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Personal income in the United States
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Personal income is a measure utilized by the United States government, particularly the Department of Commerce, to determine the income of individuals. It is most often only applied to those who are either above the age of 15, 18, or 25 and are considered to be members of the labor force. The personal income figures of individuals in the United States are dependent on age, sex, race and educational characteristics. In 2005 roughly half of all those with graduate degrees were among the nation's top 15% of income earners.
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Encyclopedia
Personal income is a measure utilized by the United States government, particularly the Department of Commerce, to determine the income of individuals. It is most often only applied to those who are either above the age of 15, 18, or 25 and are considered to be members of the labor force. The personal income figures of individuals in the United States are dependent on age, sex, race and educational characteristics. In 2005 roughly half of all those with graduate degrees were among the nation's top 15% of income earners. Among different demographics (sex, marital status, race, gender) for those over the age of 18, median personal income ranged from $3,317 for an unemployed, married Asian American female to $55,935 for a full-time, year-round employed Asian American male. According to the US Census Bureau, men tended to have higher income than women while Asians and Whites earned more than African Americans and Hispanics. The overall median personal income for all individuals over the age of 18 was $25,149 ($32,140 for those age 25 or above) in the year 2005. The overall median income for all 155 million persons over the age of 15 who worked with earnings in 2005 was $28,567.
Income at a glance
Income distribution
Of those individuals who were older than 25 years of age, over 42% had incomes below $25,000 while the top 10% had incomes exceeding $75,000 a year. The distribution of income among individuals differs substantially from household incomes as 42% of all households had two income earners. As a result 15.8% of households have six figure incomes, even though only 5.63% of Americans had incomes exceeding $100,000. The following chart shows the income distribution among all 191,884,000 individuals aged 25 or higher as recorded by the United States Census Bureau. All numbers are given in 1000s.
| Income range | Number of individuals (in thousands) | Percent | Cumulative percentages |
|---|
| Under $2,500 | 8,635 | 4.50 | less than $25k
42.72% | less than $50k
70.95% | less than $100k
94.37% | | $2,500 to $4,999 | 4,696 | 2.45 | | $5,000 to $7,499 | 9,038 | 4.71 | | $7,500 to $9,999 | 8,929 | 4.65 | | $10,000 to $12,499 | 10,334 | 5.38 | | $12,500 to $14,999 | 8,347 | 4.35 | | $15,000 to $17,499 | 9,365 | 4.88 | | $17,500 to $19,999 | 7,129 | 3.71 | | $20,000 to $22,499 | 9,275 | 4.83 | | $22,500 to $24,999 | 6,255 | 3.26 | | $25,000 to $50,000 |
|---|
| $25,000 to $27,499 | 8,245 | 4.30 | $25k-$50k
28.23% | | $27,500 to $29,999 | 4,809 | 2.50 | | $30,000 to $32,499 | 8,884 | 4.63 | | $32,500 to $34,999 | 4,035 | 2.10 | | $35,000 to $37,499 | 7,133 | 3.72 | | $37,500 to $39,999 | 3,795 | 1.98 | | $40,000 to $42,499 | 6,977 | 3.64 | | $42,500 to $44,999 | 2,921 | 1.52 | | $45,000 to $47,499 | 4,572 | 2.38 | | $47,500 to $49,999 | 2,801 | 1.46 | | $50,000 to $75,000 |
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| $50,000 to $52,499 | 5,435 | 2.83 | $50k-$75k
12.28% | $50k-$100k
16.94% | | $52,500 to $54,999 | 1,952 | 1.01 | | $55,000 to $57,499 | 2,999 | 1.56 | | $57,500 to $59,999 | 1,500 | 0.78 | | $60,000 to $62,499 | 3,690 | 1.92 | | $62,500 to $64,999 | 1,368 | 0.71 | | $65,000 to $67,499 | 2,270 | 1.18 | | $67,500 to $69,999 | 1,168 | 0.61 | | $70,000 to $72,499 | 2,311 | 1.20 | | $72,500 to $74,999 | 928 | 0.48 | | $75,000 to $100,000 |
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| $75,000 to $77,499 | 1,871 | 0.97 | $75k-$100k
4.66% | | $77,500 to $79,999 | 769 | 0.40 | | $80,000 to $82,499 | 1,653 | 0.86 | | $82,500 to $84,999 | 590 | 0.31 | | $85,000 to $87,499 | 1,022 | 0.53 | | $87,500 to $89,999 | 506 | 0.26 | | $90,000 to $92,499 | 1,042 | 0.54 | | $92,500 to $94,999 | 447 | 0.24 | | $95,000 to $97,499 | 679 | 0.35 | | $97,500 to $99,999 | 377 | 0.20 | | $100,000 or more | 10,813 | 5.63 | |
SOURCE: US Census Bureau, 2006
Over time - by Race & Sex
This chart is median income of 15 year olds or older, who have non-zero income. Taken from World Almanac (in turn sourced to US Census Bureau)
| | 1950(1950 $'s, 2004 $'s) | 1960(1960 $'s, 2004 $'s) | 1970(1970 $'s, 2004 $) | 1980(1980 $'s, 2004 $'s) | 1990(1990 $'s, 2004 $'s) | 2000(2000 $'s, 2004 $'s) | 2004(2004 $'s) |
| Overall | Male | 2 570(17 077) | 4 080(22 051) | 6 670(28 100) | 12 530(27 206) | 20 293(28 439) | 28 343(31 089) | 30 513 |
| Female | 953(6 333) | 1 261(6 815) | 2 237(9 424) | 4 920(10 683) | 10 070(14 112) | 16 063(17 619) | 17 629 |
| White/European American | Male | 2 709(18 001) | 4 296(23 219) | 7 011(29 536) | 13 328(28 939) | 21 170(29 668) | 29 797, (32 684) | 31 335 |
| Female | 1 060(7 044) | 1 352(7 307) | 2 266(9 546) | 4 947(10 741) | 10 317(14 459) | 16 079(17 637) | 17 648 |
| Black/African American | Male | 1 471(9 775) | 2 260(12 215) | 4 157(17 513) | 8 009(17 390) | 12 868(18 034) | 21 343(23 411) | 22 740 |
| Female | 474(3 150) | 837(4 524) | 2 063(8 691) | 4 580(9 944) | 8 328(11 671) | 15 581(17 420) | 18 379 |
| Asian | Male | NA | NA | NA | NA | 19 394(27 179) | 30 833(33 820) | 32 419 |
| Female | Na | Na | NA | NA | 11 086(15 536) | 17 356(19 038) | 20 618 |
Race
Personal income varied significantly with an individual's racial characteristics with racial discrepancies having remained largely stagnant since 1996. Overall Asian Americans enjoyed higher median personal incomes than any other racial demographic. The only exception was among the holders of graduate degrees who consititute 8.9% of the population. Among those with a Master's, Professional or Doctorate degree those who identified as White had the highest median individual income. While Asian Americans had a median income roughly ten percent higher than that of Whites, this racial income gap was relatively small. The largest racial gap was between Whites and African Americans with the former earning roughly 22% more than the latter. Thus one can observe a significant discrepancy with the median income of Asians and Whites and that of African Americans and Hispanics. Those identifying as Hispanic or Latino who may have been of any race had the lowest overall median personal income, earning 28.51% less than Whites and 35% less than Asian Americans. Overall the race gap between African Americans and Whites, which remains the largest, has remained roughly equal between both races over the past decade. Both races saw a gain in median income between 1996 and 2006, with the income growth among African Americans slightly outpacing that of Whites. In 1996 the median income for Whites was $5,957 (31%) higher for Whites than Blacks. In 2006 the gap in median incomes was nearly identical with the median income for Whites being $5,929 (22%) higher than that for African Americans. While the gap remains numerically unchanged, the percentage difference between the two races has decrease as a result of mutual increases in median personal income.
| Race | Overall Median | High School | Some College | College Graduate | Bachelor's Degree | Master's Degree | Doctorate Degree |
|---|
| Total population | All, age 25+ | 32,140 | 26,505 | 31,054 | 49,303 | 43,143 | 52,390 | 70,853 | | Full-time workers, age 25-64 | 39,509 | 31,610 | 37,150 | 56,027 | 50,959 | 61,324 | 79,292 | | White alone | All, age 25+ | 33,030 | 27,311 | 31,564 | 49,972 | 43,833 | 52,318 | 85,658 | | Full-time workers, age 25-64 | 40,422 | 32,427 | 38,481 | 56,903 | 51,543 | 61,441 | 77,906 | | Asian alone | All, age 25+ | 36,152 | 25,285 | 29,982 | 51,481 | 42,466 | 61,452 | 69,653 | | Full-time workers, age 25-64 | 42,109 | 27,041 | 33,120 | 60,532 | 51,040 | 71,316 | 91,430 | | African American | All, age 25+ | 27,101 | 22,379 | 27,648 | 44,534 | 41,572 | 48,266 | 61,894 | | Full-time workers, age 25-64 | 32,021 | 26,230 | 32,392 | 47,758 | 45,505 | 52,858 | N/A | | Hispanic or Latino | All, age 25+ | 23,613 | 22,941 | 28,698 | 41,596 | 37,819 | 50,901 | 67,274 | | Full-time workers, age 25-64 | 27,266 | 26,461 | 33,120 | 46,594 | 41,831 | 53,880 | N/A | |
SOURCE: US Census Bureau, 2006
See also
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