Houston founder taps into AI tech to create game-changing healthy eating platform

there's an app for that

A Better Meal — a new app from a Houston founder — gives you all the tools you need to make healthier food choices. Photo via abettermeal.com

After many years of living to eat, a large swath of American society is now facilitating a seismic shift to the healthier alternative, eating to live.

But here’s the rub: eating healthy is confusing, time consuming and, unfortunately, oftentimes pricey.

So, anyone that can come in and cut through the healthy eating machine can carve out a necessary niche in the marketplace.

Enter Houstonian Mark Semmelbeck, founder and CEO of A Better Meal, a platform created to help busy families plan healthy meals easier and to make gradual improvements to their health and well-being.

“My vision is to use rapidly expanding AI technology together with the knowledge and wisdom of an active community to take the stress out of meal planning and improving nutrition,” says Semmelbeck, a seasoned oil and gas executive with over 30 years of experience in founding companies. “While developing the technology for the app, my daughter gave me two beautiful grandkids who both have significant food allergies. Combine that with the fact I now have five cardiac stents and the significance of eating well while paying attention to the details has only grown in importance.”

All-in-one app

Billed as the one-stop meal planning companion, A Better Meal promises users no additional stress in finding the time to look for recipes, make grocery lists, or prepare meals quickly. Families need healthy options and to be able to provide them with ease and that’s where this new application comes in.

“So, when I started A Better Meal, I wanted to answer two questions or help people answer two questions,” says Semmelbeck. “That is, a family gets home in the evening and they don't want to order out and they don't want to go out to eat, they can open up this app and it can tell them, ‘here's three things that you can make with what you have on hand that you like.’ The other question is, 'how can I make small changes to how I prepare my food, how I cook it, the ingredients that I use and small changes that can make my meals healthier.'

“So that was where we started. And then as we built the app out, got a minimum viable product out to people and in front of them, and we started seeing more as they used the app, what they actually wanted when they went to a meal planning app, so the last year and a half has been a process of refining the app to really set what people want in a meal planning and recipe app.”

When users download the app, which is a subscription-based tool, it starts with the simple things like, how many meals they’d like per day, if they have preferences in the types of food that they like, and, of course, if they have allergies.

Custom experience

Semmelbeck says that users are able to personalize the app and set up their own dashboard with meal planning. You can also use the app to analyze a new recipe you'd like to try.

"You can take a picture of, say a recipe written down, and you'd like to put that in your own personal database, you can take a picture of it, and it will interpret it and bring that into the app and then the app will calculate the calories and macros and the macro nutrients that that meal has in it so that you can see that information also," he says.

When it comes to food and meal planning, inserting the word “healthy” invariably invokes a litany of personal definitions, up to and including weight loss.

That definition isn’t wrong by any means, but for A Better Meal, it’s all about introducing healthier options into people’s everyday lives. The app won’t give you a specific diet to follow, but if users prefer a vegetarian, keto or paleo diet, the app will recommend recipes that will satisfy those disciplines.

“For a lot of people that's a huge help,” says Semmelbeck. “They just want to cook and eat healthier. They may like to have vegetarian days mixed in, but don't know where to find those recipes, the app can suggest recipes for a vegetarian meal. It can also recommend that substituting whole wheat flour for conventional flour for making pancakes, things like that.”

And for those users who don’t necessarily have a planned out starting place for meal preparation, they can search the internet or social media for meal plans and diets and then simply import those into the app.

“We also use AI to analyze recipes that would satisfy a certain type of diet that you would want to participate in,” says Semmelback. “But I will say that one of the main things we want to do is help you make small changes because again diets are great and a lot of people are on them, but few people maintain them for long periods of time because, in general, they can be very restrictive.

“So, we really want our goal to be able to help you make small changes with the things that you like to eat to make them healthier. And again, by healthy, certain kinds of fats are good, others you want to limit, certainly processed foods you want to limit, you want to limit the amount of added sugar, and you want to limit the amount of processed foods. That’s why we have our own nutritionist that helps us with those diets.”

Starting a journey

Currently, the nutritionist for A Better Meal is working just for the app in general, but as the platform grows, users will be about to ask direct questions or at least have access to educational materials about specific health issues, and specific diet recommendations for various health use.

“The app has been live for about a year and early on, we found that what people said they want is much different than what they actually use in the app. So, a lot of our work has been over the past year modifying the app, the way you move around in the app," says Semmelback. "We really want to use AI in ways that are helpful to people.

"I personally have dealt with heart disease, and I know that my doctor recommends less added sugar and processed foods. And so those are the kinds of things that we are using AI to do to help take recipes that you might like and make substitutions to those recipes so that they fit the kind of lifestyle you want," he continues. "What we're really concentrating on is the recipe part of the app and improving those and allowing them to be adaptable to the desires of the users. Finally, we really want to push into more education and more gamification where it actually makes it fun to use the app.”

Many women worry about traveling alone, but having allies can be a game-changer. Photo by Faith D on Unsplash

New app with tips for solo women travelers takes flight from Texas

explore mode activated

We all have that one friend whose office seems to be the nearest airport gate. We go to them for travel advice and hit save on their latest post for that hole-in-the-wall restaurant that had the best local food. That type of advice — especially between women — is indispensable for solo travelers, and now a new travel app based in Austin is helping organize it on a new platform without the social media noise.

Solo travel has gained a lot of momentum in the past few years, and it’s no longer just something one does during a gap year before or after college. It’s become the preferred way to travel for many, and women are at the forefront.

According to Condor Ferries, 72 percent of American women like to take solo trips, and the term “female solo travel” has increased 62 percent over the past three years across all search engines. What if there was a place where women solo travelers could get recommendations and travel itineraries created by other solo women travelers?

This concept is the backbone of Airheart, which aims to revolutionize the travel industry by offering a safe space for solo female travelers to find itineraries and travel guides that were crafted with them in mind.

"Traveling solo as a woman is an empowering act of independence," said Airheart founder Lindsey Renken in a press release. "At Airheart, we celebrate and support this journey, helping women discover new places, connections, and strengths."

The platform includes integrated planning tools, interactive maps, itineraries, and video tips all conveniently located in one place and customizable to the traveler’s preference. Once a user creates an account and accesses the site, the navigation is pretty straightforward.

There’s an explore option at the top of the home screen showcasing all the travel guides available for purchase within the platform, with destinations all over the world. At the moment, most are within the US, Mexico, Western Europe, and Asia. Once the user chooses a guide, a sidebar populates with a list of recommendations or a day-by-day itinerary. The right side of the screen is a map with all the pinned recommendations for easy navigating.

For those wanting to travel more within Texas this summer, Airheart offers a few destinations with a wide range of activities:

  • Big Bend/West Texas: For nature lovers, explore the beautiful mountain desert region of West Texas with a comprehensive guide that includes tips on how to get there and how to choose the best accommodation for your trip — something that becomes more complex in such a remote place.
  • Glen Rose: Escape to this charming small town just an hour-and-a-half Southwest of Dallas-Fort Worth, that is perfect for a weekend getaway full of outdoor adventures. These recommendations come from a local.
  • Fredericksburg: Indulge in the best wineries and restaurants that Central Texas has to offer with an itinerary crafted by a Texas native. This one is ideal for a quick day trip or a fun girls’ weekend.

Airheart, named after the pioneering aviator Amelia Earhart, is also focused on empowering female travel creators by allowing them to act as a type of modern travel agent. They can monetize both new and existing travel content by creating these guides and itineraries, while reaching a new audience on the platform.

“As an avid traveler, I’m always looking for something like this created by expert travelers. I can’t wait to be a seller and consumer,” said Tanna Wasilchak who contributed guides for Waco, Glen Rose, and Georgetown. “Solo traveling as a female can be intimidating at first, but it’s one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had. Airheart is going to be such a game changer for this community.”

Perhaps the only downside for now is that Airheart is limited in what it can offer to its users with only 22 guides published on the site. However, the features and community-based aspect give the platform the potential to stand out in an otherwise saturated market. Guides ($29 each before taxes and fees) are available for users to browse and purchase at airheart.com.

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

ChewTyme has launched in Houston and Atlanta to approach the fast-growing food delivery industry in a new way. Photo via Getty Images

Houston entrepreneur launches platform for on-demand ordering with biz support for restaurateurs

it's chewtyme

While Ashley Loveless Cunningham has advised clients how to fix bad credit and build a healthy financial life for years, a look at her family’s own spending on food delivery came as a wake-up call.

Like a lot of busy households, they loved to order food through delivery apps, so much so that Cunningham realized it was time for a change. With the delivery charge and other fees that apps like DoorDash and GrubHub tack on, a food order can easily double in price. A $15 bowl from Chipotle that her son liked to order cost almost $40 by the time it got to the house — and that doesn’t even include a tip for the delivery driver.

“I thought, wait a minute. This is ridiculous,” she says.

She says she brainstormed, and began to look into ways to offer an alternative, not only for consumers, but for minority-owned restaurants that were struggling to keep their doors open.

So, Cunningham, whose business ventures include her financial literacy business New Credit Inc. and a perfume line, created her own app, ChewTyme.

The app launched in Houston and Atlanta last Friday, and has drawn over 3,000 consumer downloads, which Cunningham says is a “pretty good” start.

Cunningham, 40, a native of Mobile, Alabama, says she moved to Houston with her family ten months ago, drawn by the opportunity to grow their various businesses. And, the city’s vibrant food scene offered another avenue.

“Everybody moves here to open a restaurant,” she says of Houston.

Extra support on the side

Through restaurant owner clients of her credit counseling business, she learned that many were struggling to remain open. A lot of the business owners aren’t aware of the many options available to them, in business lines of credit, assuming their own personal financial credit is in good shape.

That’s where the business education side of the app comes in, where restaurateurs will gain access to “Business University,” financial guidance for their journey in the industry.

“I tell people, it’s not only about cash funding. There are other resources out there, things we need to thrive in the business space,” she says, adding that this includes mentorship and publicity services.

Many restaurant owners told her they partner with at least two or three food delivery apps already. But she thinks ChewTyme will stand out.

“A lot of people I’ve talked to, they just don’t know where to start,” she says. Her partnership with the restaurants would solve that issue, helping restaurateurs create a “full, state-of-the-art profile” that guides them every step of the way.

While she's yet to onboard her inaugural Houston restaurants, the app has begun to draw interest, Ashley says, especially from entrepreneurs who need a cheaper way to scale their business growth.

Cunningham says ChewTyme offers a competitive alternative to many third-party apps, which she says charge anywhere from a 20-22 percent commission on a restaurant’s delivery orders. The app will charge a 17 percent commission, with no monthly fee, and a flat $4.95 delivery rate to consumers, whom she plans to attract with discounts and promotions.

She hopes to initially sign up 25 restaurants in Houston and the same number in Atlanta, during the beta run of the app. As they work out the kinks, she feels confident in expansion.

Her biggest challenge moving forward is hiring quality drivers, she says.

“That really scares me. People who want to work, who have integrity. I’ve heard horror stories because people literally pick up their food and don’t deliver it,” she says.

ChewTyme is working with contracting partners who are conducting screening and background checks for potential drivers, and onboarding restaurant owners with follow-up. Interested restaurateurs or drivers can request more information on ChewTyme's website.

Tapping into a high-growth market

Third-party food delivery exploded in popularity during the pandemic, and a 2021 McKinsey report found that food delivery more than tripled since 2017. Post-pandemic, the on-demand services industry growth hasn't waned.

The Texas Restaurant Association fought for a law passed in 2021 to prevent third-party apps from adding restaurants to a delivery platform without a financial agreement or partnership, according to Christine Robbins, executive director of the association. But now that relationship seems to have settled into a profitable venture on both sides.

Taj Walker, of H-Town Restaurant Group, which owns Hugo’s, Xochi, and six other local restaurants, says the apps don’t typically charge a fee unless the restaurant takes part in an app’s ad promotion of their restaurant.

An app’s commission can range from 10 to 25 percent, he says, which their restaurants compensate for by charging 10 percent more on app orders than in-house food. The apps have become an important revenue stream for some H-Town’s more casual eateries, especially Urbe and Prego, which are popular among younger clientele, Walker says.

While Cunningham’s main goal is to uplift minority entrepreneurs and communities, the app will be available to any restaurateur who wants it.

This Houston-based media company launched a networking platform to help solve the energy crisis. Screenshots via apps.apple.com

Houston startup launches networking app for next-generation energy workforce

get connected

A Houston-based media organization dedicated to covering the energy industry has officially launched the beta program of their networking app.

After producing zanily named energy podcasts like “Big Digital Energy” and “What the Funk,” Digital Wildcatters is trying to bridge the hiring gap in the energy industry. By providing a platform for individuals to get their questions answered by experts and a space for companies seeking qualified talent, Collide is structured to ignite the next generation of energy innovators. Collide is currently available for users in both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.

Collin McLelland, co-founder and CEO of Digital Wildcatters, says he aims to expand their professional community through this networking platform. Rather than being a transition away from Digital Wildcatters’ roots as a digital media organization McLelland explains Collide is an integration of the community they have built through podcasts and events into an interactive platform.

“If you look at what we’ve done historically with Digital Wildcatters, we’ve built an extremely engaged community of energy professionals — it’s a next generation community, very young forward thinking professionals that are working towards solving the world’s energy crisis,” McLelland shares.

The roll out of Collide has been intentionally gradual, McLelland says because they want to shape the user experience based on feedback from ongoing focus groups. Currently they have about 1,000 users and are examining how they can make the app valuable to them before providing the platform to a wider audience.

McLelland says there are two major issues within the energy sector that Collide hopes to address — a lack of knowledge about energy verticals and difficulty recruiting talent. McLelland attributes the information gap to how expansive the energy sector is, incorporating beyond oil and gas, everything from renewables to lithium mining. Similarly, by zeroing in on the energy sector, McLelland believes Collide can draw upon the network of talent Digital Wildcatters has already cultivated to tackle recruiting issues.

“What we really see with our platform is being able to bring people together where if you want to find a piece of information, you need to find a subject matter expert, or if you want to find your next job, it happens on the Collide platform,” McLelland says.

Unlike other hiring platforms, Collide offers users the opportunity to look for information about the energy sector by integrating all of Digital Wildcatters’ podcasts and videos into a content search engine. This program is part of their DW Insight subscription product which also has a startup database with overviews of various companies, from their demos to a portal to contact them.

“We hope someday that we’ll have this knowledge base that can be searched and queried to where if you want to find out any piece of information, you’ll be able to find it on (DW Insight),” McLelland explains.

McLelland co-founded Digital Wildcatters with Jake Corley. The two started the Oil and Gas Startups podcast in 2019.

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This article originally ran on EnergyCapital.

The myAvos app has been designed by behavioral health scientists to set users up for long, healthy lives. Photo via Canva

Houston innovator launches holistic health and cognitive care app

download now

Meet Laura. She’s not human, but she could be the key to your aging healthfully. She’s the digital wellness coach on myAvos, a groundbreaking app that launched this week from OptiChroniX.

Now meet Le Dam, the woman behind the app. Dam is a medical doctor, as well as CEO and co-founder of OptiChroniX. While practicing medicine in her birthplace of Australia, Dam realized that her life of prescribing medications to patients who were already sick was not how she had envisioned helping people. She knew that prevention, using the five pillars of healthy aging — nutrition, activity, sleep, health, and stress — was the way to keep patients fit and happy into their golden years.

She returned to California, where she lived after leaving Houston as a youth, to work at a startup with the goal of one day heading a company of her own. She met Swiss-based COO and co-founder, Rene Gilvert, on LinkedIn.

“He was looking for a medical doctor to join his startup,” Dam recalls. “We were so well aligned that we decided to join forces.” Now, the team works remotely in locations ranging from Dam’s home in Houston to Portugal.

When the pandemic happened, Dam took the opportunity to leave the Silicon Valley and work remotely from Houston, a return that she says was always her end goal.

“I always knew that I wanted to build my business in Houston,” Dam says, mentioning the assets of the world’s largest medical center, a thriving startup community, and diverse population for whom she wants to build her technology.

myAvos pairs with a user’s smart watch and harnesses their health information such as physical activity and hours slept. The user can also input additional information such as blood test results and meals eaten. The app analyzes the information provided and assesses the user’s risk for chronic illness later in life. From there, Laura coaches them on what changes they can make to live healthier lifestyles. The app even reminds users when to take their medications and shares information with designated caregivers.

The myAvos app has a comprehensive approach to health. Screenshots via avos.health

The app has been designed by behavioral health scientists to understand why you’re not exercising enough or eating right and can offer personalized motivations to get users off the couch.

Right now, the focus is on potential dementia and cognitive impairment, says Dam, but in the future, myAvos will more holistically target all preventable chronic illnesses. But dementia is one of the major causes of disability among older people around the world and people living with it is expected to triple by 2050.

“If we can empower people with health literacy, we really believe we can prevent chronic disease,” says Dam. “Forty percent of dementia is preventable. A lot of these chronic diseases are preventable. Even diabetes can be reversible.”

And she points out that the changes that can be made to help cognitive health can affect other systems as well.

“We really want to empower the individuals,” Dam says. “If we can empower people with health literacy, we really believe we can prevent chronic disease.”

And myAvos is the key. The app is based on a subscription model, allowing users full access to a risk calculator, monthly cognitive assessments, personalized lifestyle guidance, and even fun brain games to keep them sharp. It may turn out that a visit with Laura a day will keep the doctor away long into your later years.

Le Dam moved from California to Houston to build her company. Photo via LinkedIn

Looks like they've found their match. Photo courtesy of Stir

New app from Texas-based Match stirs up the dating scene for single parents

LOOKING FOR THE RIGHT SWIPE

The 20 million single parents in the United States now have a dating app to call their own: Dallas-based dating app company Match just launched Stir, a dating app designed to connect single parents who are seeking dates.

“Where mainstream dating apps cater to the general population, single parents can often feel like outliers, and they are oftentimes overlooked on mainstream dating apps,” says Din Thi Bui, vice president of new verticals at Match. “It was important for us to intentionally design an app for the single parent community, and make it easier for them to connect with others without fear of judgment.”

The rollout coincided with National Single Parent Day. Surveys conducted by Match continually show single parents find it tough to date. In part, Match says, that’s because some single parents feel potential partners are turned off when it’s disclosed that they have children.

Bui says the Stir app is available to any single parent interested in dating other single parents, regardless of sexual orientation and other factors. When building their Stir profile, a user can set various dating preferences.

One of the app’s unique features is Stir Time, which enables single parents to more easily coordinate their schedules.

The app can be downloaded from the iOS App Store or Google Play. Upgraded versions are priced at $39.99 for one month, $89.99 for three months, and $119.99 for six months. It’s available in English, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.

Matches made on Stir are based on responses to member profile questions related to hobbies, dating preferences, likes, dislikes, parental schedules, and communication preferences.

“Having kids shouldn't be a dealbreaker when dating,” Bui says in a news release. “We’re dedicated to giving single parents a dating experience where they are celebrated and feel like they can be themselves. With that, our hope is that they can truly focus on having a personal life beyond navigating parenthood.”

Match’s other dating apps include Tinder, Hinge, OurTime, and OkCupid.

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This article originally ran on CultureMap.

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Rice student startup lands $1.85M to launch medical drone network

critical cargo

Students at Rice University have developed a medical cargo drone transport system to help deliver sensitive medical supplies and improve mobile healthcare efforts.

Haast Autonomous is the brainchild of graduating seniors Ege Halac, Jason Chen and Santiago Brent, who got their venture idea off the ground with help from the Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Lilie) Summer Venture Studio. The founders have developed the prototype at Rice’s Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen (OEDK) with fellow Rice researchers Felix Hasson, Ethan Javedan, Kenna Sanders and Caden Schmidt.

The startup has raised $1.85 million in pre-seed funding, according to Rice. The founders plan to focus on Haast full-time following graduation. They said they aim to launch pilot trials in 2027 and head to market later that year.

“We need better alternatives for a fast, safe and on-demand system of transport for life-critical cargo,” Halac said in a news release from Rice.

The Haast team has developed a custom aircraft with software that manages dispatch, routes, and chain of custody to assist in how materials move between sites in centralized medical systems. Generally, the transportation of medical supplies and materials between facilities and points of care relies on ground shipping or expensive air transport.

Haast Autonomous’ aircraft can take off and land vertically, and is designed around a mission profile of 50 to 62 miles. It can carry a payload of at least 5 pounds, with future versions intended to scale up in size. It also includes a built-in payload bay that regulates temperature, pressure, vibration and tilt to protect sensitive contents such as patient samples, antivenom or poisoning kits and radioligands or other therapies, according to Rice.

At first, the company envisioned the mission to be centered around transplants, but saw the product being best suited for a variety of operations.

“What we realized is that the platform we are building is suited for medicine, but it really underlies a much larger problem of mission-critical transport across industries,” Brent added in the news release. “We are building the fastest, most secure logistics chain for the world’s most sensitive cargo.”

Haast Autonomous was recognized at the 2026 Oshman Engineering Design Showcase and Competition, where it won Best Aerospace or Transportation Technology. It also performed well in the 2026 Napier Rice Launch Challenge.

In the future, Haast Autonomous plans to deploy a fleet of aircraft. The software will be designed to assist hospitals in requesting flights and tracking deliveries in real time.

“The drone is only part of the solution,” Chen also added in the release. “What matters is moving something from point A to point B in a way that fits into how hospitals already operate.”

Houston scientist wins prestigious Pew Scholar award for brain cancer research

standout scholar

Christina Tringides, an assistant professor of materials science and nanoengineering at Rice University, is one of 21 scientists to win a prestigious Pew Biomedical Scholar award.

She is the first faculty member from Rice to win the distinction, which provides $300,000 over four years for advances in biomedicine, according to the university. The awards are granted to researchers who are in the first few years at the assistant professor level.

In Tringides’ case, the funding will support her innovative new method of modeling glioblastoma, a common and extremely aggressive form of brain cancer. Thanks to producing its own blood supply, glioblastoma spreads quickly, weaving tendrils of blighted tissue throughout the brain. Because of this, surgery is difficult and conventional therapies ineffective.

Understanding the way glioblastoma spreads is crucial to the search for a cure. Tringides is using hydrogels that mimic the brain’s extracellular matrix. Using cultures and a microscopic labyrinth, her team can see how the cancer spreads, bonds with neurons and changes cell wall activity. Essentially, Tringides has devised an intelligence test for tumors in hopes of learning how to outsmart them.

“As cancer crawls through the maze, we can look at how it is interacting with the neurons more and more, and measure how electrical activity is changing as a result,” she said in a news release from Rice.

Examining how cancer cells grow can reveal which conditional changes slow them down. Finding ways to alter the structure of brain matter in a way that makes it inhospitable to the cancer could lead to therapies that would impede growth or even reverse it. Using her custom-made ersatz brain maze makes it easier to observe changes than it would be in a patient’s brain.

“Imaging synapses is time-intensive ⎯ it can involve large data files that are hard to visualize, but if we know that the only place where we might have a synapse is this tiny 1-by-4-by-10 micron channel, it makes it much faster and reliable to image them,” Tringides said.

Born in Ames, Iowa, Tringides received her doctorate in biophysics from Harvard before joining Rice in 2024 through a Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) recruitment award.

Her research was also one of the first four projects to receive research awards through the Rice Brain Institute and TMC Neuro Collaboration Seed Grant Program.

Texas residents earn 11th highest income in U.S., says 2026 study

Money Matters

A new WalletHub study comparing income disparities across America has ranked Texas residents No. 11 on the list of states with the highest earning residents in the nation.

The report, "States Where People Have the Highest Income (2026)," analyzed U.S. Census Bureau income data in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The report evaluated the average annual income of the top five percent, the median annual household income, and the average annual income of the bottom 20 percent of residents in every state, all adjusted for the cost of living.

The report's data revealed the top five percent of Texans, the highest earners, make $520,378 on average yearly after adjusting for the cost of living. That's the seventh-highest income among the top five percent of earners nationwide.

Meanwhile, the median annual income of a Texas household is just under $76,000. The bottom 20 percent of Texas residents make $17,651 a year, the report found.

For additional context, the latest data from the Federal Reserve shows an American household's median yearly income is about $83,700. WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo also found that the highest earning 10 percent of individuals in the U.S. earn over 12 times more than those in the lowest-earning 10 percent, based on the latest Census data.

"By measuring the income of various percentiles against a state's median income, we can better identify where income disparities are more prevalent, which could help us better understand why residents of certain states struggle more to make ends meet," said Lupo.

Virginia is the state where residents earn the highest income in the U.S., WalletHub said. Based on the report's findings, the top five percent of Virginians make $545,097 on average per year after adjusting for the cost of living. The median annual income of a Virginia household comes out to $95,339, and the bottom 20 percent of residents make $19,671 annually on average.

Conversely, West Virginia is the state where people have the lowest income in the U.S. A West Virginia household makes a median annual income of $56,610, the third-lowest nationally, and the bottom 20 percent of residents make $13,260 on average per year, which is the fifth-lowest in the nation. The top five percent of West Virginians make $372,218 on average per year.

The top 10 states where residents have the highest income are:

  • No. 1 – Virginia
  • No. 2 – New York
  • No. 3 – New Jersey
  • No. 4 – Washington
  • No. 5 – Connecticut
  • No. 6 – Utah
  • No. 7 – Colorado
  • No. 8 – Minnesota
  • No. 9 – Illinois
  • No. 10 – Massachusetts

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This article originally appeared on CultureMap.com.

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