Table: Competitive Wage Ranking of the 50 States for Years 1990, 1996 and 1998

	1990			1996			1998
	Nominal/Real		Real	Nominal/Real		Real	Nominal/Real		Real
	Average Weekly Wage		Weekly Wage Rank	Average Weekly Wage		Weekly Wage Rank	Average Weekly Wage		Weekly Wage Rank
National Average	$454/$347			$557/$355			$614/$377
Alabama	394/301		32	484/308		31	520/319		31
Alaska	576/441		1	624/398		5	651/399		9
Arizona	412/315		24	507/323		26	564/346		23
Arkansas	350/268		46	429/273		46	470/288		46
California	503/385		6	611/389		6	680/417		5
Colorado	441/337		14	548/349		14	620/381		12
Connecticut	558/427		2	703/448		2	787/483		1
Delaware	470/360		10	591/377		9	654/401		8
Florida	404/309		27	493/314		29	541/332		29
Georgia	425/325		21	529/337		20	594/364		18
Hawaii	443/341		12	526/335		21	558/343		25
Idaho	265/279		44	449/286		42	478/293		44
Illinois	487/373		8	602/384		8	667/410		6
Indiana	417/319		23	509/324		25	560/343		24
Iowa	370/283		43	455/290		41	501/307		38
Kansas	389/298		34	473/301		32	516/317		34
Kentucky	384/294		40	470/300		36	513/315		35
Louisiana	397/304		29	472/301		34	517/317		32
Maine	388/297		36	459/293		39	498/305		39
Maryland	476/364		9	583/372		10	641/393		10
Massachusetts	513/393		5	653/416		4	727/446		4
Michigan	488/373		7	606/386		7	664/408		7
Minnesota	445/336		13	555/354		12	617/378		13
Mississippi	341/261		48	420/268		47	458/281		47
Missouri	418/320		22	512/326		24	556/341		26
Montana	344/263		47	407/259		49	436/267		50
Nebraska	357/273		45	448/286		44	491/301		41
Nevada	430/329		20	534/340		17	581/356		20
New Hampshire	435/333		18	533/340		19	595/365		17
New Jersey	547/419		4	691/440		3	N/A **		3
New Mexico	372/285		42	456/291		40	495/303		40
New York	555/425		3	708/451		1	782/480		2
North Carolina	389/298		34	489/312		30	541/332		30
North Dakota	339/259		49	409/261		48	442/271		48
Ohio	439/336		15	534/340		17	585/359		19
Oklahoma	390/298		33	449/286		42	483/296		43
Oregon	410/314		25	520/331		23	568/349		22
Pennsylvania	451/345		11	557/355		11	607/373		14
Rhode Island	431/330		19	523/333		22	580/356		21
South Carolina	378/289		41	462/294		38	503/309		37
South Dakota	316/242		50	399/254		50	438/268		49
Tennessee	396/303		30	499/318		28	547/336		28
Texas	386/295		37	541/345		15	606/372		15
Utah	386/295		37	473/301		32	217/317		33
Vermont	395/302		31	471/300		35	512/314		36
Virginia	438/335		16	538/343		16	604/370		16
Washington	436/334		17	555/354		12	636/390		11
West Virginia	398/305		28	463/295		37	486/298		42
Wisconsin	406/311		26	500/319		27	549/337		27
Wyoming	386/295		37	440/280		45	476/292		45

Source: "Bulletin 2393," November 1991; "Bulletin 2494," November 1997; "Bulletin 2525," December 1999, Employment and Wages Annual Averages, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

* Wages were deflated to 1982-1984 dollars using the consumer price index for all urban consumers (CPI-U).
** New Jersey data were not available for the third and fourth quarters of 1998. Totals for the United States were calculated using estimated data for New Jersey. For purposes of ranking, it was assumed that 1998 annual average pay for New Jersey was the same as 1997.

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