Real median household income during each chief minister or Menteri Besar's tenure
16 chief ministers, Menteri Besar and territory ministers, ranked by how real median household income changed from their first day in office, next to Malaysia over the same months. Politare shows what happened during a tenure; it does not claim the office-holder caused it.
| # | Chief minister or Menteri Besar | State | In office | Total | vs MY | Per year | Chart |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Adnan Yaakob | Pahang | 20 May 1999 – 15 May 2018 from 1999 | +128% 1999 → 2016 | +16.7 pts MY +111% | +5.0%/yr | |
| 2 | Musa Aman | Sabah | 27 Mar 2003 – 12 May 2018 | +87.2% 2002 → 2016 | +3.2 pts MY +84.0% | +4.6%/yr | |
| 3 | Mohd Ali Rustam | Melaka | 2 Dec 1999 – 7 May 2013 | +72.6% 1999 → 2012 | +12.0 pts MY +60.6% | +4.3%/yr | |
| 4 | Zambry Abdul Kadir | Perak | 6 Feb 2009 – 12 May 2018 from 2009 | +63.4% 2009 → 2016 | +6.2 pts MY +57.1% | +7.3%/yr | |
| 5 | Azlan Man | Perlis | 7 May 2013 – 22 Nov 2022 | +62.8% 2012 → 2022 | +18.7 pts MY +44.1% | +5.0%/yr | |
| 6 |  Lim Guan Eng | Penang | 11 Mar 2008 – 14 May 2018 | +50.1% 2007 → 2016 | −14.9 pts MY +64.9% | +4.6%/yr | |
| 7 | Abdul Ghani Othman | Johor | 3 May 1995 – 14 May 2013 from 1995 | +48.9% 1995 → 2012 | −24.0 pts MY +72.9% | +2.4%/yr | |
| 8 | Mohamad Hasan | Negeri Sembilan | 25 Mar 2004 – 12 May 2018 from 2004 | +48.0% 2004 → 2016 | −26.9 pts MY +74.8% | +3.3%/yr | |
| 9 | Shahidan Kassim | Perlis | 6 May 1995 – 17 Mar 2008 from 1995 | +46.0% 1995 → 2007 | +8.2 pts MY +37.7% | +3.2%/yr | |
| 10 |  Ahmad Yakob | Kelantan | 6 May 2013 – 15 Aug 2023 | +30.9% 2012 → 2022 | −13.2 pts MY +44.1% | +2.7%/yr |
Showing 10 of 16 tenures.
Sorted by total, highest first. Every row is indexed to the last count complete before the first day in office ("from" marks a start that had to move because that count had no data, or because the period cut it); Malaysia is measured over the same months. Levels are per cent changes, rates are differences in %; "per year" compounds levels and divides rates. Tenures with under 12 months, or under three observations, are left out. RM per month, in today's money · Department of Statistics Malaysia (OpenDOSM, data.gov.my), Household Income Survey, median gross monthly household income by state (hh_income_state), the survey years, adjusted for inflation with Malaysia's CPI · state or federal territory data · as of Sep 2026.