Median household incomes in Minnesota have grown more slowly than nationally in six of the last seven years

Recently I have written about how Minnesota’s economy — even in per capita terms — has grown more slowly than the United States’ economy generally every year since 2014.

But a measure like Gross Domestic Product (GDP), even per capita, might seem a little abstract, remote from most people’s experiences of everyday life. How has Minnesota fared on a more ‘real life’ measure, like median household income?

Census Bureau data seen in Figure 1 show that, in the seven years before 2014, real median household income grew more rapidly in Minnesota than nationally in four years. In the seven years since 2014, real median household income in Minnesota have grown more rapidly than nationally in only one year.

Figure 1: Real median household income growth

As with GDP per capita, one way to look at this is to see the income “premium” to living in Minnesota — the difference between the median household in Minnesota and nationally — over time. As Figure 2 shows, in 2014, the median household income was 25.3% higher in Minnesota than nationally. By 2022, that “premium” was down to 13.6%. This trend is not as striking as it is for GDP per capita, but it is certainly one to watch.

Figure 2: Difference between median household income in Minnesota relative to the United States

This is another data point showing that Minnesota’s economy is performing relatively worse than it used to.