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10 Toughest States for Earning a Living

Hawaii may not be heaven on earth after all

by: Kelly Miller, from: AARP, April 11, 2011

Here are MoneyRates.com's 10 worst states for earning a living, as well as each state's corresponding annual adjusted average income:

State	Average Income	Details
1. Hawaii	$22,108	Hawaii has an extremely high cost of living, coupled with a fairly high tax rate.
2. Maine	$29,159	Maine has a combination of relatively low wages and an above-average cost of living.
3. Montana	$29,496	Montana makes the list primarily because of the state's low average wages.
4. California	$29,772	California has many fiscal woes, high taxes, high unemployment and a high cost of living.
5. Vermont	$29,986	Vermont has a fairly low unemployment rate, but relatively high state taxes and cost of living.
6. Oregon	$30,343	Oregon has an above-average rate of unemployment, a high cost of living and a high state tax rate.
7. Rhode Island	$30,612	The cost of living, state taxes and the unemployment rate are all higher than average in Rhode Island.
8.Mississippi	$30,953	The cost of living in Mississippi is cheaper than the average for the country as a whole, but the state's average wage levels are among the lowest in the country.
9. West Virginia	$31,357	West Virginia has a low cost of living and very low wage levels.
10. South Carolina	$31,627	South Carolina suffers from a combination of below-average wages, above-average state taxes and above-average unemployment.