U.S. Household Incomes Finally Rising and Recovering From the Recession

Tuesday’s report showed that median household income in the United States was $51,939 in 2013. Median income in 2012 had been $51,759. The Census said, “This is the second consecutive year that the annual change was not statistically significant, following two consecutive annual declines.” A gain of $180 per year might not be much on the surface. Still, it is a start, and it is better than things heading the opposite direction.

Real median income in 2013 for family households was $65,587, and for nonfamily households it was $31,178. Another consideration is that real median household income is still lower than before the recession — over the past six years shows that income is 8.0% lower than in 2007, and it is 8.7% lower than the median household income peak of $56,895 that occurred in 1999.

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Gains were also made in those under poverty and those who were uninsured. The percentage of people without health insurance coverage for the entire 2013 calendar year was 13.4% (42.0 million). The nation’s official poverty rate in 2013 was 14.5% in 2013, versus 15.0% in 2012. That was again called not statistically significant — and it still represents 45.3 million people. The 2013 poverty rate was 2.0% higher than in 2007.

When the government says numbers are not statistically significant, they often are smoothing over many gains or losses that truly add up over time. It is easy to say that things need to continue to improve and that they need to do so by a significant amount. All gains have to start somewhere.