PJ Media

I believe median income could be a far better number to look at when comparing how states are doing to each other. When one looks at that the only states with right to work who trickle over the middle (#25) are Utah (#14), Arizona (#22), Georgia (#23), Kansas (#25), Nevada (#15), Virginia (8) which should be an exception because of all the unionized Federal Employees in the North which is unaffected by right to work, Wyoming (#19). So we have 7 of the top 25 in right to work states where median income vs other states is above average and what does that tell us? Nothing as cost of living varies from state to state but still better number than yours. A more telling number is below and these numbers are before the financial meltdown so I suspect they are much worse now.

However when one also looks at state ranking of the population below poverty levels it may give one a better outlook. Here we see a different story of states with right to work laws: Alabama (9), Arizona (13), Arkansas (2), Florida (22), Georgia (13), Idaho (24), Kentucky (2), Louisiana (2), Mississippi (1), N. Carolina (15), Oklahoma (7), S Carolina (9), Tennessee (11), and Texas (8). Where 14 of those states have higher rates of people in poverty. Not a pretty site so I suspect right to work maybe isn’t the panacea you make it out to be. I have a feeling people in poverty tend to take jobs out of desperation just for a pay check as any of us would do. I also suspect many are vastly underpaid – which maybe to you is a good thing. They should be grateful they just have a job.

http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2012/ranks/rank34.html