The median income of all families in 1969 was about $9,400. This was about $800, or 9.3 percent, higher than the 1968 median income of about $8,600. However, the gain in real purchasing power between 1968 and 1969 amounted to 3.7 percent since consumer prices rose 5.4 percent over the same period.¹ The median income of Negro families was about $6,000.

The increase in family income for 1969 is a continuation of the general trend in rising family income during the past 22 years. Between 1947 and 1969, median family income in current dollars has tripled, rising from about $3,000 to $9,400. Although some of this increase was eroded by rising prices, the rise in real purchasing power is still substantial. In terms of constant (1969) dollars, median money income increased from about $5,000 in 1947 to $9,400 in 1969, about $200 annually, or a compounded annual rate of increase of about 3 percent over the period.

The general rise in family income was accompanied by an upward shift in the income distribution. This shift can be illustrated by the decline in the percent of families with incomes below $4,000 (constant 1969 dollars) between 1947 and 1969. In 1969, 15 percent of all families had incomes below $4,000 compared with 37 percent of all families in 1947.

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¹ See Monthly Labor Review, March 1970, U.S. Department of Labor, table 23, p. 97.