion, we asked a panel of experts to share their insight and advice on wealth-generation. Click on the experts’ profiles to read their bios and responses to the following key questions:

What should poor states learn from rich states?
Whether a state is rich or poor, how much does it depend on factors that state officials control versus factors they do not (e.g., geography, natural attractions, etc.)?
Should rich states impose higher estate (“death”) taxes? What are the pros and cons of such an approach?

Ask the Experts

Methodology

In order to locate where the richest and poorest Americans live, WalletHub analyzed the 50 states and the District of Columbia across three key metrics, including “income,” “GDP per capita” and “tax dollars per capita.” We assigned a double weight to the income metric as it represents a composite metric including various income brackets, which matters more to residents than GDP and taxes paid toward the federal government. Each of the latter received half a weight. For example, income less than $24,999, we allocated a negative weight to penalize states with a large percentage of its population earning a low income. For the remaining brackets, weight increases as income increases.

The income brackets and the corresponding weights used for this study are as follows:

Income less than $24,999: -1
Income between $25,000 and $49,999: 0
Income between $50,000 and $99,999: +1
Income between $100,000 and $199,999: +2
Income of $200,000 or more: +2.5

Source: Data used to create these rankings is courtesy of the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis and the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.

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