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Median income only makes sense if cost of living is the same but it's not. The median house price in Germany is $410,000 and the median one in Mississippi is $254,900. It would be easier to afford a home in Mississippi with a $24.5k income than one in Germany with a $32.1k income. This is not accounting for other subsidies too like I mentioned.

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Meanwhile the average rent in Germany is roughly $900/month while it's over $1,000/month in Mississippi. Personally I thought that Purchasing Power Parity attempted to adjust for regional differences in costs - obviously it heavily depends on your "personal" basket which is why I'm focused on "the typical citizen growing up in this area".

What am I supposed to be using median income for? If "GDP/capita (PPP) is what economists use to compare wealth", as you say, then what do those same economists that you're talking about use median income metrics for? I accept that I might be using median income wrong, but I'm curious what using it "right" looks like.

Good catch. You're right that rent is cheaper in Germany than Mississippi, which I did not know.

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