Hardworking Texans are making less money per year than the national median, a new WalletHub study has revealed.
The just-released report, "States Where People Have the Highest Income," found Texas workers are making an adjusted median annual income of $73,718, compared to the national median of $81,000 per year.
The study examined the average annual income of the top five percent, the average income of the bottom 20 percent, and the median income for all residents in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Income was adjusted for the cost of living.
Although individual Texans are not quite making the national median, the state as a whole ranked 11th for "highest" incomes, moving up one spot from its 2024 ranking. Virginia claimed the No. 1 spot, followed by New Jersey (No. 2) and New York (No. 3). (As a note, the earnings of each state's top five percent were double weighted, meaning they counted twice as much as the median and bottom categories.)
Based on WalletHub's findings, the top five percent of Texans are making more than $504,000 per year, adjusted for cost of living. Meanwhile, the bottom 20 percent of Texas residents are making only an adjusted $17,461 annually.
In a major city like Fort Worth, income disparities may appear to be even wider than other Texas cities. Earning a "comfortable" wage in Fort Worth now costs $1,700 more than it did in 2024, and being a middle-class earner means making a minimum of $51,383 a year and as much as $154,164. Even Fort Worth's suburbs are attracting more high-earning households than many other U.S. cities.
"The highest-earning 10 percent of individuals in the United States earn over 12 times more than those in the lowest-earning 10 percent, based on the latest Census data," said WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo. "By measuring the income of various percentiles against a state's median income, we can better identify where income disparities are more prevalent, which could help us better understand why residents of certain states struggle more to make ends meet."
The top 10 states with residents earning the highest income are:
- No. 1 – Virginia
- No. 2 – New Jersey
- No. 3 – New York
- No. 4 – Connecticut
- No. 5 – Washington
- No. 6 – Utah
- No. 7 – Minnesota
- No. 8 – Colorado
- No. 9 – Illinois
- No. 10 – Massachusetts
