Median household income up in Central Mass.
Zachary Comeau
Companies like Insulet, which is expected to begin operating this space in Acton by the beginning of 2019, are bringing more high-paying jobs to the area.
Household income in Worcester County rose by 5 percent, or $3,542, last year, far surpassing growth in the city of Worcester but lagging behind Middlesex County, which has so many of the tech jobs that have boomed closer to Boston.
The data released by the U.S. Census Bureau last week, with Massachusetts coming at the top end of median household income and largest year-to-year increase. The average Massachusetts household made $75,300, a rise of 5 percent.
Nationally, the average household made $59,039, an increase of 3 percent.
Worcester County's median household income last year was $69,295, according to the Census report. That was a 5-percent year-to-year increase, and a 15-percent increase in the past five years.
Middlesex County incomes rose 5 percent to $95,249. In five years, incomes in the county have risen by 24 percent. The county includes MetroWest towns Hopkinton, Framingham, Marlborough and others, but it's weighed heavily by wealthier communities closer to Boston and some of the giants of the Boston area technology and pharmaceutical industry, like Cambridge, Waltham, Lexington and Burlington.
The city of Worcester itself showed much slower growth. The median family income in the city last year was $44,020, a year-to-year increase of just 1 percent, and a five-year increase of just 3 percent. Still, the city's poverty rate did fall in the past five years, from 18 percent to 14 percent.
The Boston area showed some of the best economic gains in the country. The region, which was not specifically defined in the report, had a median household income over more than $80,000. Only the San Francisco and Washington areas were higher.
Greater Boston had the fifth lowest poverty rate at less than 10 percent. It also had the lowest rate of residents without health insurance among the 25 largest metropolitan regions, as one of only three areas with rates under 5 percent.
In another report on pay last week, the advocacy group American Association of University Women ranked Massachusetts 14th nationally for its equality of pay between men and women. Statewide, the average woman made 20 percent less than men -- $41,554 compared to $51,640.
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