Minnesota got poorer last year

This, for those of you who have forgotten, is what money looks like.

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Minnesota's income dropped about $1,000 per household in 2010, according to a new data dump from the U.S. Census Bureau. That thousand bucks isn't a significant amount, but it becomes a bit worse when you consider that statewide income still hasn't recovered from where it was in 2007.

There are other, even worse indicators from the census. More Minnesotans, and more children, were living in poverty in 2010 than the year before, with the child poverty rate hitting 15.6 percent.

Okay, so, everyone's making a bit less, and a lot of our kids are poor. Now for the good news: The rest of America is just as screwed as we are.

Across the U.S., median household income dropped from $51,190 to $50,046, according to the Census Bureau's data. Minnesota's drop is right in line with America's though at a slightly higher level, falling from $56,592 in 2009 to $55,459 last year.

The richest state by that measure is Maryland -- no doubt thanks to so many Washington, D.C. commuters -- which is flying high at $68,854 per household. Worst, in nearly all ways, is Mississippi, with household income at $36,581.

Wikipedia

Greatly depresses: Minnesota wishes it could afford this guy's coat.

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Not one state grew its income levels during last year, and only 15 were able to stay level. Minnesota, among the 35 that saw income go down, is at least fortunate that things aren't as bad as in Nevada, Connecticut, and Vermont. All three of those state saw income fall off the table last year, with each seeing a decrease of 6.1 percent from 2009.

Minnesota's 1.2 percent decrease is, comparatively, not so bad, and is a bit better than neighboring Iowa (which fell 1.9 percent) and a lot better than Wisconsin's drop 3.9 percent per household. The mysterious territory to our immediate west, North Dakota, actually ticked-up a tiny bit, with a 0.4 percent increase (from $48,453 to $48,670), but even that was a downturn: Last time the Census Bureau ran these numbers, North Dakota was the only state in the union with a significant increase in income, at 5 percent.

The lesson here is simple. It's all over. This state and this country is going down hard, and no one has any solutions.

Hey, has anyone seen the numbers on median household income in Canada? How about Guam?