Yikes! Wyoming Wages Have Increased the Least in Past Decade
A new report came out that discussed the states in the U.S. where salaries have risen over the past decade (from 2010 to 2020), which showed off the top five states on the list. Unfortunately, it showed the bottom states on the list as well, and Wyoming had the worst showing of anyone.
The report showed up on CNBC with research done by Approve.com and salary information coming from the Bureau of Labor Statistics as they compared the average salaries in each state in 2010 to what they were in 2020. Before we show you how poor Wyoming performed on this particular list, it should be noted that between 2010 and 2020, the average American's salary shot up 27 percent. Those average salaries went up from $44,410 to $56,310.
The state of Washington ended up topping the list with their average salary shooting from $48,516 in 2010 to $76,791 in 2020. Why can't we all just live there? That's an increase of 58.28 percent, which was nearly 10 percent more than the state with the next biggest increase, which was California, with salaries increasing 49.16 percent. North Dakota was next on the list with a 45.47 percent increase. However, when compared with other states at the top of the list. They only went from an average salary of $38,128 to $55,465. That's a lot less than the nearly $80,000 average salary in California.
The factors helping those states at the top of the list were credited to their high-paying jobs in technology and healthcare fields. Michael Wolf, Bureau of Labor Statistics Division Chief told CNBC:
This list isn’t at all surprising. Both Washington and California have extremely strong technology sectors with lucrative salaries, and other high-growth states, like Oregon and Massachusetts, have bumped their minimum wages more so than their neighboring states.
Oregon and Massachusetts finished 5th and 4th on that top five list, respectively.
And now for how Wyoming's showing on the list, which was the least increase of any state in average salary from 2010 to 2020. The Cowboy State had their average salary go up from $41,963 to $50,986, which was dead last in the U.S. with a 21.5 percent increase over the past decade. Louisiana and Mississippi followed with 25.33 percent and 25.85 percent increases, respectively. Senior economist for Bankrate, Mark Hamrick, mentioned that, "There's no coincidence that these are the poorest states in the country." Ugh!
While Hamrick said he thinks more people will start to seek out where there are higher salaries and better opportunities for those higher salaries. However, that also comes with a downside being the higher cost of living in those states with opportunities for those higher salaries.
In Wyoming, I guess you can't win 'em all. Perhaps we'll have a better showing on the next 'increased wage in the past decade' list, which will be out in 2030.
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