Just read some interesting data on which states are actually the wealthiest in America, and it's not always what you'd expect. Turns out when you look at gross state product, median income, and poverty rates together, you get a pretty different picture than just thinking about stereotypes.

California and New York are obviously up there with massive GDPs around 3.6 trillion and 2.53 trillion respectively, but what surprised me was seeing states like Maryland and New Hampshire doing really well on the richest state in america rankings. Maryland's median income is over 91k, which is pretty solid. Texas has a huge economy at 2.4 trillion even though the median income is lower.

The richest state in america depends on how you measure it though. If you're looking at pure economic output, it's different from median household income. Hawaii and Massachusetts are interesting because they balance strong incomes with lower poverty rates. Alaska's median income is around 80k, which is higher than you'd think.

What's wild is how poverty rates vary even in wealthy states. Some of the richest state in america still have poverty rates around 13-14%, while others keep it under 8%. Makes you think about wealth distribution more than just total economic size. The richest state in america for overall prosperity seems to depend on what metric matters most to you.