US State & City Rankings

How do the 50 states — and America's 334,922,499 residents — actually compare? These national rankings sort every state, the country's 3,100+ counties, and its largest cities by the measures people ask about most: household income, home values and affordability, the salary it takes to buy a home, education, homeownership, unemployment, poverty, age, and diversity. Every ranking is built from the U.S. Census Bureau's ACS 5-Year Estimates, includes the full sortable list, and links to a detailed profile of every state and city on it. The national baselines to keep in mind: median household income $80,734, median home value $332,700.

State Rankings

Richest States Median household income Massachusetts leads at $103,960 States by Population All 50 states ranked by size California is largest with 39.3M residents Most Expensive States Median home value Hawaii tops the list at $839,100 Most Affordable States Home price vs. local income West Virginia leads at 2.7x income Most Educated States Bachelor's degree rate Massachusetts leads at 47.3% bachelor's+ Oldest States Median age, oldest to youngest Maine is oldest at 44.8 years Poverty Rate by State Lowest to highest New Hampshire is lowest at 7.2% Homeownership by State Owner-occupied share West Virginia leads at 74.9% Most Diverse States Racial & ethnic diversity index Hawaii leads with an index of 76/100 Salary Needed to Buy a Home Income required for the median home Hawaii requires $232,000 a year Unemployment by State Lowest to highest North Dakota is lowest at 2.8% Labor Force Participation Share of adults working or job-seeking Utah leads at 69.6% Households Earning $100k+ Six-figure household share Massachusetts leads at 51.7%

County Rankings

Richest US Counties Median household income Loudoun County, VA leads at $181,765 Largest US Counties Top 100 by population Los Angeles County leads with 9.8M residents

City Rankings

Largest US Cities Top 100 by population New York is largest with 8.5M residents Richest US Cities Median income, 50k+ population Sammamish leads at $239,690 Most Expensive Cities Median home value, 50k+ population Newport Beach tops the list at $2,000,000+ Most Educated Cities Bachelor's rate, 50k+ population Bethesda leads at 87.1% Most Diverse Cities Diversity index, 50k+ population Vallejo leads with an index of 78/100 Highest Homeownership Cities Owner-occupied share, 50k+ population The Villages leads at 93.3%

Beyond Rankings: Original Data Analysis

Rankings sort one measure at a time. Our data insights go further — original analyses computed across every city in the dataset, like the cities where renters outnumber homeowners, the housing affordability cliff, and college towns identified purely from data.

Looking for a Specific State?

Every state also has its own set of local rankings — richest cities, most affordable cities, most educated cities, and cities by population — linked from its state page. City and county data for each state is available as a free CSV download.