"Five Midwestern states - Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin - had statistically significant dips, along with Georgia, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon and Puerto Rico. North Carolina was the only state to see a statistically significant rise in inequality. North Carolina State economist Michael Walden said it reflected the state generating high-paying jobs in tech and other professional sectors, while the post-pandemic labor shortage which raised wages in lower-paying service jobs had ended."
"In South Dakota, which had a leading 4% drop, the inequality dip "could reflect stronger growth in the household income among lower and middle income households (or smaller growth in the income of the highest brackets)," state demographer Weiwei Zhang said Wednesday in an email. In Nebraska, it could be high employment rates across all demographic groups since "high employment leads to income, thus less income inequality," said Josie Schafer, director of the Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Nebraska Omaha."
American Community Survey data for 2024 show small shifts across income, education, mobility, and demographics. Median household income increased from $80,002 to $81,604 while national income inequality fell by nearly 0.5 percent. Five Midwestern states and several others recorded statistically significant inequality declines, and North Carolina experienced a significant rise linked to growth in high-paying tech and professional jobs as pandemic-era wage pressures in lower-paying service jobs eased. South Dakota saw a roughly 4 percent decrease potentially driven by income gains for lower and middle households. Educational attainment rose, fewer people moved residences, and shares of Asian and Hispanic residents increased.
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