Millennial Income: The States With The Best And Worst Salaries
According to the Pew Research Center, millennials are the largest generation in the modern workforce. (Take that, Boomers!)
While they’re not at the top of the corporate food chain just yet, millennials can make a pretty good dollar depending on where they live. That said, the group is falling seriously behind when it comes to savings and wealth. So finding a state with higher paying jobs might help bridge that gap.
GOBankingRates crunched the numbers to determine how much millennials are earning in every state and then compared those numbers to the average earnings in each state as a whole.
“The study found that yes, millennials are making more money than the workforce as a whole, perhaps because of the unique strengths they bring to the workplace.
In some states, the difference between median millennial earnings and median statewide earnings is less than $1,000. But in others, the difference is close to $10,000.”
In all 50 states, millennials are making more money than the workforce as a whole, but the median income is higher in some states than others.
The states with the highest median millennial earnings are:
- Massachusetts: $80,236
- New Jersey: $79,431
- Maryland: $79,015
- Alaska: $75,858
- New Hampshire: $75,233
The median earnings in Massachusetts as a whole are $70,954, earning it the top spot on the list. New Jersey has the second-highest median millennial earnings and the third-highest average household income of all the states.
Maryland has the third-highest median millennial earnings of all the states, and they’re $2,948 higher than the median earnings for the state as a whole. Alaska is number four on the list and holds a distinct advantage over the other states – millennials take home more of their income because there’s no income tax in the state.
Closing out the list is New Hampshire.
The states with the lowest median millennial earnings are:
- Mississippi: $44,609
- Arkansas: $47,339
- New Mexico: $47,567
- Alabama: $49,004
- West Virginia: $50,130
Mississippi tops the list of the worst place for millennials to work if they want to earn big money. Mississippi millennials have the lowest median earnings of all the states, which isn’t unsurprising since the state also has the lowest median household income in the country.
Arkansas is second on the list of states with the lowest median millennial earnings, followed by New Mexico and Alabama. The good news for Alabamians is that the state median earnings are $44,758, which is actually enough to buy a house in Alabama.
West Virginia has the fifth-lowest median millennial earnings and the second-lowest average household income of all the states.
Click here to check out how much millennials earn in your state.