Maryland companies benefit from drawing on the state's affluent consumers as a market for products and services. Maryland's top income rankings include:
The highest median household income in the nation at $65,144 for 2006, which is 34 percent above the national median
A 2007 (preliminary) per capita personal income of $46,021, ranking fifth among the 50 states, and topping the national average by 19 percent
A per capita personal income increase of 61 percent from 1997 to 2007.
Income levels vary from region to region within the state, with higher incomes concentrated in the urbanized counties of the Baltimore-Washington corridor. Top ranking counties for median household income in 2007 include:
Howard County, ranking first in the state at $96,900
The Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia Combined Statistical Area, which includes nearly 90 percent of Maryland's population, is one of the wealthiest in the nation. Among U.S. combined metropolitan area, it ranks:
Third in effective buying income, with $224 billion
Fourth in retail sales, with combined sales of $144 billion
In addition to high income levels, Maryland also has the lowest poverty rate in the nation. Only 7.8 percent of the state's residents live below the poverty level (2006), compared with 13.3 percent for the U.S. as a whole.
Additional demographic data for states, Maryland counties and major metro areas can be found in the Comparisons Tool .
