Courtesy of Overflow Data, here's a map infographic showing median household income broken down by county and state.  The data comes from the 2016 U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey.  A few things to note about the map:

• Median household income ranges from about $20,000 (white on the map) to $75,000 (green).
• Roll over or select a county to see its name and median household income.
• The chart below the map shows median household income on the vertical axis.  The size of each bubble representation the population of that county.  The horizontal axis of the lower chart is organized by state, alphabetically.
• By selecting counties in multiple states on the map you can highlight those states on the lower chart.

Here are some questions and ideas for using this interactive.  Consider asking your students to...

• use the interactive to identify what factors might affect median household income levels.
• look at the the bottom section of the chart that shows county organized by state and median household income.  How are the large bubbles different from the little ones? What patterns do you notice is the distribution of large-bubble counties across the vertical axis and what might explain these patterns?  
• select counties across 3-5 states on the map and to compare the distribution of incomes across those states.  What might explain any differences or commonalities?

Want to go deeper?  Try comparing the info you find here to other county-level infographics:

• Last week we featured a tool allowing you to compare educational attainment by county.  Have your students identify and explain the relationship between median household income and educational attainment.
• The New York Fed has a cool and deep map-interactive about credit.  Use the map to check out each states credit economy, available credit, or credit quality.  Clicking on a state will bring up county level data on any of the maps.  You can also dive in deep to compare credit stress by county.  Use these maps with your students to consider the relationship between income and credit.

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Looking for more interactives? We have almost 40 of them in our Interactive Library.

Have other ideas on how you might use this interactive?  Share it in the FinLit Fanatics group (must be an educator to participate).

About the Author

Greg Livingston

Greg comes to us from a big Canadian family full of passionate educators: the joy of teaching and learning has always been an important part of his experience. He saw first hand the need for personal finance education after having his student research careers and create a budget in his computers class. His students would not stop telling him how important this project was, even years later. Greg brings his unique experience designing and managing online learning communities for Columbia University, Connected Camps, and others to the Next Gen team. He is excited to connect with great teachers and support them in their challenging and rewarding work. Greg is a proud jack of all trades - outside of work he likes to play soccer and hockey, make music, read old books, and explore the great outdoors.