CINCINNATI – A new study says that Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana are not very high on the list of places where people make the most money.
The study was done by the personal finance company WalletHub. It found that the average annual income in the U.S. is about $74,600, but there is a big range of incomes.
The company looked at three main income levels for each state: the average annual income of the top 5%, the average annual income of the bottom 20%, and the median annual income for all people of each state.
The states with the best (and lowest) incomes were found using these numbers. Based on balance and comparison with other high, middle, and low numbers in the country, the scores are given.
Ohio was ranked No. 26 overall, and the average income there was $61,904 a year. The average income in Indiana was $64,170 a year, which put it in 32nd place. The average income in Kentucky was $55,629 a year, which put it at No. 42.
Looking at the middle, the top 5% of earners, and the bottom 20% of earners, Virginia was ranked as the state where people have the most money.
It is said that the state’s top 5% workers get $518,296 a year, while the bottom 20% get $18,694 a year. These two numbers are both third best in the country, even though they are very different from each other. “This means that both the rich and the poor are doing better than people in other states,” WalletHub said.
After Virginia, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Washington state came next.
The state with the lowest income was West Virginia, which came in at number 51. The top 5% made $345,239 a year, the middle 50% made $52,719 a year, and the bottom 20% made $12,477.
California came in at number eleven on the list. The top 5% made an average of $454,829 a year, the middle 20% made $123,988, and the bottom 20% made $13,949.
According to the latest Census data, the tenth of the people in the United States who make the most money earn over twelve times as much as the tenth of the people who make the least. We can find out where income differences are more common by comparing the income of different percentiles to a state’s median income. This could help us figure out why people in some states have a harder time making ends meet.