Income and Poverty in the United States: 2017

This report presents data on income, earnings, income inequality, and poverty in the United States based on information collected in the 2018 and earlier Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplements (CPS ASEC) conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highlights

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Income:

Median household income was $61,372 in 2017, an increase in real terms of 1.8 percent from the 2016 median of $60,309. This is the third consecutive annual increase in median household income.
The 2017 real median income of family households increased 1.4 percent from 2016 to $77,713. Real median income for married-couple households increased 1.6 percent between 2016 and 2017.
The real median income of households maintained by non-Hispanic Whites ($68,145) and Hispanics ($50,486) increased 2.6 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively, between 2016 and 2017. This is the third annual increase in median household income for these two groups. Among the race groups, households maintained by Asians had the highest median income in 2017, $81,331.
The real median income of households maintained by a native-born person increased 1.5 percent between 2016 and 2017, while the 2017 real median income of households maintained by a foreign-born person was not statistically different from 2016

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Earnings:

The 2017 real median earnings of all male workers increased 3.0 percent from 2016 to $44,408, while real median earnings for their female counterparts ($31,610) saw no statistically significant change between 2016 and 2017.
In 2017, the real median earnings of men ($52,146) and women ($41,977) working full-time, year-round each decreased from their respective 2016 medians by 1.1 percent. The 2017 female-to-male earnings ratio was 0.805, not statistically different from the 2016 ratio.
The number of men and women working full-time, year-round increased by 1.4 million and 1.0 million, respectively, between 2016 and 2017.

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Income Inequality:

The money income Gini index was 0.482 in 2017, not statistically different from 2016. Changes in money income inequality between 2016 and 2017 were not statistically significant as measured by the other indicators: the Theil index, the MLD, or the Atkinson measure.

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Poverty:

The official poverty rate in 2017 was 12.3 percent, down 0.4 percentage points from 12.7 percent in 2016. This is the third consecutive annual decline in poverty. Since 2014, the poverty rate has fallen 2.5 percentage points, from 14.8 percent to 12.3 percent.
From 2016 to 2017 the number of people in poverty decreased for people in families; people living in the West; people living outside metropolitan statistical areas; all workers; workers who worked less than full-time, year-round; people with a disability; people with a high school diploma but no college degree; and people with some college but no degree.
In 2017, there were 39.7 million people in poverty, not statistically different from the number in poverty in 2016.
Between 2016 and 2017, the poverty rate for adults aged 18 to 64 declined 0.4 percentage points, from 11.6 percent to 11.2 percent, while poverty rates for individuals under age 18 and for people aged 65 and older were not statistically different from 2016.
Between 2016 and 2017, people with at least a bachelor’s degree were the only group to have an increase in the poverty rate or the number of people in poverty. Among this group, the poverty rate increased 0.3 percentage points and the number in poverty increased by 363,000 individuals between 2016 and 2017. Even with this increase, among educational attainment groups, people with at least a bachelor’s degree had the lowest poverty rates in 2017.

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Tables

Income and Earnings:

Table 1. Income and Earnings Summary Measures by Selected Characteristics: 2016 and 2017 [<1.0 MB]

Table A-1. Households by Total Money Income, Race, and Hispanic Origin of Householder: 1967 to 2017 [<1.0 MB]

Table A-4. Number and Real Median Earnings of Total Workers and Full-Time, Year-Round Workers by Sex and Female-to-Male Earnings Ratio: 1960 to 2017 [<1.0 MB]

Income Inequality:

Table 2. Income Distribution Measures Using Money Income and Equivalence Adjusted Income: 2016 and 2017 [<1.0 MB]

Table A-2. Selected Measures of Household Income Dispersion: 1967 to 2017 [<1.0 MB]

Table A-3. Selected Measures of Equivalence-Adjusted Income Dispersion: 1967 to 2017 [<1.0MB]

Poverty:

Poverty Thresholds: 2017 [<1.0 MB]

Table 3. People and Families in Poverty by Selected Characteristics: 2016 and 2017 [<1.0 MB]

Table 4. Families and People in Poverty by Type of Family: 2016 and 2017 [<1.0 MB]

Table 5. People With Income Below Specified Ratios of Their Poverty Thresholds by Selected Characteristics: 2017 [<1.0 MB]

Table 6. Income Deficit or Surplus of Families and Unrelated Individuals by Poverty Status: 2017 [<1.0 MB]

Number and Percent of Shared Households, and Number and Percent of Adults aged 18 and older, in Shared Households: 2017 and 2018 [<1.0MB]

Impact on Poverty of Alternative Resource Measure by Age: 1981 to 2017 [<1.0 MB]

Percentage of People in Poverty by State Using 2- and 3-Year Averages: 2014-2015 and 2016-2017 [<1.0MB]

Interrelationships of 3-Year Average State Poverty Rates: 2015 - 2017 [<1.0MB]

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Figures

Income and Earnings:

Figure 1. Real Median Household Income by Race and Hispanic Origin: 1967 to 2017 [<1.0 MB]

Figure 2. Female-to-Male Earnings Ratio and Median Earnings of Full-Time, Year-Round Workers 15 Years and Older by Sex: 1960 to 2017 [<1.0 MB]

Figure 3. Total and Full-Time, Year-Round Workers With Earnings by Sex: 1967 to 2017 [<1.0 MB]

Poverty:

Figure 4. Number in Poverty and Poverty Rate: 1959 to 2017 [<1.0 MB]

Figure 5. Poverty Rates by Age and Sex: 2017 [<1.0 MB]

Figure 6. Poverty Rates by Age: 1959 to 2017 [<1.0 MB]

Figure 7. Demographic Makeup of the Population at Varying Degrees of Poverty: 2017 [<1.0 MB]

Source Information

Source and Accuracy of Estimates for Income and Poverty in the United States: 2017 and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2017 [< 1.0 MB]

Others in Series

FIGURE | SEPTEMBER 21, 2017

The Supplemental Poverty Measure: 2016

These figures present data on the supplemental poverty measures in the U.S. based on information collected in the 2016 and earlier CPS ASEC.

PUBLICATION | JANUARY 2018

Custodial Mothers and Fathers and Their Child Support: 2015

This report focuses on the child support income that custodial parents reported receiving from noncustodial parents living elsewhere and other types of support.

PUBLICATION | SEPTEMBER 12, 2018

Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2017

This report presents data on health insurance coverage in the United States based on information collected in the 2017 CPS ASEC.

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