The state with the lowest answer was West Virginia, with “$100,000 or more” as the most common response to the survey. That might not come as a huge surprise given that West Virginia has the lowest median home value and third-lowest median salary in the country. Likewise, Kentucky gave “$200,000 or more” as its most common answer, which could be in line with expectations for a state that was in the bottom 10 for median cost of living, income and home value.
However, other responses were more surprising. Only one state had the “$10 million or more” response as its most chosen — and it isn’t one of the high-income, high-cost-of-living states you might expect. It’s Maine, where the median income and median home value tend to be close to national medians.
Nearby New Hampshire’s answers were a tie between “$1 million or more” and “$10 million or more,” and five of the top 11 states having the highest percentage of respondents answer “$10 million or more” are in the New England area. This could indicate that perceptions of wealth in the region are higher than the norm.
Meanwhile, some of the other states with a most common response under $1 million could raise some eyebrows. Washington, D.C., for instance, came back with $200,000 as its most popular response, despite being in the top five for median income, median home value and cost of living.
Likewise, Hawaii and New York are among the most expensive places to live in the country, yet more poll respondents said being rich means earning “$500,000 a year or more” than any other income level.
Be the first to comment