State Median Incomes

States with the highest median incomes tend to be Democratic states. The following is a ranking of states by median household income current as of 2011, their Democratic advantage according to Gallup, Representatives/Senators in Congress by party, party breakdown in the state legislature, and how they voted in the 2012 presidential election. Ultimately 13 of the 20 states with the highest median incomes had Democratic advantages according to Gallup polling.

List of States by Median Income

Determination of whether a state is Republican or Democrat is based solely on the Gallup data (Democrat Advantage); the state's ratios for Congress, the state legislature, and 2012 presidential election results are merely provided for informational purposes. For example, Colorado, New Hampshire, Iowa, and Virginia all voted for Obama in 2012 but Gallup polling reveals they are primarily Republican, and thus they are labeled Republican here, particularly since their legislative elections reveal them to be Republican. On the other hand Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin have elected more Republicans at both the state and federal levels than Democrats, but are labeled as Democrat states because Gallup polling shows they have Democrat Advantages. States which could be classified as definite swing states include Colorado, New Hampshire, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

RANK	STATE	MEDIAN INCOME	PARTY	DEM. ADV.	CONGRESS	STATE LEG.	ROMNEY VOTE	OBAMA VOTE
1	Maryland	$70,004	Democrat	20%	9/10 D	123/188 D	37%	62%
2	Alaska	$67,825	Republican	-20%	3/3 R	37/60	55%	41%
3	New Jersey	$67,458	Democrat	16%	8/14 D	72/120	41%	58%
4	Connecticut	$65,753	Democrat	16%	7/7 D	108/187 D	40%	58%
5	Massachusetts	$62,859	Democrat	21%	11/11 D	159/200 D	38%	61%
6	New Hampshire	$62,647	Republican	-4%	2/4 R	253/424 R	46%	52%
7	Virginia	$61,882	Republican	-1%	8/13 R	89/140 R	48%	51%
8	Hawaii	$61,821	Democrat	24%	4/4 D	67/76 D	28%	71%
9	Delaware	$58,814	Democrat	17%	3/3 D	37/62 D	40%	59%
10	California	$57,287	Democrat	18%	41/55 D	78/120 D	38%	59%
11	Minnesota	$56,954	Democrat	6%	7/10 D	101/201 D	45%	53%
12	Washington	$56,835	Democrat	7%	8/12 D	75/147 D	42%	56%
13	Wyoming	$56,322	Republican	-40%	3/3 R	77/90 R	69%	28%
14	Utah	$55,869	Republican	-32%	6/6 R	85/104 R	73%	25%
15	Colorado	$55,387	Republican	-4%	5/9 R	50/100 R	47%	51%
16	New York	$55,246	Democrat	25%	20/28 D	137/213	36%	63%
17	Rhode Island	$53,636	Democrat	23%	4/4 D	97/113 D	36%	63%
18	Illinois	$53,234	Democrat	17%	11/20 D	110/177 D	41%	57%
19	Vermont	$52,776	Democrat	19%	3/3 D	118/180 D	31%	67%
20	North Dakota	$51,704	Republican	-25%	2/3 R	104/143 R	59%	39%
21	Wisconsin	$50,395	Democrat	1%	6/10 R	80/130 R	46%	53%
22	Nebraska	$50,296	Republican	-16%	4/5 R	NP	61%	38%
23	Pennsylvania	$50,228	Democrat	3%	14/20 R	149/253 R	47%	52%
24	Iowa	$49,427	Republican	-2%	5/6 R	80/149 R	46%	52%
25	Texas	$49,392	Republican	-4%	27/38 R	118/181 R	57%	41%
26	Kansas	$48,964	Republican	-21%	6/6 R	130/165 R	60%	38%
27	Nevada	$48,927	Democrat	3%	4/6 R	38/63 R	46%	52%
28	South Dakota	$48,321	Republican	-17%	3/3 R	84/103 R	58%	40%
29	Oregon	$46,816	Democrat	7%	6/7 D	53/90 D	43%	54%
30	Arizona	$46,709	Republican	-1%	7/11 R	53/90 R	54%	44%
31	Indiana	$46,438	Republican	-4%	8/11 R	111/150	54%	44%
32	Maine	$46,033	Democrat	6%	2/4 D	98/186 D	41%	56%
33	Georgia	$46,007	Republican	-3%	12/16 R	155/234 R	53%	45%
34	Michigan	$45,981	Democrat	9%	9/16 R	90/148 R	45%	54%
35	Ohio	$45,749	Democrat	0%	13/18 R	83/132 R	48%	50%
36	Missouri	$45,247	Republican	-3%	7/10 R	142/196 R	54%	44%
37	Florida	$44,299	Democrat	5%	18/29 R	103/155 R	49%	50%
38	Montana	$44,222	Republican	-13%	1/2 R	88/150 R	55%	42%
39	North Carolina	$43,916	Republican	-1%	12/15 R	109/170 R	51%	48%
40	Idaho	$43,341	Republican	-24%	4/4 R	84/105 R	65%	33%
41	Oklahoma	$43,225	Republican	-13%	7/7 R	112/149 R	67%	33%
42	South Carolina	$42,367	Republican	-10%	8/9 R	103/167 R	55%	44%
43	New Mexico	$41,963	Democrat	11%	4/5 D	58/112 D	43%	53%
44	Louisiana	$41,734	Republican	-2%	7/8 R	85/144	58%	41%
45	Tennessee	$41,693	Republican	-7%	9/11 R	100/132 R	59%	39%
46	Alabama	$41,415	Republican	-11%	8/9 R	98/129 R	61%	38%
47	Kentucky	$41,141	Democrat	2%	7/8 R	72/135	61%	38%
48	Arkansas	$38,758	Republican	-4%	6/6 R	87/134 R	61%	37%
49	West Virginia	$38,482	Democrat	1%	4/5 R	82/134	62%	36%
50	Mississippi	$36,919	Republican	-6%	5/6 R	98/174 R	56%	44%

Notes

• Nebraska's state legislature is Nonpartisan/Unicameral and thus party breakdown cannot be provided, this is indicated by a value of "NP."
• Since Independents overwhelmingly caucus as Democrats, they were classified as Democrats when counting Congress/State Legislature ratios. The only state really affected by this was Vermont which had 11 Independents at the state level and 1 at the federal level.
• A "T" at the end of a rank indicates a tie between states for that rank.

Analysis

Gallup polling generally lines up with how states voted for president in 2012. While states have increasingly become more Republican since 2012, the Gallup polling largely represents the ideology which has governed state employment in recent years, and a state's identity is generally clear. There are two states which should arguably be identified as Republican despite Gallup polling indicating they are narrowly Democrat, Kentucky and West Virginia. According to Gallup they narrowly polled Democrat, with 2% and 1% Democrat advantages respectively, yet both have elected more Republicans to both the state and federal legislature, and voted for Romney in 2012.