Median Incomes Do Matter - Especially In Elections

I was looking around some income data when I stumbled upon a statistically strong relationship. My results are only qualitative, but I can say with quite a bit of confidence that econometric or statistical analysis would find a strong correlation.

It seems as though, the higher a states median income, the better the chance that that state voted for the President in the November election. I have highlighted the median income numbers of each state in RED and BLUE to signify the party that state voted for.

To be completely fair, the President won by a pretty healthy margin, so it is hard to know the exact strength of the relationship at a glance. The other thing to keep in mind is geographic differences is cost of living which make a pretty big difference in the effect of that income - just ask New Yorkers.

State	Rank	Median household income (2007 dollars)
Maryland	1	68,080
New Jersey	2	67,035
Connecticut	3	65,967
Alaska	4	64,333
Hawaii	5	63,746
New Hampshire	6	62,369
Massachusetts	7	62,365
California	8	59,948
Virginia	9	59,562
Minnesota	10	55,802
Washington	11	55,591
Colorado	12	55,212
Utah	13	55,109
Nevada	14	55,062
Delaware	15	54,610
District of Columbia	16	54,317
Illinois	17	54,124
Rhode Island	18	53,568
New York	19	53,514
Wyoming	20	51,731
United States national median ($ 50,740)
Wisconsin	21	50,578
Vermont	22	49,907
Arizona	23	49,889
Georgia	24	49,136
Oregon	25	48,730
Pennsylvania	26	48,576
Michigan	27	47,950
Florida	28	47,804
Texas	29	47,548
Kansas	30	47,451
Indiana	31	47,448
Iowa	32	47,292
Nebraska	33	47,085
Ohio	34	46,597
Idaho	35	46,253
Maine	36	45,888
Missouri	37	45,114
North Carolina	38	44,670
North Dakota	39	43,753
Montana	40	43,531
South Dakota	41	43,424
South Carolina	42	43,329
Tennessee	43	42,367
Oklahoma	44	41,567
New Mexico	45	41,452
Louisiana	46	40,926
Alabama	47	40,554
Kentucky	48	40,267
Arkansas	49	38,134
West Virginia	50	37,060
Mississippi	51	36,338

SOURCE: US Census Bureau, 2007/08