Unlike most states, incomes fell in Vermont

Median household income in Vermont, after adjusting for inflation, fell 2.4 percent last year to $57,513, according to new U.S. Census figures released today. It was Vermont’s second decline in two years for this key economic indicator, although the drop in 2016 was negligible. Only Alaska, where median household income fell 6.3 percent, saw a bigger decline than Vermont last year.

Median household income rose in 40 states in 2017. Nationally, median household income increased 2.5 percent, again after adjusting for inflation. Half of all households have incomes above the median and half have incomes below.

The new household income figures appear to be further evidence that wages may be the real culprit behind the claims that Vermont has affordability problems. A recent analysis of data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis showed the prices in Vermont were only slightly higher than the national average, but Vermont wages were well below the average wage nationally. This year the Vermont Legislature passed a bill, which the governor vetoed, that would have increased the minimum wage to $15 by 2024.

In more positive news from the Census, Vermont’s overall poverty rate decreased to 11.3 percent last year from 11.9 percent in 2016. And the poverty rate for children fell a full percentage point, to 13.8 percent in 2017 from 14.8 percent the year before.

The figures released Thursday were from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, 2017 1-year estimates.