The U.S. median household income may have increased by 4% between 2022 and 2023, but the growth has not been uniform across the country. Some U.S. cities with shrinking incomes have not kept up with the changing economic situation, putting the residents in the area at a disadvantage.
The income decline in U.S. cities was calculated by a SmartAsset analysis of Census Bureau data, and it found that the decline in income was most pronounced in Marysville, Washington. The city saw the median household income in the city decline from $104,433 in 2022 to $85,708 in 2023, which was a nearly 18% drop.
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Top 10 Cities with Shrinking Household Incomes Across the U.S.
The average income of households within a region can fluctuate significantly depending on the social, economic, and political circumstances that prevail over the region. The data on the household income trends can tell us a lot about the ground realities faced by citizens and employees and the more we understand them, the easier it is to ensure the wellbeing of the population.
SmartAsset analyzed data from 630 U.S. cities to rank them based on the percentage decline in median household income over the course of a year, and it did so by using the data gathered by the U.S. Census Bureau.
As previously stated, residents of Marysville in Washington saw the biggest change in their income from 2022 to 2023, but it wasn’t the only one to see a major drop. The city was closely followed by Champaign, Illinois; Madera, California; Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and Union City, California. All of these regions saw an approximately 17% decline in their household income.
Rank |
City |
One-year change in median income |
Median income in 2023 |
Median income in 2022 |
| 1 | Marysville, Washington | −17.93% | $85,708 | $104,433 |
| 2 | Champaign, Illinois | −17.66% | $46,232 | $56,148 |
| 3 | Madera, California | –17.54% | $55,622 | $67,454 |
| 4 | Baton Rouge, Louisiana | −17.20% | $41,651 | $50,304 |
| 5 | Union City, California | −16.22% | $124,383 | $148,460 |
| 6 | Merced, California | −15.94% | $53,931 | $64,160 |
| 7 | Kendall, Florida | −15.81% | $75,301 | $89,441 |
| 8 | Waterbury, Connecticut | −15.81% | $43,420 | $51,572 |
| 9 | Allentown, Pennsylvania | −15.68% | $47,175 | $55,949 |
| 10 | Bellingham, Washington | −15.26% | $54,867 | $64,748 |
Data from SmartAsset
What Does It Mean for Marysville to Have One of the Fastest Shrinking Salaries in the U.S.?
From the household income trends determined by the study, it was also revealed that the percentage of households earning more than $100,000 in Marysville dropped from 54% to 40.6% in that period. The portion of households earning more than $200,000 went up slightly from 10.0% to 13.1%.
This trend was witnessed in some other cities as well, where there was a drop in the median household income and in the number of resident households earning over $100,000, and yet the percentage of households earning over $200,000 increased. This hints at wealth-based inequalities growing, where already well-earning households were able to continue growing their wealth, leaving the rest even further behind.
This could be a result of multiple changes occurring in the region, including job cuts and losses that primarily affect lower-income workers. Another possible reason for the change is that those with higher median incomes moved out of the region to seek better opportunities elsewhere. Schools in the region have more recently started facing budget cuts and other regulatory issues, and problems like this are likely to push residents away to other regions with better facilities.
One factor of note is that while many U.S. metro areas are seeing their income drop, the median income from many of them still remains above the national median, guaranteeing that a large number of the residents can still live comfortably.
Places With the Lowest Median Incomes Require Further Support
Marysville’s falling median income of $85,708 still keeps it above the national median of $80,610, but not all regions are as lucky. Flint, Michigan saw a 0.3% change in median income, but the rise from $33,036 to $33,141 still left it at a disadvantage. In Gary, Indiana, the median income fell 3.1% from $36,153 to $35,033.
Similarly, in Camden, New Jersey, the -5.2% median income change over the course of a year brought the median income down from $37,075 to $35,129. The incomes in these areas are already lower than recommended and there is no room for it to shrink even further.
Organizations need to be alert to the changes and provide the right kind of compensation and benefits to attract talent to the region and retain them sufficiently to benefit the community as a whole.
