As prices increase, state's median income remaining the same, data shows

If it feels like your wallet is squeezed a little more due to higher prices for every day items, you aren’t alone.

The state's median income change was statistically insignificant - meaning it remained about the same when adjusted for inflation - between 2021 and 2022, according to Census data released this week.

"Hardship is too high for any of us to feel good about the state of the economy," said Alexandra Sirota, the NC Budget and Tax Center's Director. "It's not enough to hope that the economy will deliver better outcomes. Policymakers really can and must make the reduction of hardship for people across our state their top priority."

In both years, the inflation-adjusted median income for North Carolina households sat around $67,000, according to the American Community Survey Data.

That's thousands of dollars less every year than the average American household. However, while the country's median income declined, the state's stayed about the same.

In 2022, several pandemic-era policies like the child tax credit expired. Sirota says legislators should focus on putting something like that in place in our state as research shows it would help lift all families.

"We know they also matter for generations," Sirota said. "Children with more income in the household, have better educational outcomes, lifetime earnings."

The data also includes information about the uninsured rate. Ours decreased, year-over-year. But given that lawmakers are dragging their feet on implementing Medicaid expansion, Sirota said it’s possible that those declines would be easily reversed.

The main takeaway, according to Sirota, is that the data is mixed on determining if our is economically a great place for everyone living here.

"North Carolina has great potential to deliver better economic outcomes across the board, but has fallen short in some critical areas in making sure that every household has the resources and the supports to be well," Sirota said.