Median income is a terrible indicator of poverty. Median income is guaranteed to be skewed high, since there is no maximum income, but there is a minimum income

Median income is a terrible indicator of poverty. Median income is guaranteed to be skewed high, since there is no maximum income, but there is a minimum income of $0. GDP per capita is even worse, Qatar has the highest GDP per capita in the world, but has construction workers that are practically slaves earning $1 per hour. Poverty rate is notoriously hard to measure. You can't look at GDP per capita, even GDP(PPP) per capita doesn't give a good measure. Going by the OECD's official numbers, the USA has the third highest poverty rate, behind Costa Rica and Israel. It has a higher poverty rate than Mexico. Australia, with the highest minimum wage and fourth highest median income (PPP) in the world, has a higher poverty rate than the Czech Republic. I would not classify the USA has having extremely high incomes. The income disparity in the USA is phenomenal. Not to mention that income is not the only measure of quality of life, or even a measure of disposable income, especially when you have to shell out thousands of dollars per year in health insurance premiums.