NJ Is No Longer The Highest-Earning U.S. State, New Data Shows

NEW JERSEY — New Jersey has fallen from its spot as the highest-earning state in the U.S. after a slight decrease in median household income last year, recently-released Census data shows.

Massachusetts now has that title, with a median household income of $99,858 — though the Garden State is not far behind. The latest American Community Survey shows that New Jersey households had a median annual income of $99,781, the second-highest in the nation, in 2023.

That is 0.5 percent less than the previous year, because if you take inflation into account, New Jersey's median household income was $100,320 in 2022.

The District of Columbia has an even higher median household income, according to that Census data: at $108,210, a 2.9 increase over last year's median income.

Meanwhile, Mississippi had the lowest median household income of any state in 2023, at $54,203.

This data is limited to the household population (any group of people living together), but does not take into account those living in group quarters such as college dormitories.

For New Jersey's major metro areas, households in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro brought in a median income of $95,220 in 2023, while those in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington area had a median household income of $86,867.

The state's poverty rate is also lower than the national average, according to the report — with 9.7 percent of New Jerseyans living in poverty compared to 12.5 percent of people nationwide.

From 2023 —NJ Has Highest Median Household Income, New Census Data Shows