Study Finds Highest Incomes For 2025 in CT/NY/NJ-Tri-State Area

Congratulations Class of 2025 grads, want to pay off those student loans? A new study says that the highest salaries in the US for 2025 are right here in the Tri-State area.

WalletHub.com has just released States Where People Have the highest Income (2025) and Connecticut has been ranked overall at #4. Who beat us in the rankings? Our immediate neighbors - #3 was New York, and #2 is New Jersey. The median yearly income in the US for 2025 is $81,000, and the Tri-State region's salaries are way above.

To arrive at their ranking WalletHub.com compared the 50 states and DC on three key metrics - Average Income of Top 5%, Median Annual Household Income, and Average Annual Income of Bottom 20% of earners.  The average income for the Top %5 in Connecticut averaged out to $535,578 in 2025, the Median Annual Income was $118,346, and Connecticut Bottom 20% earned just $15,005. Connecticut ranks #4 in the US overall for 2025.

New York's Top 5% earners were the only ones to top Connecticut for 2025, coming in at $575,505, while New Jersey's Top 5% took in $522,128. Bigger disparities are found between Median Income and the Bottom 20% of earners between the three states. For Median Household Income New Jersey was tops at $122,447, Connecticut at $118,346, and New York at $95,033. Where are the Bottom 20% of earners better off? New Jersey wins with an average of $17,083, with Connecticut at $15,005, and New York at $13,647.

While you may earn the best salary in this part of the United States, it will also cost more to live your life here. The New York Metro area has some of the most expensive real estate, gas prices and food costs in the US. We all know the feeling of living paycheck to paycheck.