The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in 2022, the average consumer in the US spent $72,967, which represented a nine percent increase over the figure captured a year earlier. Inflation was one of the leading causes of the surge in consumer spending, meaning that while more money was being left in the economy, consumers were not necessarily getting more.
In terms of each state’s average salary per week, below is a list of how the states compared in March 2023, which happens to be the most recent data published by the BLS.
- District of Columbia: $2,364
- New York: $2,306
- Massachusetts: $2,222
- Connecticut: $2,092
- New Jersey: $1,975
- California: $2,024
- Washington: $1,951
- Colorado: $1,797
- New Hampshire: $1,583
- Illinois: $1,711
- Virginia: $1,674
- Texas: $1,667
- Maryland: $1,596
- Delaware: $1,614
- Minnesota: $1,623
- Pennsylvania: $1,551
- Georgia: $1,533
- North Carolina: $1,534
- Alaska: $1,593
- Oregon: $1,513
- Rhode Island: $1,424
- Florida: $1,406
- Arizona: $1,361
- North Dakota: $1,452
- Utah: $1,370
- Tennessee: $1,351
- Michigan: $1,388
- Ohio: $1,383
- Missouri: $1,389
- Maine: $1,334
- Nevada: $1,238
- Wisconsin: $1,365
- Louisiana: $1,363
- Iowa: $1,352
- Vermont: $1,250
- Indiana: $1,303
- Kansas: $1,284
- Nebraska: $1,301
- Alabama: $1,279
- Oklahoma: $1,306
- Montana: $1,266
- South Carolina: $1,203
- Arkansas: $1,267
- Wyoming: $1,206
- Idaho: $1,225
- Kentucky: $1,223
- South Dakota: $1,220
- Hawaii: $1,179
- New Mexico: $1,201
- West Virginia: $1,218
- Mississippi: $990
Washington DC, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, and California are the top states with the highest average weekly salaries. Workers in these states earn more than $2,000 per week on average. On the other hand, the states with the lowest average salaries are West Virginia, New Mexico, Hawaii, South Dakota, and Kentucky. However, it’s important to note that the cost of living in these states is generally lower, which is why some companies offer lower salaries to their employees.
The average salary falls below living wage
According to the MIT Living Wage Lab, a single adjuster must make at least $622 a week in West Virginia to live comfortably; this number rises to $1,333 if the worker supports one child. This means that the average pay for a worker in the state is currently less than what is needed for a household with at least two members to escape poverty. The same situation exists in Mississippi, but the difference between the living wage and the average weekly salary ($250) is larger than in West Virginia ($117).
In New York, on the other hand, a two-person household with one adult and one child requires a weekly income of $1,663 to be considered a living wage, whereas the average in the state is $2,306.
