I don't know...I live about 20 minutes north of the Fox cities, and about 40 minutes west of Green Bay. Within a 1 hr drive There are 2 cancer centers, at least a dozen major hospitals, a mayo clinic, and countless walk-in care centers. There are many huge corporations (mainly paper mills) such as Fort Howard, Proctor and Gamble, Kimberly Clark, and lesser mills, along with (in my home town) Hillshire Farm (meat products), large manufacturers, etc. We are not an overly populated area, but there are many jobs, and a great need for service and technical sector jobs. The paper industry is laying off workers (sadly), but the economy here is still much stronger than in other parts of the country, and my electric bill runs about $50/month, not a few hundred.
Not ranting or bragging, but I have strong feelings when I see friends and relatives move to metro areas in "better" parts of the country, then watch them struggle. I am willing to bet that although there are wealthier people in other areas, the average person in the upper midwest lives better than the average person in other parts of the country. People making $100,000+ in CA probably live much poorer than we do making $40k, and you can trust most strangers around here.
