been digging into some data about the richest states in USA and honestly it's pretty interesting how different some of these rank depending on what metrics you look at. like obviously california and new york top the list with those massive GDPs around 3.6 trillion and 2.53 trillion respectively but the median income story is totally different

maryland actually leads on median income at over 91k per year which kind of surprised me. then you've got new jersey and massachusetts also pulling in around 89k median. but here's the thing - some of the richest states in USA by GDP don't necessarily have the highest paychecks. texas sits at 2.4 trillion in gross state product but median income is only around 67k

the poverty rates are also wild to look at. new hampshire's doing pretty well with only 7.4% poverty while texas is at 14% despite all that economic output. minnesota and utah both staying under 10% which tracks with what you'd expect from wealthier states

if you're trying to figure out which richest states in USA might actually be good to live in based on real income vs cost of living, maryland and new hampshire seem to have the best combo. colorado and virginia also looking solid with strong median incomes and lower poverty rates. california's gdp is absolutely massive but 12.3% poverty rate is pretty significant

anyway this data's from 2023 so things might've shifted but the general patterns of which richest states in USA lead the pack probably haven't changed too much. curious if anyone else has noticed these differences between gdp rankings and actual household income in their states