December 9, 2015
A State-by-State Breakdown of How Much Millennials Earn Across the U.S.
It’s no secret that millennials have faced their fair share of tough economic times as they try to navigate adulthood. From the 2008 financial crisis and the economy’s road to recovery to high student loan debt and a stiff job market that’s split between multiple generations, the earnings of today’s millennials have been examined with a close eye.
Using data from the Minnesota Population Center’s 2014 “American Community Survey,” Business Insider pulled numbers on the annual median income for employed millennials. Basing the demographic off the Pew Research Center’s definition of millennials, which are individuals born between 1981 and 1997, the results found that the average income ranged from a low of $18,000 per year in Montana to a high of $43,000 per year in Washington, D.C.
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As the landscape of the job market continues to change, with the number of racial or ethnic minorities having doubled over the last 30 years and 1 in 4 young adults speaking a language other than English in their homes, data from the U.S. Census Bureau also finds that millennials today earn $2,000 less than what young adults did in 1980. As a result, more young adults today are living with their parents and fewer are rushing to get married.
To see how your annual income compares with millennials across the nation, take a look at the map below. Also, sound off in the comments section below with some of the economic and lifestyle challenges you’ve faced as a young adult in today’s job market.