Income Adjusted for Cost of Living by State 2024

What this chart shows. Personal income per person in each state and the District of Columbia in 2024 after adjusting for local prices, in 2017 dollars. The District of Columbia is highest at $81,872; among the states, Wyoming leads at $75,501, ahead of Connecticut at $74,254 and Massachusetts at $71,629. Mississippi is lowest at $48,465, after West Virginia at $50,051; the national figure is $59,195.

How the data is collected. BEA divides each state's personal income by its regional price parity and by the national price index for consumer spending, which turns it into constant 2017 dollars at national prices, and then divides by the state's midyear population. Personal income includes wages and salaries, business and investment income, and benefits such as Social Security.

Background. Adjusting for prices reshuffles the ranking. Hawaii is 21st for income per person before the adjustment but 47th after it, the largest fall. Iowa and Oklahoma each rise 17 places, South Dakota climbs from 14th to 5th, and California drops from 5th to 13th.

Limits. These are averages per person, not what a typical household earns, and they count income before taxes. The figures come from BEA's February 2026 release, and BEA has revised its 2024 income figures since; checked against the later tables, the change is under 2% for 46 of the 51 areas and about 4% for Delaware, the largest.