Georgia had the steepest drop in median household income in the nation. From 2008 to 2009 the state's households lost over 13 percent of their income.

A new U.S. Census Bureau Report has Georgia’s Median Income per household at $44,700 dollars last year.That's a drop of $6,700 hundred dollars during the recession.

While Mississippi still has the lowest household income in the nation, that state has not seen as steep a drop.

Jeffrey Humphreys is an economist with the Universtiy of Georgia. He says Georgia’s high rate of bank failures and the state’s dependence on real estate and construction hurt the median income.

“The fact that the epicenter of this recession was the financial sector and home building meant that our manufacturing sector got a lot more damage done to it than any other state," Humphreys says

Humphreys says he does not expect a full recovery for Georgia until 2012. Currently the highest median household income in the nation is earned in New Hempshire with just over 65 thousand dollars. For GPB news, I’m SC.

Tags: Georgia, economy, Atlanta, University of Georgia, Jeffrey Humphreys, median household income