US Household Incomes Rose to Record in 2016 as Poverty Fell
The U.S. median household income rose to a record last year and the poverty rate fell, as steady economic growth helped improve the lot of more Americans, according to annual data from the U.S. Census Bureau released Sept. 12.
Highlights of 2016 Income and Poverty Report
鈥⑻齅edian, inflation-adjusted household income increased 3.2% to $59,039 last year, from $57,230 in 2015.
鈥⑻齅edian incomes for black and Hispanic households rose at more than double the rate of white households; female householders outpaced males.
鈥⑻齈overty rate declined to 12.7% from 13.5%; represented 40.6 million Americans.
The results show improving incomes helped to make a further dent in poverty in 2016, which was President Barack Obama鈥檚 final year in office.
Strength in the labor market likely played a role. The economy added 2.2 million jobs last year and the unemployment rate had declined to 4.7% by year end. It鈥檚 fallen further in recent months to a 16-year low.
While poverty is declining gradually, a sustained acceleration in wages remains elusive in this expansion. Last year鈥檚 poverty rate wasn鈥檛 鈥渟tatistically different鈥 from the 12.5% pre-recession level in 2007, according to the Census Bureau on Sept. 12.
The annual report gives a more comprehensive, though less timely, snapshot than the Labor Department鈥檚 monthly employment report, which shows average hourly earnings of workers on private nonfarm payrolls, or the Commerce Department鈥檚 monthly personal income report.
Other Details
鈥⑻齋hare of people without health insurance coverage for 2016 declined to 8.8%, or 28.1 million people, from 29 million in 2015.
鈥⑻齊eal median incomes for family households increased 2.7% to $75,062; for nonfamily households the gain was 4.5% to $35,761 last year.
鈥⑻鼼ini index for money income of 0.481 in 2016 was 鈥渘ot statistically different from 2015.鈥
With assistance by Vince Golle, and Alexandre Tanzi
