The Wall Street Journal recently published a piece that USA incomes have fallen for the past three years and are now at 1996 household income levels. The National Institute of Labor Relations Research looked at Texas and Illinois to see how far those states have fallen. And, what probably comes as no surprise to most, Texas has not fallen while Illinois significantly dropped. Illinois takes a dive (-7.3%) as Texans’ income rose (3.7%) when compared to 1996 household incomes.