By Grant Suneson, 24/7 Wall Street | USA TODAY
From 2016 to 2017, the U.S. economy improved in several key metrics. The median household income increased by more than $1,500, unemployment dropped from 4.9 percent to 4.4 percent, and the poverty rate fell from 14.0 percent to 13.4 percent.
While this is good news, the effects weren’t felt equally across all 50 states, and much of the gains in median household income went to households that were already wealthy. Income inequality in the U.S. remains high and incomes vary dramatically at the state level as well. The typical household in the wealthiest state earns over $37,000 more each year than the typical household in the poorest state.
The South holds a higher-than-average concentration of the poorest states in the country. Many of the wealthiest are coastal states in the West, Mid-Atlantic, and Northeast regions. Both states outside of the lower 48 — Alaska and Hawaii — are among the 10 richest states.
