■ The nation's economy
Highest wage states in the East, lowest in South
BY SIBFHbN UHLtMACHtK
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — Americans have
been migrating south and west for
decades, but it appears they’ve been
leaving some high-paying jobs behind.
While there are many pockets of
wealth in the South and West, the
states with the highest wage earners
line the East Coast, according to
Census data released Tliesday.
Oregon’s average household income
for 2003 was $42,593, slightly below
the national median.
Washington County was the highest
at qou.uui touowea oy uacKamas ana
Columbia counties.
The lowest three were Baker,
Malheur and Wheeler counties with
Wheeler the lowest at $29,288.
Oregon’s overall poverty rate of 12
percent fell about midway
between the low in New Hampshire of
6.4 percent and the high in
Mississippi of 18.3 percent.
Connecticut, with a median
household income of $56,409, sup
planted New Jersey as the country’s
highest wage state in 2003, the most
recent year available. New Jersey slid
IN BRIEF
Kansas Subway owners say
ad caused decrease in sales
TOPEKA, Kan. — Some owners
of Subway restaurants in Topeka
say they have lost customers after
media reports of an advertisement
at a Subway in Oregon that made
fun of Kansas.
The sign, displayed sometime
during the last year in the EMU
Subway, touted a salmon sandwich
offered in northern and northwest
parts of the country. It said, “Anoth
er reason you’re lucky not to live
in Kansas.”
Topeka residents Joe and Karen
Davis saw the sign in Reedsport,
Ore. in October and called The
Topeka Capital-Journal last week
after they did not receive any
explanation or apology from the
Subway corporation.
On Monday, Karen Davis said the
couple still had not heard anything
from the national Subway corpora
tion, but had talked to Jerry Desch,
who operates 13 Subway franchises
in Topeka and Holton as the owner
of Victoria Sandwich Co.
Although the signs didn’t
appear in Kansas, Desch said Tope
ka Subway operators had lost
customers over the promotion.
Desch said he contacted Subway’s
public relations department last
week after seeing an article about the
sign and is demanding an apology
from the Subway corporation.
Although Subway headquarters
had not explained who was respon
sible for the campaign, Desch
said it likely was created by an ad
vertising firm working with a re
gional Subway board. But the ads
should have been approved by the
corporation, he said.
Desch said the regional board, the
advertising firm and the corporation
all owe Kansas an apology.
—Emerald staff,
The Associated Press
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by Maryland, Massachusetts and
New Hampshire.
Mississippi had the lowest median
income, at $32,397. West Virginia,
Arkansas, Louisiana and Montana
rounded out the bottom five.
The median household income for
the nation was $43,318. That means
half the nation’s incomes were higher
and half were lower.
The wage gap among counties was
even more pronounced than the one
for states.
Los Alamos County in New
Mexico, nome oi me l,os mdiiios
National Laboratory, had the na
tion’s highest median income, at
$93,089. It was followed by Douglas
County in Colorado and Loudoun
County in northern Virginia.
Buffalo County in South Dakota,
home of the Crow Creek Indian Reser
vation, had the lowest, at $17,003. It
was followed by Owsley County in
Kentucky and Ziebach County, also in
South Dakota.
Most of the wealthiest counties were
suburban, and nearly all the poorest
ones were rural.
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problem in non-metro areas,” said
Dean Jolliffe, an economist at the
Department of Agriculture. “These are
areas where there really isn’t any
economic development going on.”
Jolliffe tracks “persistent poverty”
counties, ones in which at least 20 per
cent of the population have lived be
low the poverty level for at least
30 years. There were 386 persistent
poverty counties in 2000, and 340
were outside metropolitan areas.
None was in the Northeast. Most
were in the South.
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Internship in Peer Health Education Program
Get involved on campus as a leader and educator of health issues.
Learn about campus and pubic health issues.
Build skills in public speaking • project coordination • newsletter writing • presentation
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