US states with the biggest real income gains since 1990

State-level income comparisons are noisier than city or county ones in any single year, but over 34 years the signal is clear: states have diverged. Some added more than $20,000 in real median household income since 1990; others barely moved. After converting 1990 dollars to 2024 dollars using the BLS CPI, all 50 states plus the District of Columbia are ranked by real median income gain below.

District of Columbia leads at +$36,123. The median state (Maryland) added +$9,149 in real terms, and the bottom-ranked state, Alaska, saw −$6,594.

#	Place	1990 (in 2024 $)	Latest	Change
1	District of Columbia	$73,747	$109,870	+$36,123
2	Utah	$70,730	$95,166	+$24,436
3	Washington	$74,841	$98,141	+$23,300
4	Colorado	$72,338	$95,470	+$23,132
5	South Dakota	$54,009	$75,081	+$21,072
6	North Dakota	$55,713	$76,657	+$20,944
7	Oregon	$65,402	$83,011	+$17,609
8	Montana	$55,173	$72,509	+$17,336
9	Idaho	$60,619	$77,800	+$17,181
10	Massachusetts	$88,687	$103,960	+$15,273
11	Minnesota	$74,184	$89,062	+$14,878
12	Nebraska	$62,440	$76,475	+$14,035
13	Arizona	$66,098	$79,964	+$13,866
14	Texas	$64,840	$78,476	+$13,636
15	California	$85,918	$99,122	+$13,204
16	Virginia	$79,989	$93,170	+$13,181
17	Iowa	$62,951	$75,059	+$12,108
18	New Hampshire	$87,192	$99,031	+$11,839
19	Wyoming	$65,032	$76,176	+$11,144
20	Rhode Island	$77,237	$87,796	+$10,559
21	Tennessee	$59,539	$69,595	+$10,056
22	Arkansas	$50,754	$60,773	+$10,019
23	Vermont	$71,503	$81,203	+$9,700
24	West Virginia	$49,909	$59,608	+$9,699
25	Kentucky	$54,083	$63,726	+$9,643
26	Maryland	$94,529	$103,678	+$9,149
27	Kansas	$65,500	$74,275	+$8,775
28	Florida	$65,961	$74,568	+$8,607
29	Oklahoma	$56,586	$65,039	+$8,453
30	North Carolina	$63,955	$72,388	+$8,433
31	Pennsylvania	$69,768	$77,971	+$8,203
32	Mississippi	$48,328	$56,447	+$8,119
33	Louisiana	$52,679	$60,756	+$8,077
34	Maine	$66,852	$74,733	+$7,881
35	Georgia	$69,652	$77,353	+$7,701
36	Missouri	$63,271	$70,702	+$7,431
37	Alabama	$56,634	$63,999	+$7,365
38	Hawaii	$93,192	$100,389	+$7,197
39	New York	$79,118	$85,974	+$6,856
40	Wisconsin	$70,663	$77,485	+$6,822
41	South Carolina	$63,016	$69,324	+$6,308
42	New Mexico	$57,810	$64,059	+$6,249
43	Illinois	$77,407	$83,390	+$5,983
44	New Jersey	$98,228	$103,556	+$5,328
45	Nevada	$74,429	$78,260	+$3,831
46	Indiana	$69,115	$71,957	+$2,842
47	Ohio	$68,896	$71,389	+$2,493
48	Delaware	$83,702	$84,954	+$1,252
49	Michigan	$74,450	$72,875	−$1,575
50	Connecticut	$100,133	$95,781	−$4,352
51	Alaska	$99,382	$92,788	−$6,594

Key findings

• District of Columbia leads the list at +$36,123.
• The 51st-ranked state on this list — Alaska — shows −$6,594.
• Across the full universe of 51 state rows with both data points, the typical change was +$9,149.
• The top gainers concentrate in District of Columbia (1 of the top 51), Utah (1 of the top 51), Washington (1 of the top 51).

Where the pattern sits geographically

District of Columbia (1 of the top 51), Utah (1 of the top 51), Washington (1 of the top 51) together account for the bulk of the top of this list. Click any state above to open its CensusEasy page, which carries the full historical time series for every metric we publish (income, education, housing, commute, race composition, industry mix), plus its rank within its state and its national percentile on each metric.

How to read this

This ranking is sorted by absolute change, not by percentage change. Absolute change is the figure that lines up with how readers experience these numbers in everyday life ("the typical household here earns $X more than in 1990"). The percentage-change framing surfaces a different set of state rows — usually places that started from a low base — and we publish those rankings separately on the rankings pages.

A single metric never tells the whole story. The smallest gain on this list can reflect either change in the same population staying in place, or compositional change as some residents leave and others arrive. Companion studies on poverty, education, and housing cost together describe the fuller picture.