![Incomes are falling in 17 states. Here's where Americans are falling furthest behind.](https://assets2.cbsnewsstatic.com/hub/i/r/2023/10/10/008387f1-7d95-448f-b288-084e37362a32/thumbnail/1200x630/de51d964dc5c7e16f22fa2704cef89bf/gettyimages-1265035597.jpg?v=69042d5753ca4b526d6a54f60ee177ca)
Incomes are falling in 17 states. Here's where Americans are falling furthest behind.
CBSN
Americans are feeling gloomy about the economy and their financial prospects, with more than half of the respondents to a recent CBS News poll say they're struggling to pay the bills. The reasons for that pessimism are clear: Not only has inflation chewed into their paycheck, but many people are also earning less, with Census data showing that median household incomes dropped in one-third of U.S. states last year.
Many of those 17 states where households lost economic ground are clustered in the Midwest and Northeast, including electoral swing states such as Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Across 29 states, incomes didn't change enough to be statistically significant, while residents in only five states saw their incomes improve enough to be measurable, the data shows.
The state-level data may help shed light on why many Americans have soured on the economy, which by many measures appears strong, with a low jobless rate.
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