Work and Income in the United States 2018

	Median Household Income US$		Avg. Numbers of Workers Hshld.
Table 1
Education and Income (Selection of Countries)
	(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)
	Non Native	Non Native / Native %	Native	Non Native / Native %
Alabama	48,594	-6.33	1.08	28.70
Alaska	77,385	-11.01	1.32	27.27
Arizona	58,384	-22.36	1.14	23.68
Arkansas	45,826	-3.36	1.08	39.81
California	76,127	-19.08	1.25	28.80
Colorado	70,831	-23.62	1.30	17.69
Connecticut	78,218	-15.08	1.25	17.60
Delaware	65,331	4.35	1.20	24.17
District of Columbia	83,361	-6.04	1.24	14.52
Florida	54,944	-13.82	1.11	33.33
Georgia	55,713	-0.50	1.20	32.50
Hawaii	79,606	-9.10	1.41	30.50
Idaho	53,727	-14.93	1.19	31.09
Illinois	64,304	-7.13	1.20	28.33
Indiana	54,714	-13.12	1.19	17.65
Iowa	59,149	-16.39	1.23	17.89
Kansas	58,214	-15.16	1.23	26.02
Kentucky	48,505	-5.54	1.09	31.19
Louisiana	48,097	-6.62	1.13	26.55
Maine	55,643	-10.95	1.16	-2.59
Maryland	82,365	-3.91	1.30	30.77
Massachusetts	79,977	-17.16	1.29	13.95
Michigan	54,775	4.92	1.13	15.04
Minnesota	69,652	-21.19	1.29	19.38
Mississippi	43,499	6.77	1.08	30.56
Missouri	53,656	-4.18	1.17	17.95
Montana	52,608	-4.50	1.16	2.59
Nebraska	60,325	-20.53	1.27	18.90
Nevada	59,626	-13.82	1.17	33.33
New Hampshire	74,468	-7.44	1.32	-0.76
New Jersey	81,920	-11.56	1.26	23.02
New Mexico	49,611	-25.27	1.10	24.55
New York	68,280	-15.05	1.18	22.03
North Carolina	52,808	-8.87	1.14	32.46
North Dakota	64,236	-21.93	1.24	4.84
Ohio	54,574	-1.71	1.15	10.43
Oklahoma	52,007	-15.13	1.15	34.78
Oregon	60,113	-11.10	1.15	29.57
Pennsylvania	59,710	-6.36	1.17	17.95
Rhode Island	66,493	-24.92	1.20	14.17
South Carolina	51,191	-6.27	1.14	24.56
South Dakota	56,992	-20.62	1.25	12.00
Tennessee	51,133	-6.39	1.14	32.46
Texas	62,577	-21.31	1.27	24.41
United States	60,968	-7.67	1.20	27.50
Utah	70,210	-24.55	1.46	19.18
Vermont	60,343	-8.26	1.21	0.83
Virginia	70,815	9.44	1.25	35.20
Washington	70,793	-6.68	1.19	21.85
West Virginia	44,808	15.19	0.98	17.35
Wisconsin	59,540	-10.89	1.22	18.03
Wyoming	62,725	-21.81	1.23	9.76
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2014-2018 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates and Economic no nonsense calculations.
Notes:
(1) Estimate, Native Population, INCOME IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS (IN 2018 INFLATION-ADJUSTED DOLLARS), Households, Median Household income (dollars)
(2) Estimate, Foreign Born /Native Population, INCOME IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS (IN 2018 INFLATION-ADJUSTED DOLLARS), Households, Median Household income (dollars).
(3) Estimate, Native, NCOME IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS (IN 2018 INFLATION-ADJUSTED DOLLARS), Households, Average number of workers per household.
(4) Estimate, Foreign Born /Native Population,, NCOME IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS (IN 2018 INFLATION-ADJUSTED DOLLARS), Households, Average number of workers per household.

February 10, 2020

The non native foreign born population (non native) in the United States is 44 million, equivalent to 13.6% of the total. This relatively large segment of the population was reviewed in detail by the American Community Survey released on December 19 of 2019 by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The total foreign born population that includes natives born abroad was 49 million in 2018 or 15.2% of the total. Natives born out of the country, 5 million, include those born in American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands that now live in the continental United States or Hawaii.

Non natives can further be classified into naturalized and foreign born not naturalized. The current number of non natives that became U.S. citizens is 21.3 million while the foreign born non citizens are 22.3 million.

Median household income for the non natives tends to be lower, -7.67%, than the one obtained by the natives. Indeed their income was estimated at US$56,293 in 2018. There are 45 states plus the District of Columbia where they have inferior incomes.

On average non native households provide 27.5% more workers than the natives. This combined with a lower median income level implies that normally they have to work more to obtain less income.

In the non native household the number of additional workers varies by state. In 44 states, including the District of Columbia, they exert a greater work effort by providing more average workers and earning less income in absolute terms; in 5 they earn more income in absolute terms, but considering the number of workers provided income is relatively smaller; and in 2 states they provide less workers but their income is also relatively poorer, may be due to the existence of a proportionally larger number of retirees. In fact, the median age of the population in the United States is 37.9 years while the median age of the non native population in Maine is 46.4 years and in New Hampshire 45.1.

This suggests that median income per household is difficult to compare among different groups of the population without additional facts. In particular, it is necessary to take into account at least the average numbers of workers to generate a given income level. The education level is also an important determinant of income and earnings, requiring additional research.