What is the middle income in your state, and how does it compare to the rest of the country?

Flowing Data’s interactive graph is a great visual representation of what middle income* is in every state. It goes one step further and explores how middle income changes depending on household size (1-5 people).

*The Pew Research Institute’s definition of middle income is two-thirds the median to twice the median.

Questions:

• Reflect on your own state (or a state you’re interested in).
  • What would you estimate the middle-income range to be for a 4-person household there, based on your sense of cost of living?
  • Then look it up on the chart: How close were you?
  • Are you surprised by the data? 
• Why is it important to adjust for household size when comparing incomes across states?
• Pick two states with very different middle-income ranges (for example, a state near the low end and a state near the high end).
  • What are their ranges for a 4-person household?
  • What might explain the difference in middle income between those two states?
• Looking at the pattern across all states, do most states cluster around a similar middle‐income range or is there a wide spread? What does that tell you about how economic conditions vary across the U.S.?

Follow this interactive with an NGPF resource! 

• COMPARE: Select a City to Live In
• DATA CRUNCH: How Does the Minimum Wage Compare to the Living Wage?
• Question of the Day: How many states raised their minimum wage on January 1, 2025?

About the Author

Sonia Dalal

Sonia has always been passionate about instruction and improving students' learning experiences. She's come a long way since her days as a first grader, when she would "teach" music and read to her very attentive stuffed animals after school. Since then, she has taught students as a K-12 tutor, worked in several EdTech startups in the Bay Area, and completed her Ed.M in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. She is passionate about bringing the high quality personal finance content and instruction she wished she'd received in school to the next generation of students and educators. When she isn't crafting lesson guides or working with teachers, Sonia loves to spend her time singing, being outdoors, and adventuring with family and friends!

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