Reply #14: My statistical analysis of income and depression relationship. [View All]

Based on the data from this report and from the Census Bureau, there is a -0.43 correlation between median state income level and state depression rate. Higher median income, less depression. Duh, I suppose.

I also did a simple OLS regression:

Depression Rate = 10.22% - (0.0527*Each 1,000 of median income)

The t-statistic of the coefficient is -3.33, very significant statistically.

This says that for every $1,000 a state has in median income, the depression rate is lower by 0.0527% Sounds small, but it's pretty big in terms of numbers of people.

Of course this does not address causality. Do depressed people make less because they are depressed? I don't think that's the case, but it's something to consider.