Money

Visualizing Household Income Distribution in the U.S. by State

Published

6 years ago

November 6, 2017

Jeff Desjardins

Each state in the U.S. is unique, with different economic prospects and opportunities available to its residents.

For example, in a state such as New York, there is a surplus of high-paying jobs available in tech and finance sectors. Meanwhile, in places like North Dakota and Alaska, there is an incredible endowment of natural resources that help create opportunity for the people living there.

Household Income by State

Today’s visualization from Reddit shows how different each state is based on annual household income distribution data.

It’s worth noting that the below data does not take into account cost of living, which can have a big impact on how far that household income goes.

Visualizing Household Income Distribution in the U.S. by State

The above graphic, using data from the U.S. Census Bureau, shows the household income distribution for each state.

The income for each state is broken down into six brackets (<$25k, $25k-$50k, etc), and data is sorted by the respective percentages of each state in the >$150k bracket.

Unlikely Leaders

Interestingly, the state with the highest percentage in the top bracket (>$150k) is New Jersey with 21.3% of households. The health and life sciences sectors are booming in the state – and 14 of 20 of the largest biopharmaceutical companies have operations in New Jersey. Meanwhile, important counties in the state also have proximity to big cities like New York City and Philadelphia, allowing people in the Garden State to easily commute to high-paying jobs in these metro centers.

Another leader that some may consider to be a surprise?

It’s the state of Alaska, which has the highest proportion of households (69.5%) earning >$50k per year in the entire country. The state is known for being rich in oil and gas, and part of the income for each household comes from the annual dividends of the Alaska Permanent Fund, which is worth $55 billion today.

Related Topics:data visualization united states income distribution household

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Economy

Ranked: The Top 20 Countries in Debt to China

The 20 nations featured in this graphic each owe billions in debt to China, posing concerns for their economic future.

Published

6 days ago

April 29, 2024

Marcus Lu

Ranked: The Top 20 Countries in Debt to China

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

In this graphic, we ranked the top 20 countries by their amount of debt to China. These figures are as of 2022, and come from the World Bank (accessed via Yahoo Finance).

The data used to make this graphic can be found in the table below.

Country	Total external debt to China ($B)
🇵🇰 Pakistan	$26.6
🇦🇴 Angola	$21.0
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka	$8.9
🇪🇹 Ethiopia	$6.8
🇰🇪 Kenya	$6.7
🇧🇩 Bangladesh	$6.1
🇿🇲 Zambia	$6.1
🇱🇦 Laos	$5.3
🇪🇬 Egypt	$5.2
🇳🇬 Nigeria	$4.3
🇪🇨 Ecuador	$4.1
🇰🇭 Cambodia	$4.0
🇨🇮 Côte d'Ivoire	$3.9
🇧🇾 Belarus	$3.9
🇨🇲 Cameroon	$3.8
🇧🇷 Brazil	$3.4
🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo	$3.4
🇿🇦 South Africa	$3.4
🇲🇳 Mongolia	$3.0
🇦🇷 Argentina	$2.9

This dataset highlights Pakistan and Angola as having the largest debts to China by a wide margin. Both countries have taken billions in loans from China for various infrastructure and energy projects.

Critically, both countries have also struggled to manage their debt burdens. In February 2024, China extended the maturity of a $2 billion loan to Pakistan.

Soon after in March 2024, Angola negotiated a lower monthly debt payment with its biggest Chinese creditor, China Development Bank (CDB).

Could China be in Trouble?

China has provided developing countries with over $1 trillion in committed funding through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a massive economic development project aimed at enhancing trade between China and countries across Asia, Africa, and Europe.

Many believe that this lending spree could be an issue in the near future.

According to a 2023 report by AidData, 80% of these loans involve countries in financial distress, raising concerns about whether participating nations will ever be able to repay their debts.

While China claims the BRI is a driver of global development, critics in the West have long warned that the BRI employs debt-trap diplomacy, a tactic where one country uses loans to gain influence over another.

Editor’s note: The debt shown in this visualization focuses only on direct external debt, and does not include publicly-traded, liquid, debt securities like bonds. Furthermore, it’s worth noting the World Bank data excludes some countries with data accuracy or reporting issues, such as Venezuela.