Been looking into which American states actually have the most wealth, and it's pretty interesting how different the metrics are depending on what you measure. Most people think of rich states in USA as just California or New York because of population, but when you break down median income and poverty rates alongside GDP, the picture gets more nuanced.

So California and New York obviously dominate in total gross state product - we're talking 3.6 trillion and 2.53 trillion respectively. But if you look at median household income per person, Maryland actually comes out ahead at over 91k annually. That's wild. Places like New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Massachusetts are also consistently strong across multiple metrics, which suggests more balanced wealth distribution.

What caught my eye though is the poverty rates. Some of the wealthiest states in USA still have double-digit poverty percentages - New York sits at 13.5% despite all that GDP. Meanwhile, Utah and New Hampshire manage to keep poverty below 9% while maintaining solid median incomes. Texas is interesting too - massive GSP of 2.4 trillion but lower median income, suggesting a lot of that wealth is concentrated.

If you're thinking about relocating based on economic health, the rich states in USA worth considering go beyond just the obvious coasts. Colorado, Virginia, and Washington have been doing well with reasonable income levels and lower poverty. The data's a few years old now, but the patterns are pretty telling about which states actually have sustainable wealth versus just raw economic output.