New Data Shows These 10 States Have Seen a Big Spike in Income Since Trump Became President
President Donald Trump has been in office for nearly two years after winning the 2016 election.
In those two years, income has grown by an average of 6.8 percent across all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
Seven states have seen greater than 10 percent growth, but four states have seen incomes grow by less than 1 percent or decline.
With the 2018 midterm elections over and done, it’s now been two years since President Donald Trump was elected in 2016. A lot has happened during that time, but looking beyond major news, there is the question of how Trump has been impacting the average American. More specifically, what have been the effects, if any, on their incomes?
Using newly released Census Bureau data from October this year, GOBankingRates analyzed median incomes and the change in median incomes over the course of two years of Trump’s presidency, from 2016 to 2018. So if you’re looking to grow your money, see which states might give you the best and worst chances.
Top 10 States Where Incomes Have Surged
There are 10 states where residents have seen their incomes grow by 9.5 percent or more since the 2016 presidential election. These states are California, Oregon, New Jersey, Washington, Nevada, North Carolina, Rhode Island, Arizona, Georgia and Massachusetts.
Here’s a closer look at incomes and the change in incomes year-over-year by state:
Top 10 States Where Incomes Have Surged | ||||
State | % Income Change | Median Income 2018 | Median Income 2017 | Median Income 2016 |
California | 11.3% | $71,805 | $67,739 | $64,500 |
Oregon | 11.2% | $60,212 | $57,532 | $54,148 |
New Jersey | 10.9% | $80,088 | $76,126 | $72,222 |
Washington | 10.7% | $70,979 | $67,106 | $64,129 |
Nevada | 10.6% | $58,003 | $55,180 | $52,431 |
North Carolina | 10.3% | $52,752 | $50,584 | $47,830 |
Rhode Island | 10.0% | $63,870 | $60,596 | $58,073 |
Arizona | 9.9% | $56,581 | $53,558 | $51,492 |
Georgia | 9.6% | $56,183 | $53,559 | $51,244 |
Massachusetts | 9.6% | $77,385 | $75,297 | $70,628 |
Related: Best Places in Every State to Live on a Fixed Income
Looking at this list, there are both clear similarities and interesting differences among these 10 states with the biggest increases in income. Three out of the top five are West Coast states: California, Oregon and Washington at Nos. 1, 2 and 4 respectively. Nevada doesn’t have a coast, but it’s certainly a western state too, as is Arizona, No. 8.
East Coast states are also represented, though they’re spread out geographically. Rhode Island and Massachusetts are in New England, New Jersey is in the Middle Atlantic, and Georgia and North Carolina are in the South Atlantic.
Read: How Do You Stack Up to the Average Income in Your State?
10 States Where Incomes Have Stalled or Fallen
Not every state can be a winner, and since 2016, several states have experienced serious stagnation in incomes or even outright declines. Take a look below at the states where incomes have fallen the most since Trump was elected.
10 States Where Incomes Have Stalled or Fallen | ||||
State | % Income Change | Median Income 2018 | Median Income 2017 | Median Income 2016 |
Alaska | -0.2% | $73,181 | $76,440 | $73,355 |
Wyoming | 0.4% | $60,434 | $59,882 | $60,214 |
Louisiana | 0.9% | $46,145 | $45,146 | $45,727 |
Vermont | 0.9% | $57,513 | $57,677 | $56,990 |
North Dakota | 2.1% | $61,843 | $60,656 | $60,557 |
Delaware | 2.6% | $62,852 | $61,757 | $61,255 |
New Mexico | 3.0% | $46,744 | $46,748 | $45,382 |
Oklahoma | 3.1% | $50,051 | $49,176 | $48,568 |
West Virginia | 3.5% | $43,469 | $43,385 | $42,019 |
Connecticut | 4.0% | $74,168 | $73,433 | $71,346 |
Correlation is not causation, so these changes in income can’t be solely explained by Trump and his policies. That being said, policies like Trump’s tariffs have been hitting several states very hard.
More on the Economy
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Methodology: GOBankingRates analyzed all 50 states in terms of their median incomes and change over the last two years with data sourced from the Census Bureau’s 2015, 2016 and 2017 American Community Surveys. Median income from 2015 ACS was used as the base income for the 2016 election and median income from 2017 ACS was used as the current income for 2018.
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: New Data Shows These 10 States Have Seen a Big Spike in Income Since Trump Became President
