The median household income increased and poverty rate declined both in New York and New Jersey last year, following the national trends, according to the latest census figures.

The number of New Yorkers living below the poverty line decreased for the second year in a row, dropping to 18.9 percent. Median household income increased by $2,722 to $58,856.

David Jones, president and CEO of the Community Service Society, said these developments are the result of strong job growth combined with wage increases, paid sick leave and an increase in the number of people with health insurance.

“These things come together: the robust economy and active work by both the state and the city to help people at the bottom,” he said.

The same trends held true in the rest of the state.

New Jersey also saw a significant increase in the median household income, which went up by 3.9 percent to $76,126.

“New Jersey’s economy as a whole is slowly coming along, finally, in its crawl out of the Great Recession,” said Jon Whiten, the vice president of the liberal think tank New Jersey Policy Perspective. “It’s finally kind of catching up to the rest of the country.”

But Whiten says he’s concerned that the state’s economic recovery is not being shared by everyone. The poverty rate declined by .4 percent, compared to .8 percent nationally and 1.1 percent in New York.