In June, the financial services company WalletHub ranked the 50 states and DC across three categories: economic activity, economic health, and innovation potential. The Economic Policy Institute pointed to low minimum wages and unionization rates in Southern states as two factors keeping pay down. Of course, workers in some Southern states earn less than others. Using US Bureau of Economic Analysis and Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the analysis highlighted the average annual wages across US states as of 2022. Only two Southern states — Louisiana and West Virginia — were among the eight US states that saw their populations decline between 2022 and 2023.

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Persons: —, Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, Chandra Childers, it's, West Virginia — Organizations: Service, West Virginia —, of Columbia, WalletHub, Business, South :, Workers, Economic Policy Institute, Southern, Economic, Economic Innovation, Peterson Institute for International Economics, of, of Labor Statistics, Institute, Texans, Dallas Fed Locations: Southern, Delaware , Maryland, Virginia, West, South, South : Mississippi, West Virginia , Arkansas , Louisiana, Kentucky, West Virginia , Arkansas , Alabama, South Carolina, Houston, Dallas, Miami, Nashville, Midwest, Mississippi, Hawaii, Texas, North Carolina, Georgia, South : Texas, Florida, North Carolina , Georgia, Tennessee, — Louisiana, West Virginia