West Virginia stands alone among the states for a host of positive reasons. But a recent Urban Institute study shows we stand alone for a distressing reason: We are the only state in the country for which inflation-adjusted median household income has DECREASED since 1970.

“Over this period,” the study reads, “Utah households’ incomes gained the most, with the median income rising 78 percent, or $40,820. The states with the next largest increases-Colorado, New Hampshire, California, Arizona, and Virginia-all experienced more than 60 percent growth in median household income, and each moved up more than 15 spots in state median household rankings by 2023.

“Conversely, in West Virginia, the median household’s inflation-adjusted income fell slightly by 0.5 percent, or $213, from 1970 to 2023. Over this period, West Virginia slipped from the 28th highest median household income to the 49th.”

In fact, for the 53-year period studied, Urban Institute, says the Mountain State was among the few that “oscillated around their original 1970 starting point.”

The study cites factors such as “shifts in natural resource extraction,” (no, the so-called oil and natural gas boom did NOT do anything to move the needle past where we were in 1970) as contributing to our woes. But also noted successful states have high rates of educational attainment and invest more in education, have higher foreign born/immigrant populations, do a better job investing in transportation and infrastructure, and focus on quality-of-life issues that help maintain and grow population.

To be fair to lawmakers and other public officials, the study also noted that one factor that contributed to income gains in some states was having a warm and sunny climate.

That just means there is even more work to do in a place where the weather and terrain are not always operating in our favor.

“Our analysis finds that lower state tax burdens are less linked with income growth than educational attainment and immigration,” the Urban Institute authors wrote. “This could be because states with higher tax revenues are able to dedicate more resources to long-run education and workforce development investments. Other economic development tools, such as firm incubation and cluster development, may matter as well. Economic development policies seeking to grow or attract new industries in a region will want to closely consider the wages associated with those new jobs.”

Adjusted for inflation, by at least one measure, we are WORSE off here than we were more than half a century ago. That should chill lawmakers who have made it their goal to bring jobs first and opportunity everywhere to a state that has suffered for so long.

Your mission couldn’t be clearer, folks. Focus on it, now.