Wage Stagnation by State 2026
Nominal headlines say wages are at all-time highs. Two honest deflators say something different. Every state's median household income converted to 1970 CPI-adjusted dollars and gold-ounce-equivalent ratios. With the BLS methodology-change history (OER 1983, Boskin 1996, hedonic 1998, geometric mean 1999, chained CPI 2002) that critics argue understates measured inflation.
Worst real-wage decline (CPI-adjusted) Mississippi -35% vs 1970 in real dollars
Best real-wage growth (CPI-adjusted) Maryland +21% vs 1970 in real dollars
Gold ratio decline (median) ~-88% average state's gold-ounce purchasing power vs 1970
All states, ranked by real-wage change vs 1970
Lower (more negative) = bigger purchasing-power loss vs 1970 measured in CPI-adjusted dollars. The gold-ounce column tells the same story in a unit BLS doesn't get to redefine.
| # | State | Median Income (Now) | 1970 Dollars (CPI) | Real Δ vs 1970 | Gold Oz (Today) | Gold Oz (1970) | Gold Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mississippi | $54,915 | $6,447 | -35% | 11.7 oz | 274.2 oz | -96% |
| 2 | West Virginia | $57,917 | $6,799 | -31% | 12.3 oz | 274.2 oz | -96% |
| 3 | Arkansas | $58,773 | $6,900 | -30% | 12.5 oz | 274.2 oz | -95% |
| 4 | Louisiana | $60,023 | $7,047 | -29% | 12.8 oz | 274.2 oz | -95% |
| 5 | Alabama | $62,027 | $7,282 | -26% | 13.2 oz | 274.2 oz | -95% |
| 6 | New Mexico | $62,125 | $7,293 | -26% | 13.2 oz | 274.2 oz | -95% |
| 7 | Kentucky | $62,417 | $7,328 | -26% | 13.3 oz | 274.2 oz | -95% |
| 8 | Oklahoma | $63,603 | $7,467 | -24% | 13.5 oz | 274.2 oz | -95% |
| 9 | South Carolina | $66,818 | $7,844 | -21% | 14.2 oz | 274.2 oz | -95% |
| 10 | Tennessee | $67,097 | $7,877 | -20% | 14.3 oz | 274.2 oz | -95% |
| 11 | Missouri | $68,920 | $8,091 | -18% | 14.7 oz | 274.2 oz | -95% |
| 12 | Ohio | $69,680 | $8,180 | -17% | 14.8 oz | 274.2 oz | -95% |
| 13 | North Carolina | $69,904 | $8,207 | -17% | 14.9 oz | 274.2 oz | -95% |
| 14 | Montana | $69,922 | $8,209 | -17% | 14.9 oz | 274.2 oz | -95% |
| 15 | Indiana | $70,051 | $8,224 | -17% | 14.9 oz | 274.2 oz | -95% |
| 16 | Michigan | $71,149 | $8,353 | -15% | 15.1 oz | 274.2 oz | -94% |
| 17 | Florida | $71,711 | $8,419 | -15% | 15.3 oz | 274.2 oz | -94% |
| 18 | Maine | $71,773 | $8,426 | -15% | 15.3 oz | 274.2 oz | -94% |
| 19 | South Dakota | $72,421 | $8,502 | -14% | 15.4 oz | 274.2 oz | -94% |
| 20 | Kansas | $72,639 | $8,528 | -14% | 15.5 oz | 274.2 oz | -94% |
| 21 | Iowa | $73,147 | $8,587 | -13% | 15.6 oz | 274.2 oz | -94% |
| 22 | Idaho | $74,636 | $8,762 | -11% | 15.9 oz | 274.2 oz | -94% |
| 23 | Georgia | $74,664 | $8,765 | -11% | 15.9 oz | 274.2 oz | -94% |
| 24 | Wyoming | $74,815 | $8,783 | -11% | 15.9 oz | 274.2 oz | -94% |
| 25 | Nebraska | $74,985 | $8,803 | -11% | 15.9 oz | 274.2 oz | -94% |
| 26 | Nevada | $75,561 | $8,871 | -10% | 16.1 oz | 274.2 oz | -94% |
| 27 | Wisconsin | $75,670 | $8,883 | -10% | 16.1 oz | 274.2 oz | -94% |
| 28 | North Dakota | $75,949 | $8,916 | -10% | 16.2 oz | 274.2 oz | -94% |
| 29 | Pennsylvania | $76,081 | $8,932 | -10% | 16.2 oz | 274.2 oz | -94% |
| 30 | Texas | $76,292 | $8,957 | -9% | 16.2 oz | 274.2 oz | -94% |
| 31 | Arizona | $76,872 | $9,025 | -9% | 16.4 oz | 274.2 oz | -94% |
| 32 | Vermont | $78,024 | $9,160 | -7% | 16.6 oz | 274.2 oz | -94% |
| 33 | Oregon | $80,426 | $9,442 | -4% | 17.1 oz | 274.2 oz | -94% |
| 34 | Illinois | $81,702 | $9,592 | -3% | 17.4 oz | 274.2 oz | -94% |
| 35 | Delaware | $82,855 | $9,727 | -1% | 17.6 oz | 274.2 oz | -94% |
| 36 | New York | $84,578 | $9,929 | +1% | 18.0 oz | 274.2 oz | -93% |
| 37 | Rhode Island | $86,372 | $10,140 | +3% | 18.4 oz | 274.2 oz | -93% |
| 38 | Minnesota | $87,556 | $10,279 | +4% | 18.6 oz | 274.2 oz | -93% |
| 39 | Alaska | $89,336 | $10,488 | +6% | 19.0 oz | 274.2 oz | -93% |
| 40 | Virginia | $90,974 | $10,680 | +8% | 19.4 oz | 274.2 oz | -93% |
| 41 | Utah | $91,750 | $10,771 | +9% | 19.5 oz | 274.2 oz | -93% |
| 42 | Colorado | $92,470 | $10,856 | +10% | 19.7 oz | 274.2 oz | -93% |
| 43 | Connecticut | $93,760 | $11,007 | +12% | 19.9 oz | 274.2 oz | -93% |
| 44 | Washington | $94,952 | $11,147 | +13% | 20.2 oz | 274.2 oz | -93% |
| 45 | New Hampshire | $95,628 | $11,227 | +14% | 20.4 oz | 274.2 oz | -93% |
| 46 | California | $96,334 | $11,309 | +15% | 20.5 oz | 274.2 oz | -93% |
| 47 | Hawaii | $98,317 | $11,542 | +17% | 20.9 oz | 274.2 oz | -92% |
| 48 | New Jersey | $101,050 | $11,863 | +20% | 21.5 oz | 274.2 oz | -92% |
| 49 | Massachusetts | $101,341 | $11,897 | +21% | 21.6 oz | 274.2 oz | -92% |
| 50 | Maryland | $101,652 | $11,934 | +21% | 21.6 oz | 274.2 oz | -92% |
BLS methodology changes (since 1970) that lowered measured CPI
- 1983 — Owner-equivalent rent (OER) replaces home prices for shelter. BLS shifted CPI shelter from a home-purchase / mortgage-and-property-tax model to "rental equivalence" — what a homeowner would pay to rent their own home. This insulates CPI from house-price spikes and is widely cited as one of the largest single methodology changes in CPI history.
- 1996 — Boskin Commission report; substitution / geometric-mean weighting. The 1996 Boskin Commission report concluded that pre-1996 CPI overstated inflation by ~1.1 percentage points per year. BLS adopted geometric-mean weighting for many item-level CPI components in 1999, which assumes consumers substitute toward cheaper alternatives within categories.
- 1998 — Hedonic quality adjustments expanded across multiple categories. BLS expanded use of "hedonic regression" — adjusting prices for changes in product quality (e.g., a faster computer at the same nominal price is treated as a price decrease). Critics argue hedonics systematically reduce measured inflation when applied broadly; BLS defends them as more accurate per-quality measurement.
- 1999 — Geometric mean implemented at the item-stratum level. Per the Boskin recommendations, CPI item-level prices began using geometric (rather than arithmetic) means, which lowers measured inflation by approximately 0.2 percentage points per year on a sustained basis.
- 2002 — Chained CPI (C-CPI-U) introduced as alternative measure. BLS began publishing the Chained CPI (C-CPI-U), which assumes higher substitution between categories (not just within). C-CPI-U is typically 0.2–0.3 percentage points lower than CPI-U annually. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 switched federal tax-bracket indexing to chained CPI, slowly increasing real tax burdens over time.
Alternate perspective (ShadowStats (John Williams)): Reverting to pre-1980 / pre-1990 BLS methodology yields CPI 3–7 percentage points higher annually; under that methodology, US real wages have *declined* materially since the early 1970s rather than remained flat. ShadowStats methodology is not endorsed by mainstream academic economists; it is presented here as an alternative perspective on the BLS methodology changes catalogued above. Verify directly: http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_data/inflation-charts.
Sources: BLS CPI-U, World Gold Council (LBMA p.m. fix), Census Table H-5/H-6, BLS Handbook of Methods (CPI chapter).