INTRODUCTION

This report presents alternative measures of income that include estimates of

taxes and values of various noncash benefits for calendar year 2003. These

measures were derived from information

collected in the 2004 Annual Social and

Economic Supplement (ASEC) to the

Current Population Survey (CPS) conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, along with

information from other agencies, such as

the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid

Services (CMS), the U.S. Bureau of Labor

Statistics, the U.S. Department of

Agriculture, the U.S. Internal Revenue

Service, and the U.S. Office of Personnel

Management (OPM). 

Traditionally, income data in Census

Bureau reports have been based on the

amount of money people or households

received during a calendar year. (See

Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance

Coverage in the United States: 2003, U.S.

Census Bureau, Current Population

Reports, P60-226.) This income concept

(money income) is limited and does not

provide a complete measure of economic

well-being. For example, it does not

include the effect of taxes and, therefore,

does not reflect the effect of any tax law

changes on economic well-being.

Similarly, this concept excludes the effect

of noncash benefits (such as employerprovided group health insurance, food

stamps, school lunches, and housing

assistance), which enhance economic

well-being.

This report presents 17 alternative

income measures that systematically

remove or add various income components, such as deducting payroll taxes

and federal and state income taxes and

including the value of specific noncash

benefits—food stamps, school lunches,

housing subsidies, health insurance programs, and return on home equity.

Alternative income definitions were first

developed in the early 1980s, in

U S C E N S U S B U R E A U

Helping You Make Informed Decisions

U.S.Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

Issued June 2005

P60-228

Alternative Income Estimates in

the United States: 2003

Current

Population

Reports

By 

Robert W. Cleveland

Consumer Income

Source of Estimates and

Statistical Accuracy

The estimates in this report (which

may be shown in text, figures, and

tables) are based on data collected

by the Annual Social and Economic

Supplement (ASEC) to the Current

Population Survey (CPS) conducted

by the U.S. Census Bureau. As with

all surveys, the estimates may differ

from the actual values because of

sampling variation or other factors.

As a result, apparent differences

between the estimates for two or

more groups may not be statistically

significant. All statements in this

report have undergone statistical

testing, and all comparisons are significant at the 90-percent confidence

level unless otherwise noted. For

further information about the source

and accuracy of the estimates, go to

<www.census.gov/hhes/www

/p60-226sa.pdf>.
response to a Congressional

request.1 After research and discussion with academic professionals, other government agencies,

private sector organizations, and

nonprofit and public interest

organizations, the Census Bureau

began publishing alternative measures in a series of technical papers

beginning in 1982.2 Eleven alternative income definitions were presented in a subsequent Census

Bureau report, Measuring the Effect

of Benefits and Taxes on Income

and Poverty: 1986, Current

Population Reports, P60-164-RD1,

issued in December 1988. By

1993, 17 alternative income definitions were available.

Four of the alternative income definitions are featured and discussed

in detail. These four were chosen

because they are complete definitions that summarize how taxes,

noncash benefits including and

excluding Medicaid and Medicare,

and potential return on home equity affect economic well-being. The

others are intermediate definitions

that are included to show the

effect of each of the individual

components of income that comprise the four definitions that are discussed in detail. See text box

“What are. . .definitions of

income?” for a full description of

these definitions.

ALTERNATIVE INCOME

MEASURES

Taxes and the value of noncash

benefits are basic components of

alternative income measures. The

ASEC asks respondents whether

they received certain types of noncash benefits. The respondents are

not asked to report whether they

pay taxes or to estimate a dollar

value for every noncash benefit

they received. 

To compute the alternative income

estimates, dollar values of taxes

and noncash benefits (other than

food stamps) were simulated using

statistical models. Imputed noncash benefits included here are values of employers’ contributions for

health insurance, Medicare and

Medicaid, rent subsidies, free and

reduced-price school lunches, and

return on equity in one’s own

home if it were turned into an

annuity.3 Food stamp amounts

were reported in the ASEC. 

The tax data used in the alternative

income definitions were simulated

from a newly revised tax model for

both the 2002 and 2003 estimates.

2 U.S. Census Bureau

What are. . .definitions of income?

Money Income (MI) data are collected for all people 15 and older in

the sample. Money income includes earnings, unemployment compensation, workers’ compensation, Social Security, Supplemental Security

Income, public assistance, veterans’ payments, survivor benefits, pension or retirement income, interest, dividends, rents, royalties, income

from estates and trusts, educational assistance, alimony, child support,

cash assistance from outside the household, and other miscellaneous

sources. It is income before deductions for taxes or other expenses

and does not include lump-sum payments or capital gains.

MI-Tx is money income plus realized capital gains or losses, less federal and state income taxes, and less payroll taxes.

MI-Tx+NC-MM is money income plus realized capital gains or losses,

less federal and state income taxes, less payroll taxes, plus the value

of employer-provided health benefits and the value of all noncash

transfers except Medicare and Medicaid. Noncash transfers included

here are food stamps, rent subsidies, and free and reduced-price

school lunches.

MI-Tx+NC is money income plus realized capital gains or losses, less

federal and state income taxes, less payroll taxes, plus the value of

employer-provided health benefits and all noncash transfers examined here.

MI-Tx+NC+HE is money income plus realized capital gains or losses,

less federal and state income taxes, less payroll taxes, plus the value

of employer-provided health benefits and all noncash transfers examined here, plus the annual benefits of converting one’s home equity

into an annuity, net of property taxes.

1 U.S. Senate Statement, “Data Collection

and Poverty Level,” Department of State,

Justice, and Commerce, The Judiciary and

Related Agencies Appropriations Bill, 1981.

U.S. Senate 96th Congress, 2nd Session,

September 16, 1980: 33-34. Cited in 

U.S. Census Bureau, Technical Paper 56,

Estimates of Poverty Including the Value of

Noncash Benefits: 1985, U.S. Government

Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1986. 2 For an example of the research discussion that took place while the measures

were under development, see the proceedings of the “Conference on the Measurement

of Noncash Benefits,” Fort Magruder Inn &

Conference Center, Williamsburg, VA,

December 12-14, 1985. According to the

Williamsburg conference’s statement of purpose, “the conference was designed to provide a wide variety of academic, private sector, and government researchers, as well as

representatives from public interest groups

and interested Congressional committees, an

opportunity to learn about the issues

involved in considering noncash benefits as

income and to make their own views known

to the Census Bureau.”

3 For descriptions of how the noncash

benefits were imputed in the alternative

measures, see Appendices B and C of

Current Population Reports, P60-186RD,

Measuring the Effect of Benefits and Taxes

on Income and Poverty: 1992. 
The new model refines the technique used to create tax units, uses

the Internal Revenue Service’s

Statistics of Income public use file

to assign missing tax components,

and enhances state tax models.

More details about the tax model

revisions are presented in Appendix

A. Four types of taxes were

simulated: federal individual income

taxes, state individual income

taxes, payroll taxes, and property

taxes on owner-occupied housing.

Federal, state, and payroll taxes

were simulated, in part, using

administrative records. Property

taxes were imputed using data from

the American Housing Survey.

Between 2002 and 2003, real

median household income

remained unchanged at $43,300

under the traditional definition of

income, which is referred to in this

report as money income (MI), while

income increased under 12 of the

17 alternative definitions,

U.S. Census Bureau 3

Table 1.

Median Household Income Estimates Based on Alternative Income Definitions:

2002 and 2003

(Income in 2003 dollars)

Alternative income definitions

Median income

Percent change in

real income

Percent

of money

income

2002 2003

Estimate

90-percent

confidence

interval1

(+/-) Estimate

90-percent

confidence

interval1

(+/-)

2002 to

2003

90-percent

confidence

interval1

(+/-)

1. MI: Money income excluding capital gains

or losses ................................. 43,381 234 43,318 309 -0.1 0.7 100.0

1b. MI-Tx: Definition 1 plus realized capital

gains (losses), less taxes ................ 38,049 206 38,306 206 *0.7 0.6 88.4

2. Definition 1 less government cash transfers . . . 39,998 347 39,896 314 -0.3 0.9 92.1

3. Definition 2 plus realized capital gains

(losses) ................................... 40,450 337 40,263 227 -0.5 0.8 92.9

4. Definition 3 plus health insurance supplements

to wage or salary income . . . ................ 42,422 278 42,295 266 -0.3 0.7 97.6

5. Definition 4 less Social Security payroll

taxes ..................................... 39,664 278 39,695 275 0.1 0.8 91.6

6. Definition 5 less federal income taxes (excluding the Earned Income Credit (EIC)) . ........ 36,868 242 37,274 239 *1.1 0.7 86.0

7. Definition 6 plus the EIC2 ................... 37,061 237 37,490 239 *1.2 0.7 86.5

8. Definition 7 less state income taxes .......... 36,197 235 36,688 227 *1.4 0.7 84.7

9. Definition 8 plus nonmeans-tested government

cash transfers ............................. 40,024 215 40,605 230 *1.5 0.6 93.7

10. Definition 9 plus the value of Medicare ...... 42,222 215 42,679 222 *1.1 0.6 98.5

11. Definition 10 plus the value of regular-price

school lunches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42,234 214 42,690 222 *1.1 0.6 98.6

12. Definition 11 plus means-tested government

cash transfers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42,432 214 42,876 219 *1.5 0.6 99.0

13. Definition 12 plus the value of Medicaid . . . . . 43,013 207 43,465 217 *1.1 0.6 100.3

14a. MI-Tx+NC-MM: Definition 13 plus the

value of other means-tested government

noncash transfers, less Medicare and

Medicaid . .............................. 40,437 214 40,924 227 *1.2 0.6 94.5

14. MI-Tx+NC: Definition 14a plus the value of

Medicare and Medicaid................... 43,155 206 43,629 215 *1.1 0.6 100.7

15. MI-Tx+NC+HE: Definition 14 plus imputed

return on home equity . . . ................ 44,884 220 45,154 224 *0.6 0.6 104.2

*Significantly different from zero at the 90-percent confidence level.

1

A 90-percent confidence interval is a measure of an estimate’s variability. The larger the confidence interval in relation to the size of the

estimate, the less reliable the estimate. For more information, see ‘‘Standard Errors and Their Use’’ at <www.census.gov/hhes/www

/p60-226sa.pdf>. 2

Twenty states (Arizona, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota,

New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Wisconsin) and the District of Columbia have

Earned Income Credit (EIC) or Low Income Credit (LIC) programs modeled in the state tax programs. The remaining states do not have

such programs.

Note: Definition numbering reflects historical series identification.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2003 and 2004 Annual Social and Economic Supplements.
including the four alternative definitions featured (Table 1).4

MI-Tx (Definition 1b in Table 1)

reflects income after including realized capital gains or losses and

deducting income and payroll

taxes. Between 2002 and 2003,

real median household income

under this definition increased 

0.7 percent. The 2003 median

household income for MI-Tx was

$38,300—88.4 percent of money

income.

MI-Tx+NC-MM (Definition 14a in

Table 1) reflects income after

including realized capital gains or

losses, deducting income and payroll taxes, and adding the value of

cash transfers and noncash transfers except Medicaid and Medicare.

Real median household income

under this definition increased by

1.2 percent between 2002 and

2003 to a level of $40,900—

94.5 percent of money income. 

MI-Tx+NC (Definition 14 in 

Table 1) differs from MI-Tx+NC-MM

because it includes the values of

Medicare and Medicaid. Real median household income under this

definition increased by 1.1 percent

between 2002 and 2003 to a level

of $43,600—not different from

money income.

The impact of adding an imputed

return on home equity to MI-Tx+NC

is shown in definition MI-Tx+NC+HE

(Definition 15 in Table 1). Real

median household income under

this definition increased by 0.6 percent between 2002 and 2003 to a

level of $45,200—104.2 percent of

money income.

Over the longer term, the trends

for median household income

under each of the four alternative

income definitions are similar

(Figure 1). 

The Census Bureau’s research on

taxes and noncash benefits indicates that government transfers

reduce income inequality more

than the tax system does. In

2003, for example, subtracting

taxes and including the Earned

Income Credit (EIC) lowered the

Gini index (see text box “What is...?

The Gini index”) of income

4 U.S. Census Bureau

Figure 1.

Median Household Income by Income Definition: 1967 to 2003 

Note: The data points are placed at the midpoints of the respective years. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1968 to 2004 Annual Social and Economic Supplements.

0

10

20

30

40

50

1967 1970 1973 1976 1979 1982 1985 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2003

Thousands of 2003 dollars

MI-Tx+NC+HE

MI

MI-Tx

MI-Tx+NC-MM

MI-Tx+NC

$45,200

$43,300

$38,300

$40,900

$43,600

Recessionary periods

4 The median income is the amount that

divides the distribution into two equal

groups, one having incomes above the

median and the other having incomes below

the median. 
inequality by 4.6 percent (from

0.498 to 0.475), while including

transfers lowered the Gini index by

17.0 percent (from 0.475 to

0.394).

REGION

Real median money income of

households did not change between

2002 and 2003 in 3 of the 4

regions, while income in the South

declined 1.5 percent (Table 2). In

contrast, under the four alternative

income measures analyzed here,

between 2002 and 2003, none of

the regions showed a decline, and

increases were noted in the

Midwest and the West. The real

median income for households in

the West showed increases for all

four income definitions. Income in

the Midwest increased for 3 of the

4 alternative income definitions—

MI-Tx+NC-MM, MI-Tx+NC, and 

MI-Tx+NC+HE (Table 2).

RESIDENCE

Between 2002 and 2003, real median household money income

remained unchanged for households inside metropolitan areas and

households outside metropolitan

areas, and declined by 1.4 percent

for households in central cities of

metropolitan areas (Table 2).

Under the four alternative income

measures, real median income

showed a change between 2002

and 2003 only for households

inside metropolitan areas. Under

definitions MI-Tx and MI-Tx+NC+HE,

these households experienced

increases of about 0.8 percent.

Under the other two definitions, 

MI-Tx+NC-MM and MI-Tx+NC, the

increase was 1.4 percent.5 These

increases seemed to be concentrated in the suburban part of the metropolitan areas, where income

increased between 1.1 and 1.9 percent (Table 2).

TYPE OF HOUSEHOLD

Real median household money

income was unchanged between

2002 and 2003 for each of the

household types shown in Table 2,

while under the four alternative

household income definitions only

family households showed a

change—1.0 percent increase under

income definition MI-Tx, 1.4 percent

increase under income definition

MI-Tx+NC-MM, 1.8 percent increase

under income definition MI-Tx+NC,

and 1.5 percent increase under

income definition MI-Tx+NC+HE.6

These increases were concentrated

in married-couple family households, where real median income

increased between 1.3 percent and

1.8 percent (Table 2).

RACE AND HISPANIC ORIGIN

Under money income, only households whose householder reported

Asian or Pacific Islander as their

only race showed an increase in

median household income between

2002 and 2003 (Table 2).7 With

the exception of Black households,

all other race groups showed

increases in two or more of the

alternative income definitions.

Black households showed no

change under any of the alternative income definitions. The only

changes for Hispanic-origin households were real declines in median

money income and income using

definition MI-Tx+NC-MM.8

INCOME INEQUALITY

The Gini index of income inequality indicated no change between

2002 and 2003 in either household

money income or income calculated using any of the four alternative

income definitions. Under the

money income measure and under

the four alternative income definitions, the share of aggregate

income received by the lowest

income quintile, another measure

of income inequality, declined

between 2002 and 2003 (Table 3

and Figure 2). The only other

quintile showing a change in share

of aggregate income was the

fourth quintile under income

definition MI-Tx+NC+HE, where the

share increased 1.5 percent.

U.S. Census Bureau 5

What is . . .? The Gini

index is an income inequality

measure that summarizes the

dispersion of income across

the entire income distribution. It ranges from 0, which

indicates perfect equality

(where everyone receives an

equal amount), to 1, which

denotes perfect inequality

(where all the income is

received by only one recipient or group of recipients). 

7 Federal surveys now ask people to report

one or more races. Therefore, two ways of

defining a group such as Asian are possible.

The first includes those who reported Asian

and no other race; the second includes everyone who reported Asian regardless of whether

they also reported another race. Data using

the first concept are presented in this report.

The term Pacific Islander is used for Native

Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. In this

report, “non-Hispanic White” refers to people

who are not Hispanic and who reported only

White as their race. 8 Because Hispanics may be any race,

data in this report for Hispanics overlap with

data for racial groups. Being Hispanic was

reported by 11.8 percent of White householders who reported only one race; 2.7 percent of Black householders who reported

only one race; 26.5 percent of American

Indian and Alaska Native householders who

reported only one race; and 10.0 percent of

Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander

householders who reported only one race.

5 The difference between the 0.8 percentage increase and the 1.4 percentage increase

was not statistically significant. 6 The differences between the percentage

increases in each of the income definitions

for family households were not statistically

significant.
6 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2.

Median Household Income by Selected Demographic Characteristics and Alternative

Income Definitions: 2002 and 2003

(Income in 2003 dollars. Households as of March of the following year)

Demographic characteristics and

alternative income definitions

20021 2003

Percentage change in

real median income

(2003 less 2002)

Number

(thousands)

Median (dollars)

Number

(thousands)

Median (dollars)

Estimate

90-percent

confidence

interval2

Estimate (+/-)

90-percent

confidence

interval2

(+/-) Estimate

90-percent

confidence

interval2

(+/-)

MI (MONEY INCOME)

All households . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,278 43,381 234 112,000 43,318 309 -0.1 0.7

Type of Residence

Inside metropolitan areas . .......... 90,075 46,294 298 90,613 46,060 306 -0.5 0.7

Inside central cities................ 33,543 37,708 365 33,717 37,174 359 *-1.4 1.1

1 million or more ................ 21,133 38,617 587 21,146 38,523 661 -0.2 1.8

Under 1 million .................. 12,409 36,328 582 12,571 35,391 604 *-2.6 1.8

Outside central cities.............. 56,532 51,879 357 56,896 51,737 344 -0.3 0.8

1 million or more ................ 38,913 55,447 688 39,112 55,354 494 -0.2 1.2

Under 1 million .................. 17,619 45,229 697 17,784 45,568 655 0.8 1.7

Outside metropolitan areas. ......... 21,203 35,448 623 21,387 35,112 592 -0.9 1.9

Region

Northeast . . . ...................... 21,229 46,913 579 21,017 46,742 646 -0.4 1.5

Midwest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,630 44,621 641 25,643 44,732 581 0.2 1.6

South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,107 40,427 501 40,742 39,823 443 *-1.5 1.3

West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,313 46,177 690 24,598 46,820 625 1.4 1.6

Race and Hispanic Origin

All races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,278 43,381 234 112,000 43,318 309 -0.1 0.7

White alone3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91,645 46,119 309 91,962 45,631 295 *-1.1 0.7

White alone, not Hispanic . . . . . . . . . 81,166 47,974 310 81,148 47,777 379 -0.4 0.8

Black alone4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,465 29,691 659 13,629 29,645 635 -0.2 2.5

Asian alone5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,917 53,832 1,550 4,040 55,699 1,800 3.5 3.6

Asian alone or Native Hawaiian and

Other Pacific Islander alone or

Asian and Native Hawaiian and

Other Pacific Islander6 . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,164 53,489 1,317 4,250 55,823 1,547 *4.4 3.1

Hispanic origin (of any race) . . . . . . . . 11,339 33,861 812 11,693 32,997 756 *-2.6 2.2

Type of Household

Family households ................. 75,596 53,911 406 76,217 53,991 411 0.1 0.9

Married-couple families............ 57,320 62,657 335 57,719 62,405 387 -0.4 0.7

Male householder, no wife present. . 4,656 42,667 700 4,717 41,959 849 -1.7 2.1

Female householder, no husband

present. . . ...................... 13,620 29,665 508 13,781 29,307 498 -1.2 1.9

Nonfamily households .............. 35,682 25,988 288 35,783 25,741 308 -1.0 1.3

Male householder . . .............. 16,020 32,123 443 16,136 31,928 359 -0.6 1.4

Living alone..................... 12,511 27,422 432 12,562 27,438 591 0.1 2.2

Female householder .............. 19,662 21,392 323 19,647 21,313 336 -0.4 1.8

Living alone..................... 16,919 18,298 370 17,024 18,676 354 2.1 2.3

Age of Householder

Under 65 years.................... 88,619 50,644 360 88,951 50,171 245 *-0.9 0.7

15 to 24 years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,611 28,466 766 6,610 27,053 665 *-5.0 2.8

25 to 34 years................... 19,055 46,368 495 19,159 44,779 592 *-3.4 1.3

35 to 44 years................... 24,069 54,747 695 23,222 55,044 661 0.5 1.4

45 to 54 years................... 22,623 60,373 883 23,137 60,242 651 -0.2 1.5

55 to 64 years................... 16,260 48,284 719 16,824 49,215 850 *1.9 1.9

See footnotes at end of table.
U.S. Census Bureau 7

Table 2.

Median Household Income by Selected Demographic Characteristics and Alternative

Income Definitions: 2002 and 2003—Con.

(Income in 2003 dollars. Households as of March of the following year)

Demographic characteristics and

alternative income definitions

20021 2003

Percentage change in

real median income

(2003 less 2002)

Number

(thousands)

Median (dollars)

Number

(thousands)

Median (dollars)

Estimate

90-percent

confidence

interval2

Estimate (+/-)

90-percent

confidence

interval2

(+/-) Estimate

90-percent

confidence

interval2

(+/-)

Age of Householder—Con.

65 years and over . . ............... 22,659 23,682 316 23,048 23,787 298 0.4 1.5

65 to 74 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,360 28,818 532 11,499 29,640 502 *2.9 2.1

75 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,299 19,742 345 11,550 19,470 301 -1.4 1.9

Size of Household

One person ....................... 29,431 22,016 241 29,586 21,930 262 -0.4 1.3

Two people . . . .................... 37,078 46,600 431 37,366 46,924 446 0.7 1.1

Three people...................... 17,889 56,038 749 17,968 55,726 734 -0.6 1.5

Four people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,967 63,898 749 16,065 64,374 1,056 0.7 1.7

Five people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,029 63,035 1,048 7,150 60,128 1,119 *-4.6 1.9

Six people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,521 57,382 1,440 2,476 58,109 1,870 1.3 3.4

Seven people or more. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,364 57,643 2,112 1,388 60,521 2,731 *5.0 4.9

Number of Earners

No earners........................ 23,347 15,754 195 23,932 15,661 196 -0.6 1.4

One earner . ...................... 40,078 35,596 338 40,769 35,977 247 *1.1 1.0

Two earners or more ............... 47,853 70,961 493 47,299 71,496 368 *0.8 0.7

Two earners ..................... 38,261 67,046 394 37,917 67,348 423 0.5 0.7

Three earners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,224 82,047 1,119 6,998 82,464 1,020 0.5 1.5

Four earners or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,369 101,109 1,528 2,384 100,000 (NA) -1.1 (NA)

Work Experience of Householder

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,278 43,381 234 112,000 43,318 309 -0.1 0.7

Worked. . . ........................ 77,866 55,014 392 77,597 54,989 352 - 0.8

Worked full-time, year-round ....... 56,307 61,385 387 55,952 60,852 319 *-0.9 0.7

Did not work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,412 21,472 247 34,403 21,476 255 - 1.3

MI-Tx (MONEY INCOME PLUS

REALIZED CAPITAL GAINS

(LOSSES), LESS INCOME AND

PAYROLL TAXES)

All households . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,278 38,049 205 112,000 38,306 206 *0.7 0.6

Type of Residence

Inside metropolitan areas . .......... 90,075 39,877 244 90,613 40,189 245 *0.8 0.7

Inside central cities................ 33,543 33,297 316 33,717 33,111 341 -0.6 1.1

1 million or more ................ 21,133 33,868 395 21,146 33,856 444 - 1.4

Under 1 million .................. 12,409 32,341 503 12,571 31,857 623 -1.5 2.0

Outside central cities.............. 56,532 44,409 308 56,896 44,883 326 *1.1 0.8

1 million or more ................ 38,913 47,068 421 39,112 47,542 421 1 1.0

Under 1 million .................. 17,619 39,378 495 17,784 40,102 508 *1.8 1.5

Outside metropolitan areas. ......... 21,203 31,916 417 21,387 31,875 452 -0.1 1.6

Region

Northeast . . . ...................... 21,229 40,175 486 21,017 40,404 507 0.6 1.4

Midwest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,630 38,633 392 25,643 38,903 406 0.7 1.2

South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,107 35,457 321 40,742 35,258 344 -0.6 1.1

West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,313 40,353 522 24,598 41,370 533 *2.5 1.5

Race and Hispanic Origin

All races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,278 38,049 206 112,000 38,306 205 *0.7 0.6

White alone3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91,645 39,872 228 91,962 39,918 226 0.1 0.6

White alone, not Hispanic . . . . . . . . . 81,166 41,199 257 81,148 41,486 257 0.7 0.7

See footnotes at end of table.
8 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2.

Median Household Income by Selected Demographic Characteristics and Alternative

Income Definitions: 2002 and 2003—Con.

(Income in 2003 dollars. Households as of March of the following year)

Demographic characteristics and

alternative income definitions

20021 2003

Percentage change in

real median income

(2003 less 2002)

Number

(thousands)

Median (dollars)

Number

(thousands)

Median (dollars)

Estimate

90-percent

confidence

interval2

Estimate (+/-)

90-percent

confidence

interval2

(+/-) Estimate

90-percent

confidence

interval2

(+/-)

Race and Hispanic Origin—Con.

Black alone4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,465 26,958 448 13,629 27,017 490 0.2 2.0

Asian alone5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,917 45,559 1,346 4,040 47,509 1,429 *4.3 3.5

Asian alone or Native Hawaiian and

Other Pacific Islander alone or

Asian and Native Hawaiian and

Other Pacific Islander6 . . . . . . . . . . . 4,164 45,186 1,220 4,250 47,404 1,408 *4.9 3.4

Hispanic origin (of any race) . . . . . . . . 11,339 31,356 484 11,693 30,926 436 -1.4 1.4

Type of Household

Family households ................. 75,596 46,888 266 76,217 47,373 273 *1.0 0.7

Married-couple families............ 57,320 53,033 301 57,719 53,723 308 *1.3 0.7

Male householder, no wife present. . 4,656 37,728 799 4,717 37,680 890 -0.1 2.6

Female householder, no husband

present. . . ...................... 13,620 27,941 363 13,781 27,757 400 -0.7 1.6

Nonfamily households .............. 35,682 23,094 220 35,783 23,016 222 -0.3 1.1

Male householder . . .............. 16,020 27,260 421 16,136 27,203 388 -0.2 1.7

Living alone..................... 12,511 23,628 342 12,562 23,686 337 0.2 1.6

Female householder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,662 20,035 301 19,647 19,923 285 -0.6 1.7

Living alone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,919 17,566 239 17,024 17,715 293 0.8 1.7

Age of Householder

Under 65 years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88,619 42,422 239 88,951 42,547 237 0.3 0.6

15 to 24 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,611 25,136 506 6,610 23,963 536 *-4.7 2.3

25 to 34 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,055 38,877 451 19,159 38,351 431 *-1.4 1.3

35 to 44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,069 46,339 459 23,222 46,927 459 *1.3 1.1

45 to 54 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,623 49,784 545 23,137 49,891 556 0.2 1.3

55 to 64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,260 41,198 575 16,824 42,003 628 *2.0 1.7

65 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,659 23,914 294 23,048 23,950 298 0.2 1.4

65 to 74 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,360 28,647 505 11,499 29,234 470 *2.1 2.0

75 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,299 20,336 352 11,550 19,939 304 *-2.0 1.8

Size of Household

One person ....................... 29,431 20,107 222 29,586 20,140 235 0.2 1.3

Two people . . . .................... 37,078 40,787 338 37,366 41,238 341 *1.1 1.0

Three people...................... 17,889 47,771 569 17,968 48,026 535 0.5 1.3

Four people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,967 54,398 596 16,065 55,374 655 *1.8 1.3

Five people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,029 55,171 1,052 7,150 53,628 943 *-2.8 2.0

Six people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,521 51,544 1,498 2,476 53,498 1,517 *3.8 3.4

Seven people or more. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,364 54,105 2,095 1,388 57,318 2,283 *5.9 4.7

Number of Earners

No earners........................ 23,347 16,073 205 23,932 16,045 207 -0.2 1.5

One earner . ...................... 40,078 30,587 199 40,769 31,192 204 *2.0 0.8

Two earners or more ............... 47,853 58,323 281 47,299 59,569 313 *2.1 0.6

Two earners ..................... 38,261 55,258 301 37,917 56,260 329 *1.8 0.7

Three earners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,224 67,724 757 6,998 69,046 885 *2.0 1.4

Four earners or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,369 82,940 1,402 2,384 86,175 1,285 *3.9 1.9

See footnotes at end of table.
U.S. Census Bureau 9

Table 2.

Median Household Income by Selected Demographic Characteristics and Alternative

Income Definitions: 2002 and 2003—Con.

(Income in 2003 dollars. Households as of March of the following year)

Demographic characteristics and

alternative income definitions

20021 2003

Percentage change in

real median income

(2003 less 2002)

Number

(thousands)

Median (dollars)

Number

(thousands)

Median (dollars)

Estimate

90-percent

confidence

interval2

Estimate (+/-)

90-percent

confidence

interval2

(+/-) Estimate

90-percent

confidence

interval2

(+/-)

Work Experience of Householder

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,278 38,049 205 112,000 38,306 206 *0.7 0.6

Worked. . . ........................ 77,866 45,901 247 77,597 46,140 262 0.5 0.6

Worked full-time, year-round ....... 56,307 50,072 283 55,952 50,472 308 *0.8 0.7

Did not work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,412 21,663 237 34,403 21,746 237 0.4 1.3

MI-Tx+NC-MM (MONEY INCOME

PLUS REALIZED CAPITAL

GAINS (LOSSES), LESS INCOME

AND PAYROLL TAXES, PLUS

VALUE OF EMPLOYERPROVIDED HEALTH BENEFITS

AND ALL NONCASH TRANSFERS EXCEPT MEDICARE AND

MEDICAID)

All households . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,278 40,437 214 112,000 40,924 227 *1.2 0.6

Type of Residence

Inside metropolitan areas . .......... 90,075 42,466 259 90,613 43,054 263 *1.4 0.7

Inside central cities................ 33,543 35,462 308 33,717 35,487 368 0.1 1.1

1 million or more ................ 21,133 35,997 441 21,146 36,450 492 1.3 1.5

Under 1 million .................. 12,409 34,515 542 12,571 34,005 604 -1.5 1.9

Outside central cities.............. 56,532 47,324 337 56,896 48,204 349 *1.9 0.8

1 million or more ................ 38,913 50,187 461 39,112 50,811 434 *1.2 1.0

Under 1 million .................. 17,619 41,961 485 17,784 43,141 571 *2.8 1.5

Outside metropolitan areas. ......... 21,203 33,683 466 21,387 33,725 467 0.1 1.6

Region

Northeast . . . ...................... 21,229 42,922 559 21,017 43,476 525 1.3 1.5

Midwest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,630 41,494 432 25,643 42,156 428 *1.6 1.2

South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,107 37,288 375 40,742 37,128 345 -0.4 1.1

West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,313 42,977 537 24,598 44,245 535 *3.0 1.4

Race and Hispanic Origin

All races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,278 40,437 214 112,000 40,924 227 *1.2 0.6

White alone3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91,645 42,325 245 91,962 42,614 250 *0.7 0.7

White alone, not Hispanic . . . . . . . . . 81,166 43,678 278 81,148 44,194 269 *1.2 0.7

Black alone4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,465 29,221 441 13,629 29,397 539 0.6 1.9

Asian alone5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,917 49,090 1,271 4,040 50,980 1,364 *3.9 3.1

Asian alone or Native Hawaiian and

Other Pacific Islander alone or

Asian and Native Hawaiian and

Other Pacific Islander6 . . . . . . . . . . . 4,164 48,620 1,282 4,250 51,036 1,362 *5.0 3.2

Hispanic origin (of any race) . . . . . . . . 11,339 33,899 447 11,693 33,277 543 *-1.8 1.4

See footnotes at end of table.
10 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2.

Median Household Income by Selected Demographic Characteristics and Alternative

Income Definitions: 2002 and 2003—Con.

(Income in 2003 dollars. Households as of March of the following year)

Demographic characteristics and

alternative income definitions

20021 2003

Percentage change in

real median income

(2003 less 2002)

Number

(thousands)

Median (dollars)

Number

(thousands)

Median (dollars)

Estimate

90-percent

confidence

interval2

Estimate (+/-)

90-percent

confidence

interval2

(+/-) Estimate

90-percent

confidence

interval2

(+/-)

Type of Household

Family households ................. 75,596 50,159 279 76,217 50,880 286 *1.4 0.6

Married-couple families............ 57,320 56,699 313 57,719 57,698 327 *1.8 0.6

Male householder, no wife present. . 4,656 40,066 868 4,717 40,337 964 0.7 2.6

Female householder, no husband

present. . . ...................... 13,620 30,293 377 13,781 30,322 398 0.1 1.5

Nonfamily households .............. 35,682 24,047 242 35,783 23,925 229 -0.5 1.1

Male householder . . .............. 16,020 28,696 387 16,136 28,676 408 -0.1 1.6

Living alone..................... 12,511 24,660 375 12,562 24,785 365 0.5 1.7

Female householder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,662 20,725 305 19,647 20,653 286 -0.3 1.6

Living alone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,919 18,064 306 17,024 18,406 298 1.9 1.9

Age of Householder

Under 65 years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88,619 45,588 257 88,951 45,907 257 *0.7 0.6

15 to 24 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,611 26,937 530 6,610 25,584 523 *-5.0 2.2

25 to 34 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,055 42,012 495 19,159 41,626 472 -0.9 1.3

35 to 44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,069 50,121 496 23,222 51,137 477 *2.0 1.1

45 to 54 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,623 53,283 538 23,137 53,890 579 1.1 1.2

55 to 64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,260 43,580 633 16,824 44,706 594 *2.6 1.6

65 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,659 24,135 293 23,048 24,182 293 0.2 1.4

65 to 74 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,360 29,083 520 11,499 29,670 482 *2.0 2.0

75 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,299 20,463 333 11,550 20,052 311 *-2.0 1.8

Size of Household

One person ....................... 29,431 20,841 232 29,586 20,923 247 0.4 1.3

Two people . . . .................... 37,078 42,991 353 37,366 43,681 345 *1.6 0.9

Three people...................... 17,889 51,408 527 17,968 51,917 558 1.0 1.2

Four people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,967 58,693 631 16,065 60,111 663 *2.4 1.3

Five people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,029 59,480 1,084 7,150 58,247 1,059 *-2.1 2.0

Six people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,521 56,152 1,479 2,476 58,284 1,179 *3.8 2.8

Seven people or more. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,364 58,304 2,480 1,388 61,046 1,563 *4.7 4.3

Number of Earners

No earners........................ 23,347 16,494 195 23,932 16,463 194 -0.2 1.3

One earner . ...................... 40,078 32,906 219 40,769 33,562 220 *2.0 0.8

Two earners or more ............... 47,853 62,676 311 47,299 64,235 332 *2.5 0.6

Two earners ..................... 38,261 59,333 340 37,917 60,828 341 *2.5 0.7

Three earners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,224 72,604 766 6,998 74,602 1,013 *2.8 1.4

Four earners or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,369 88,373 1,570 2,384 92,268 1,395 *4.4 2.0

Work Experience of Householder

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,278 40,437 214 112,000 40,924 227 *1.2 0.6

Worked. . . ........................ 77,866 49,285 276 77,597 49,914 281 *1.3 0.6

Worked full-time, year-round ....... 56,307 53,734 310 55,952 54,621 347 *1.6 0.7

Did not work . ..................... 33,412 22,197 237 34,403 22,277 239 0.4 1.2

See footnotes at end of table.
U.S. Census Bureau 11

Table 2.

Median Household Income by Selected Demographic Characteristics and Alternative

Income Definitions: 2002 and 2003—Con.

(Income in 2003 dollars. Households as of March of the following year)

Demographic characteristics and

alternative income definitions

20021 2003

Percentage change in

real median income

(2003 less 2002)

Number

(thousands)

Median (dollars)

Number

(thousands)

Median (dollars)

Estimate

90-percent

confidence

interval2

Estimate (+/-)

90-percent

confidence

interval2

(+/-) Estimate

90-percent

confidence

interval2

(+/-)

MI-Tx+NC (MONEY INCOME PLUS

REALIZED CAPITAL GAINS

(LOSSES), LESS INCOME AND

PAYROLL TAXES, PLUS VALUE

OF EMPLOYER-PROVIDED

HEALTH BENEFITS AND ALL

NONCASH TRANSFERS)

All households . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,278 43,155 205 112,000 43,629 215 *1.1 0.6

Type of Residence

Inside metropolitan areas . .......... 90,075 45,055 254 90,613 45,679 247 *1.4 0.6

Inside central cities................ 33,543 37,995 333 33,717 38,023 341 0.1 1.0

1 million or more ................ 21,133 38,692 441 21,146 38,888 424 0.5 1.3

Under 1 million .................. 12,409 36,864 538 12,571 36,562 544 -0.8 1.7

Outside central cities.............. 56,532 49,788 342 56,896 50,693 344 *1.8 0.8

1 million or more ................ 38,913 52,579 441 39,112 53,214 446 *1.2 1.0

Under 1 million .................. 17,619 44,644 542 17,784 46,296 508 *3.7 1.4

Outside metropolitan areas. ......... 21,203 36,815 451 21,387 36,745 466 -0.2 1.4

Region

Northeast . . . ...................... 21,229 46,473 483 21,017 46,641 500 0.4 1.2

Midwest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,630 43,784 394 25,643 44,541 428 *1.7 1.1

South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,107 40,071 348 40,742 39,951 347 -0.3 1.0

West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,313 45,192 500 24,598 46,609 536 *3.1 1.3

Race and Hispanic Origin

All races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,278 43,155 205 112,000 43,629 216 *1.1 0.6

White alone3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91,645 45,014 237 91,962 45,308 245 *0.7 0.6

White alone, not Hispanic . . . . . . . . . 81,166 46,376 254 81,148 46,911 261 *1.2 0.6

Black alone4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,465 31,415 506 13,629 31,671 492 0.8 1.8

Asian alone5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,917 50,590 1,352 4,040 52,697 1,490 *4.2 3.3

Asian alone or Native Hawaiian and

Other Pacific Islander alone or

Asian and Native Hawaiian and

Other Pacific Islander6 . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,164 50,149 1,316 4,250 52,784 1,474 *5.3 3.3

Hispanic origin (of any race) . . . . . . . . 11,339 35,720 516 11,693 35,495 470 -0.6 1.3

Type of Household

Family households ................. 75,596 52,777 257 76,217 53,708 280 *1.8 0.6

Married-couple families............ 57,320 58,953 300 57,719 59,985 308 *1.7 0.6

Male householder, no wife present. . 4,656 42,318 707 4,717 42,801 847 1.1 2.1

Female householder, no husband

present. . . ...................... 13,620 32,976 429 13,781 32,869 419 -0.3 1.5

Nonfamily households .............. 35,682 26,287 229 35,783 26,163 234 -0.5 1.0

Male householder . . .............. 16,020 30,059 358 16,136 30,170 382 0.4 1.4

Living alone..................... 12,511 26,442 382 12,562 26,621 372 0.7 1.6

Female householder .............. 19,662 23,591 289 19,647 23,410 263 -0.8 1.3

Living alone..................... 16,919 21,425 261 17,024 21,444 281 0.1 1.4

See footnotes at end of table.
12 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2.

Median Household Income by Selected Demographic Characteristics and Alternative

Income Definitions: 2002 and 2003—Con.

(Income in 2003 dollars. Households as of March of the following year)

Demographic characteristics and

alternative income definitions

20021 2003

Percentage change in

real median income

(2003 less 2002)

Number

(thousands)

Median (dollars)

Number

(thousands)

Median (dollars)

Estimate

90-percent

confidence

interval2

Estimate (+/-)

90-percent

confidence

interval2

(+/-) Estimate

90-percent

confidence

interval2

(+/-)

Age of Householder

Under 65 years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88,619 46,672 246 88,951 47,039 245 *0.8 0.6

15 to 24 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,611 27,909 530 6,610 26,552 546 *-4.9 2.1

25 to 34 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,055 42,955 469 19,159 42,563 470 -0.9 1.2

35 to 44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,069 51,031 483 23,222 52,034 477 *2.0 1.1

45 to 54 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,623 54,352 616 23,137 55,028 559 1.2 1.2

55 to 64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,260 45,561 607 16,824 46,516 579 *2.1 1.5

65 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,659 31,460 404 23,048 31,804 383 1.1 1.4

65 to 74 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,360 37,179 564 11,499 38,384 561 *3.2 1.8

75 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,299 26,851 436 11,550 26,482 383 -1.4 1.7

Size of Household

One person ....................... 29,431 23,333 227 29,586 23,471 217 0.6 1.1

Two people . . . .................... 37,078 46,781 310 37,366 47,323 329 *1.2 0.8

Three people...................... 17,889 53,373 510 17,968 53,906 553 1.0 1.1

Four people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,967 60,026 639 16,065 61,405 640 *2.3 1.2

Five people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,029 60,941 976 7,150 60,261 977 -1.1 1.8

Six people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,521 59,047 1,550 2,476 61,541 1,482 *4.2 3.0

Seven people or more. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,364 62,339 1,514 1,388 64,992 2,586 *4.3 4.0

Number of Earners

No earners........................ 23,347 21,118 273 23,932 21,038 309 -0.4 1.6

One earner . ...................... 40,078 34,661 217 40,769 35,399 248 *2.1 0.8

Two earners or more ............... 47,853 63,568 300 47,299 65,255 342 *2.7 0.6

Two earners ..................... 38,261 60,256 335 37,917 61,795 334 *2.6 0.6

Three earners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,224 73,675 818 6,998 75,624 880 *2.6 1.3

Four earners or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,369 89,407 1,546 2,384 93,749 1,574 *4.9 2.0

Work Experience of Householder

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,278 43,155 205 112,000 43,629 215 *1.1 0.6

Worked. . . ........................ 77,866 50,428 276 77,597 51,100 271 *1.3 0.6

Worked full-time, year-round ....... 56,307 54,572 315 55,952 55,514 317 *1.7 0.7

Did not work . ..................... 33,412 27,563 291 34,403 27,703 313 0.5 1.3

MI-Tx+NC+HE (MONEY INCOME

PLUS REALIZED CAPITAL

GAINS (LOSSES), LESS INCOME

AND PAYROLL TAXES, PLUS

VALUE OF EMPLOYERPROVIDED HEALTH BENEFITS

AND ALL NONCASH TRANSFERS, PLUS IMPUTED RETURN

TO HOME EQUITY)

All households . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,278 44,884 220 112,000 45,154 224 *0.6 0.6

Type of Residence

Inside metropolitan areas . .......... 90,075 46,824 261 90,613 47,231 255 *0.9 0.6

Inside central cities.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,543 39,190 362 33,717 39,132 350 -0.1 1.0

1 million or more ................ 21,133 39,873 439 21,146 39,888 454 - 1.3

Under 1 million .................. 12,409 37,963 542 12,571 37,722 609 -0.6 1.7

Outside central cities.............. 56,532 51,837 355 56,896 52,528 354 *1.3 0.8

1 million or more ................ 38,913 54,665 422 39,112 55,187 441 *1.0 0.9

Under 1 million .................. 17,619 46,376 569 17,784 48,150 517 *3.8 1.4

Outside metropolitan areas. ......... 21,203 38,256 459 21,387 38,277 466 0.1 1.4

See footnotes at end of table.
U.S. Census Bureau 13

Table 2.

Median Household Income by Selected Demographic Characteristics and Alternative

Income Definitions: 2002 and 2003—Con.

(Income in 2003 dollars. Households as of March of the following year)

Demographic characteristics and

alternative income definitions

20021 2003

Percentage change in

real median income

(2003 less 2002)

Number

(thousands)

Median (dollars)

Number

(thousands)

Median (dollars)

Estimate

90-percent

confidence

interval2

Estimate (+/-)

90-percent

confidence

interval2

(+/-) Estimate

90-percent

confidence

interval2

(+/-)

Region

Northeast . . . ...................... 21,229 48,137 513 21,017 48,103 569 -0.1 1.3

Midwest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,630 45,319 416 25,643 45,970 431 *1.4 1.1

South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,107 41,446 370 40,742 41,471 373 0.1 1.0

West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,313 47,472 528 24,598 48,650 571 *2.5 1.3

Race and Hispanic Origin

All races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,278 44,884 220 112,000 45,154 224 *0.6 0.6

White alone3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91,645 46,877 246 91,962 47,000 248 0.3 0.6

White alone, not Hispanic . . . . . . . . . 81,166 48,426 268 81,148 48,744 272 *0.7 0.6

Black alone4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,465 32,216 486 13,629 32,500 514 0.9 1.8

Asian alone5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,917 52,349 1,221 4,040 54,197 1,318 *3.5 2.8

Asian alone or Native Hawaiian and

Other Pacific Islander alone or

Asian and Native Hawaiian and

Other Pacific Islander6 . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,164 51,941 1,242 4,250 54,228 1,289 *4.4 2.8

Hispanic origin (of any race) . . . . . . . . 11,339 36,592 601 11,693 36,155 489 -1.2 1.4

Type of Household

Family households ................. 75,596 54,706 256 76,217 55,530 271 *1.5 0.6

Married-couple families............ 57,320 61,239 323 57,719 62,065 311 *1.4 0.6

Male householder, no wife present. . 4,656 43,161 872 4,717 43,748 895 1.4 2.3

Female householder, no husband

present. . . ...................... 13,620 33,802 409 13,781 33,842 415 0.1 1.4

Nonfamily households .............. 35,682 27,648 217 35,783 27,526 240 -0.4 0.9

Male householder . . .............. 16,020 31,022 446 16,136 31,100 368 0.3 1.5

Living alone..................... 12,511 27,373 389 12,562 27,694 405 1.2 1.7

Female householder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,662 25,509 284 19,647 24,785 260 *-2.8 1.2

Living alone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,919 23,249 291 17,024 22,994 268 -1.1 1.4

Age of Householder

Under 65 years.................... 88,619 47,952 256 88,951 48,255 265 *0.6 0.6

15 to 24 years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,611 28,077 532 6,610 26,600 536 *-5.3 2.1

25 to 34 years................... 19,055 43,373 483 19,159 42,975 497 -0.9 1.3

35 to 44 years................... 24,069 51,850 500 23,222 52,782 479 *1.8 1.1

45 to 54 years................... 22,623 56,509 612 23,137 56,987 549 0.8 1.2

55 to 64 years................... 16,260 48,399 653 16,824 49,394 717 *2.1 1.6

65 years and over . . ............... 22,659 34,819 399 23,048 34,680 387 -0.4 1.3

65 to 74 years. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,360 40,395 575 11,499 41,413 683 *2.5 1.8

75 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,299 29,590 458 11,550 29,035 395 *-1.9 1.6

Size of Household

One person ....................... 29,431 24,898 224 29,586 24,739 220 -0.6 1.0

Two people . . . .................... 37,078 49,115 323 37,366 49,464 355 0.7 0.8

Three people...................... 17,889 55,028 518 17,968 55,298 559 0.5 1.1

Four people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,967 61,585 609 16,065 62,958 645 *2.2 1.2

Five people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,029 62,670 941 7,150 61,419 1,040 *-2.0 1.8

Six people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,521 60,480 2,034 2,476 63,185 1,387 *4.5 3.5

Seven people or more. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,364 63,562 1,837 1,388 66,358 2,323 *4.4 3.8

See footnotes at end of table.
14 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2.

Median Household Income by Selected Demographic Characteristics and Alternative

Income Definitions: 2002 and 2003—Con.

(Income in 2003 dollars. Households as of March of the following year)

Demographic characteristics and

alternative income definitions

20021 2003

Percentage change in

real median income

(2003 less 2002)

Number

(thousands)

Median (dollars)

Number

(thousands)

Median (dollars)

Estimate

90-percent

confidence

interval2

Estimate (+/-)

90-percent

confidence

interval2

(+/-) Estimate

90-percent

confidence

interval2

(+/-)

Number of Earners

No earners. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,347 23,466 294 23,932 23,033 306 *-1.8 1.4

One earner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,078 35,744 231 40,769 36,560 245 *2.3 0.8

Two earners or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47,853 65,280 298 47,299 66,887 339 *2.5 0.6

Two earners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,261 61,971 328 37,917 63,401 347 *2.3 0.6

Three earners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,224 75,947 907 6,998 77,699 906 *2.3 1.4

Four earners or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,369 91,826 1,528 2,384 96,987 1675 *5.6 2.0

Work Experience of Householder

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,278 44,884 220 112,000 45,154 224 *0.6 0.6

Worked. . . ........................ 77,866 51,891 273 77,597 52,425 283 *1.0 0.6

Worked full-time, year-round . . . . . . . 56,307 56,081 310 55,952 56,870 331 *1.4 0.7

Did not work . ..................... 33,412 29,833 333 34,403 29,774 288 -0.2 1.2

-Represents zero or rounds to zero. *Statistically different from zero at the 90-percent confidence level. (NA) Not available.

1

The 2002 estimates differ from previously released estimates due to revisions in the tax model; see Appendix A.

2

A 90-percent confidence interval is a measure of an estimate’s variability. The larger the confidence interval in the estimate, the less

reliable the estimate. For more information, see ‘‘Standard Errors and Their Use’’ at <www.census.gov/hhes/www/p60-226sa.pdf>. 3

The 2003 and 2004 CPS asked respondents to choose one or more races. White alone refers to people who reported White and did

not report any other race category. The use of the single-race population does not imply that it is the preferred method of presenting or analyzing data. The Census Bureau uses a variety of approaches. Information on people who reported more than one race, such as White and

American Indian and Alaska Native or Asian and Black or African American, is available from Census 2000 through American FactFinder at

<http://factfinder.census.gov>. About 2.6 percent of people reported more than one race in Census 2000. 4

Black alone refers to people who reported Black and did not report any other race category.

5

Asian alone refers to people who reported Asian and did not report any other race category.

6

Asian and/or Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander refers to people who reported either one or both of these categories, but did

not report any other category.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2003 and 2004 Annual Social and Economic Supplements.
U.S. Census Bureau 15

Table 3.

Percentage of Aggregate Income Received by Income Quintiles and Gini Index, by

Alternative Income Definitions: 2002 and 2003

(For definition of Gini index, see text)

Alternative income definitions

Quintiles

Gini index

Lowest Second Third Fourth Highest

2002 2003 2002 2003 2002 2003 2002 2003 2002 2003 2002 2003

1.MI (Money income excluding realized

capital gains (losses)). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.43 3.37* 8.84 8.83 14.87 14.72 23.23 23.29 49.63 49.79 0.448 0.450

1b.MI-Tx (definition 1 plus realized

capital gains (losses), less taxes) . . . . 4.24 4.16* 10.15 10.06 15.86 15.89 23.71 24.02 46.03 45.87 0.414 0.414

14a.MI-Tx+NC-MM (definition 1b plus

value of employer-provided health

benefits and all noncash transfers

except Medicaid and Medicare) . . . . . 4.39 4.31* 10.15 10.01 15.93 16.03 23.84 24.04 45.70 45.61 0.409 0.409

14.MI-Tx+NC (definition 14a plus Medicaid and Medicare) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.60 4.52* 10.80 10.69 16.34 16.40 23.69 23.97 44.57 44.42 0.394 0.394

15.MI-Tx+NC+HE (definition 14 plus

imputed return on home equity) . . . . . 4.81 4.69* 10.91 10.76 16.41 16.45 23.68 24.04* 44.19 44.07 0.388 0.390

*Difference between 2002 and 2003 statistically different from zero at the 90-percent confidence level.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2003 and 2004 Annual Social and Economic Supplements.

Figure 2.

Share of Aggregate Household Income by Income Quintile and 

Income Definition: 2003

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2004 Annual Social and Economic Supplement.

Lowest 20 percent Middle 60 percent Top 20 percent

4.69

51.25

44.07

4.52

51.06

44.42

4.31

50.08

45.61

4.16

49.97

45.87

3.37

46.84

49.79

MI MI-Tx MI-Tx+NC-MM MI-Tx+NC MI-Tx+NC+HE

(In percent)
CPS DATA COLLECTION

The information in this report was

collected in the 50 states and the

District of Columbia and does not

represent residents of Puerto Rico

or any other outlying areas.9 It is

based on a sample of about

100,000 addresses. The results are

controlled to national population

estimates by age, race, sex, and

Hispanic origin, and to state population estimates by age. The population controls used to prepare estimates for 1999 to 2003 are based

on the results from Census 2000

that were updated annually using

administrative records, such as

birth and death certificates.

The CPS is a household survey primarily used to collect employment

data. The sample universe for the

basic CPS consists of the resident,

civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the United States. People in

institutions, such as prisons, longterm care hospitals, and nursing

homes, are therefore not eligible to

be interviewed in the CPS. Students

living in dormitories are only included in the estimates if information

about them is reported in an interview at their parents’ homes.

The sample universe for the ASEC

is slightly larger than the basic CPS

since it includes military personnel

who live in a household with at

least one other civilian adult,

regardless of whether they live off

post or on post. All other armed

forces are excluded. For further

documentation about the ASEC,

see <www.bls.census.gov/cps/ads

/adsmain.htm>.

16 U.S. Census Bureau

Additional Data and Contacts

Detailed tables, historical tables, press releases and briefings, and

unpublished data are available electronically on the U.S. Census

Bureau’s Income Web site. The Web site may be accessed through

the Census Bureau’s home page at <www.census.gov> or directly at

<www.census.gov/hhes/www/income.html> for income data.

Technical methods have been applied to CPS microdata to avoid disclosing the identities of individuals from whom data were collected.

These protected microdata are available for downloading by clicking

on “Access Tools” on the Census Bureau’s home page and then clicking the “DataFerrett” link. 

For assistance with income data or questions, contact the Housing

and Household Economic Statistics Division statistical information

staff by telephone at 301-763-3242 or search your topic of interest

using the Census Bureau’s “Question and Answer Center” found at 

<http://ask.census.gov>.

9 Outlying areas include American Samoa,

Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the

Virgin Islands of the United States.
INTRODUCTION

In 2004, the Census Bureau implemented a new model to estimate

payroll taxes and federal and state

income taxes for the Annual Social

and Economic Supplement (ASEC)

to the Current Population Survey

(CPS). These estimates are used

when calculating alternative

income definitions. The new

model closely follows the Internal

Revenue Service (IRS) 1040

Individual Income Tax Return and

IRS rules on filing unit formation

and on claiming dependents.

While the old tax model had been

updated annually to account for

changes in tax rates and filing

thresholds, the underlying methodology had not been revised since

the model’s inception in the 

early 1980s.

KEY DIFFERENCES

The key differences between the

old and new tax models involve

creating tax units, imputing tax

variables, simulating statutory

adjustments, and expanding the

detail in state tax estimates.

Creating tax units

The new tax model allows nonrelatives to be dependents when creating filing units from the personlevel survey data. The new model

also allows single returns to have

more than one exemption. Table 

A-1 illustrates that these changes

had little impact on return-type designations, but affected taxable

income because unit composition

determines both the number of

exemptions that may be deducted

from Adjusted Gross Income (AGI)

and eligibility for credits (Table A-2). 

Imputing tax variables

The method for imputing missing

tax fields, such as capital gains

and itemized deductions, changed

between the old and new tax models. The new model employs a statistical match to the Statistics of

Income (SOI) public use file

released by the IRS, while the old

model based imputations on

average values for units that varied

by a limited set of demographic

characteristics. The values

obtained from the statistical match

added variability to the tax fields.

Both the old and new tax models

suffer from a delay in the availability of IRS data—a 1-year lag in the

averages used in the old model

and a 3-year lag in the availability

of an SOI public use file. To partially overcome this problem, the

new tax model adjusts dollar values in the (2000) SOI data to 2002

and 2003 using published IRS data.

Simulating statutory

adjustments

For the first time, the new model

simulates statutory adjustments.

Specifically, the new model

includes IRA contributions, selfemployed health insurance deductions, and self-employed savings

and pension plan deductions

(Keogh, SEP, and SIMPLE). Table A-3

lists the variables imputed through

the SOI statistical match. 

U.S. Census Bureau 17

APPENDIX A. 

OVERVIEW OF THE NEW CURRENT POPULATION SURVEY TAX MODEL

Table A-1.

Distribution of Return Types: 2002

Percent Number of returns (thousands)

Old model New model Old model New model

Married, filing jointly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42.9 42.5 55,050 52,377

Head of household . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.9 10.0 12,708 12,349

Single. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47.2 47.5 60,457 58,628

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 128,215 123,354

Table A-2.

Aggregate Taxable Income by Return Type: 2002

Percent Dollars (thousands)

Old model New model Old model New model

Single. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.2 27.1 1,091,145 1,056,499

Married, filing jointly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69.8 68.5 2,906,857 2,666,535

Head of household . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.0 4.4 168,706 170,204

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100.0 100.0 4,166,707 3,893,238
Improving state tax estimates

State tax estimates now reflect

more information specific to each

state’s individual income tax return

and simulate more refundable and

nonrefundable credit programs.

Also, the new model allows the

state Earned Income Credit (EIC) to

be refundable, while the old model

allowed an amount no greater than

the estimated state tax. These

changes altered the estimates in all

states. To enable comparisons,

Table A-4 shows aggregate state

income taxes for the two models

and reported individual income tax

revenues by state from the

Governments Division of the

Census Bureau.10 Some states show

large differences between the old

and new tax model estimates.

Nearly all of these differences are

the result of lower estimates from

the new tax model, which better

models each state’s tax return by

incorporating income exclusions

and various credit programs. 

RESULTS

Table A-5 compares summary measures from the old and new tax models for certain variables in tax year

2002. These are weighted averages, medians, and aggregates for

filing units with nonzero amounts. 

The new model uses a statistical

match to assign capital gains and

losses to filing units. The old tax

model, by design, generated gains

in alignment with the IRS published results. This method failed

to assign many gains at the lower

end of the income distribution, and

assigned excessive values to select

cases at the upper end of the

income distribution. Compared to

the old model, the new tax model

assigned a wider range of values,

particularly at the upper end of 

the distribution. 

Table A-6 shows median household

after-tax income by selected

household characteristics for 2002.

The most notable differences created by the new tax model were

higher median household income

in the West, and nationally, higher

nonfamily median household

income, lower median incomes for

households with younger householders, higher median incomes

for households with elderly householders, and lower median

incomes for households with working householders.

For more information concerning

the new tax model, see the working

paper New Methods for Simulating

CPS Taxes at 

<www.census.gov/hhes/www

/income/oharataxmodel.pdf>. 

18 U.S. Census Bureau

Table A-3.

Imputed Tax Variables: 2002

Old model New model

Capital gains and losses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes Yes

IRA deduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Yes

Self-employed health insurance deduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Yes

Keogh and self-employed SEP and SIMPLE plans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No Yes

Itemized deductions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes Yes

Childcare expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Yes Yes

10 Fiscal Year 2003 state data were used

to obtain individual income tax values for

tax year 2002. 
U.S. Census Bureau 19

Table A-4.

Aggregate State Taxes by State: 2002

(Millions of dollars)

State New model Old model State reported

Alabama . . . ................................................... 2,329 2,990 2,035

Arizona . ...................................................... 1,769 4,045 2,102

Arkansas . ..................................................... 1,622 2,645 1,528

California. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26,397 45,263 32,710

Colorado ...................................................... 3,296 3,717 3,236

Connecticut.................................................... 3,004 1,671 3,639

Delaware. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 645 1,173 710

District of Columbia............................................. 1,077 1,538 929

Georgia ....................................................... 6,252 8,096 6,291

Hawaii ........................................................ 1,256 3,334 1,038

Idaho . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 943 1,243 844

Illinois. . . ...................................................... 6,909 7,609 7,341

Indiana. . . ..................................................... 4,801 4,063 3,644

Iowa .......................................................... 2,369 3,478 1,791

Kansas........................................................ 2,021 2,277 1,777

Kentucky ...................................................... 3,304 3,574 2,814

Louisiana...................................................... 1,873 1,892 1,867

Maine......................................................... 1,050 1,275 1,075

Maryland ...................................................... 5,083 8,174 4,682

Massachusetts ................................................. 7,358 9,308 8,026

Michigan ...................................................... 6,809 9,078 6,520

Minnesota ..................................................... 5,691 8,415 5,375

Mississippi. .................................................... 1,128 1,449 1,020

Missouri....................................................... 4,031 4,938 3,520

Montana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 666 817 536

Nebraska...................................................... 1,491 1,504 1,123

New Hampshire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 47 55

New Jersey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,602 10,978 6,735

New Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 977 1,293 923

New York. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,951 26,034 22,648

North Carolina . . ............................................... 7,409 9,010 7,089

North Dakota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 175 199

Ohio .......................................................... 7,445 10,207 7,916

Oklahoma ..................................................... 2,700 3,212 2,114

Oregon........................................................ 4,132 5,118 4,024

Pennsylvania .................................................. 6,846 7,908 6,662

Rhode Island . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 886 870 825

South Carolina ................................................. 2,501 3,525 2,334

Tennessee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152 208 116

Utah .......................................................... 1,467 1,938 1,573

Vermont. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397 482 411

Virginia. ....................................................... 6,394 8,249 6,776

West Virginia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 976 1,049 1,056

Wisconsin ..................................................... 5,278 7,071 5,253

Note: Seven states (Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming) are not included in the table because

they do not levy individual state income taxes.

Table A-5.

Tax Model Summary Measures: 2002

(In dollars)

Average Median Aggregate (thousands)

Old model New model Old model New model Old model New model

Capital gains. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,832 7,611 6,184 2,258 320,977,654 82,695,595

Capital losses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,122 2,399 2,112 3,000 26,173,735 23,978,666

AGI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48,867 48,678 30,309 32,397 6,265,476,178 6,004,516,003

Itemized deductions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,548 16,990 11,780 13,180 1,254,713,253 777,544,393

Taxable income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41,020 37,528 23,825 23,550 4,166,707,118 3,893,238,117

EIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,523 1,517 1,301 1,231 25,758,259 24,816,475

Federal tax after credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,036 6,452 2,445 2,472 767,943,297 724,473,825

AGI=Adjusted Gross Income. EIC=Earned Income Credit.
Table A-6.

Median After-tax Households Income by Selected Characteristics and Tax Model: 2002

(Households as of March 2003)

Characteristic and tax model

Number

(thousands)

Old tax model New tax model

Difference

(New-old)

Median (dollars) Median (dollars)

Estimate

90-percent

confidence

interval1

(+/-) Estimate

90-percent

confidence

interval1

(+/-)

MI-Tx (MONEY INCOME PLUS REALIZED

CAPITAL GAINS (LOSSES), LESS

INCOME AND PAYROLL TAXES)

All households........................... 111,278 37,131 197 37,197 201 66

Type of Residence

Inside metropolitan areas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90,075 38,947 234 38,984 239 37

Inside central cities. ...................... 33,543 32,523 324 32,551 309 28

1 million or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,133 33,175 408 33,109 387 -66

Under 1 million. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,409 31,491 492 31,617 492 126

Outside central cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56,532 43,359 313 43,414 301 55

1 million or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,913 45,988 413 46,014 411 26

Under 1 million. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,619 38,509 479 38,496 484 -13

Outside metropolitan areas. ................ 21,203 31,042 444 31,201 408 159

Region

Northeast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,229 39,330 454 39,275 475 -55

Midwest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,630 37,644 413 37,768 383 124

South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,107 34,745 331 34,663 314 -82

West. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,313 38,977 497 39,449 510 472

Race and Hispanic Origin

All races . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,278 37,130 196 37,197 201 66

White alone2.............................. 91,645 38,913 226 38,979 223 66

White alone, not Hispanic ................ 81,166 40,250 253 40,276 251 26

Black alone3

............................. 13,465 26,350 410 26,354 438 4

Asian alone4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,917 44,102 1,256 44,539 1,316 437

Asian alone or Native Hawaiian and Other

Pacific Islander alone or Asian and Native

Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander5 . . . . . . 4,164 43,805 1,195 44,174 1,193 369

Hispanic origin (of any race) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,339 30,553 472 30,654 473 101

Type of Household

Family households . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75,596 45,614 250 45,838 260 224

Married-couple families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57,320 51,559 294 51,845 294 286

Male householder, no wife present . . . . . . . . . 4,656 37,104 730 36,883 781 -221

Female householder, no husband present. . . 13,620 27,304 339 27,315 355 11

Nonfamily households . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,682 22,264 227 22,577 215 313

Male householder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,020 26,534 364 26,649 411 115

Living alone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,511 22,986 377 23,099 334 113

Female householder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,662 19,062 290 19,586 294 524

Living alone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,919 16,798 225 17,173 234 375

Age of Householder

Under 65 years . .......................... 88,619 41,615 235 41,472 234 -143

15 to 24 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,611 25,131 497 24,573 495 -558

25 to 34 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,055 38,317 438 38,006 441 -311

35 to 44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,069 45,619 429 45,301 449 -318

45 to 54 years . . ........................ 22,623 48,829 548 48,669 533 -160

55 to 64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,260 40,190 551 40,275 563 85

65 years and over ......................... 22,659 22,783 291 23,378 288 595

65 to 74 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,360 27,461 449 28,005 494 544

75 years and over . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,299 19,180 326 19,881 344 701

See footnotes at end of table.

20 U.S. Census Bureau
Table A-6.

Median After-tax Households Income by Selected Characteristics and Tax Model: 2002

(Households as of March 2003)

Characteristic and tax model

Number

(thousands)

Old tax model New tax model

Difference

(New-old)

Median (dollars) Median (dollars)

Estimate

90-percent

confidence

interval1

(+/-) Estimate

90-percent

confidence

interval1

(+/-)

Size of Household

One person............................... 29,431 19,211 217 19,657 217 446

Two people . .............................. 37,078 39,566 334 39,874 331 308

Three people ............................. 17,889 46,553 497 46,701 556 148

Four people . . ............................ 15,967 53,177 645 53,180 582 3

Five people. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,029 53,701 952 53,935 1,028 234

Six people. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,521 50,459 1,352 50,390 1,464 -69

Seven people or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,364 52,562 1,948 52,893 2,048 331

Number of Earners

No earners . . ............................. 23,347 15,334 196 15,713 201 379

One earner ............................... 40,078 29,990 209 29,902 194 -88

Two earners or more ...................... 47,853 57,277 270 57,017 275 -260

Two earners ............................. 38,261 54,382 344 54,020 294 -362

Three earners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,224 65,939 770 66,207 740 268

Four earners or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,369 80,799 1,528 81,082 1,370 283

Work Experience of Householder

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,278 37,131 197 37,197 201 66

Worked . ................................. 77,866 45,082 245 44,873 242 -209

Worked full-time, year-round............... 56,307 49,249 285 48,951 276 -298

Did not work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,412 20,632 240 21,178 232 546

1

A 90-percent confidence interval is a measure of an estimate’s variability. The larger the confidence interval in relation to the size of the

estimate, the less reliable the estimate. For more information, see ‘‘Standard Errors and Their Use’’ at <www.census.gov/hhes/www

/p60-226sa.pdf>. 2

The 2003 CPS asked respondents to choose one or more races. White alone refers to people who reported White and did not report

any other race category. The use of the single-race population does not imply that it is the preferred method of presenting or analyzing data.

The Census Bureau uses a variety of approaches. Information on people who reported more than one race, such as White and American

Indian and Alaska Native or Asian and Black or African American, is available from Census 2000 through American FactFinder at

<http://factfinder.census.gov>. About 2.6 percent of people reported more than one race in Census 2000. 3

Black alone refers to people who reported Black and did not report any other race category.

4

Asian alone refers to people who reported Asian and did not report any other race category.

5

Asian and/or Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander refers to people who reported either one or both of these categories, but did

not report any other category.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2003 Annual Social and Economic Supplements.

U.S. Census Bureau 21
22 U.S. Census Bureau

Table B-1.

Median Household Income for Selected Definitions of Income, by Race and Hispanic

Origin of Householder: 1979 to 2003

(Income in 2003 CPI-U-RS adjusted dollars. See text for comparability issues regarding comparison of data for racial groups using single

and multiple race reporting methods. For meaning of symbols, see text)

Race and Hispanic origin

of householder and year

Total money

income (MI) (MI-Tx)1 (MI-Tx+NC-MM)2 (MI-Tx+NC)3 (MI-Tx+NC+HE)4

ALL RACES

2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43,318 38,306 40,924 43,629 45,154

20025. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43,381 38,049 40,437 43,155 44,884

2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43,882 38,422 40,665 43,369 45,126

20006.................................. 44,853 38,748 40,908 43,285 45,634

19997.................................. 44,922 38,842 40,970 43,328 45,354

1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43,825 37,862 40,037 42,459 44,302

1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42,294 36,367 38,554 40,985 43,000

1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41,431 35,394 37,756 40,295 42,444

19958. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,845 35,024 37,494 39,922 42,263

19949. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39,613 34,173 36,508 38,740 41,113

199310 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39,165 33,808 36,056 38,104 40,230

199211 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39,364 33,752 35,741 37,741 40,026

1991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39,679 33,877 35,654 37,443 40,127

1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,865 (NA) (NA) 37,960 40,526

1989 .................................. 41,411 (NA) (NA) 38,556 41,662

1988 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,678 (NA) (NA) 37,796 41,195

198712 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,357 (NA) (NA) 37,696 41,065

1986 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39,868 (NA) (NA) 37,197 40,026

198513 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,510 (NA) (NA) 35,709 39,410

1984 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37,767 (NA) (NA) 35,049 39,262

198314 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36,826 (NA) (NA) 34,359 38,203

1982 .................................. 36,811 (NA) (NA) 33,831 38,398

1981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36,868 (NA) (NA) 33,505 39,199

1980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37,447 (NA) (NA) 34,290 37,804

197915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,649 (NA) (NA) 35,435 37,776

WHITE ALONE16

2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45,631 39,918 42,614 45,308 47,000

20025.................................. 46,119 39,872 42,325 45,014 46,877

WHITE17

2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46,261 39,885 42,163 44,864 46,677

20006. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46,910 40,297 42,509 44,911 47,327

19997. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46,720 40,441 42,547 44,930 47,118

1998 .................................. 46,110 39,751 41,959 44,274 46,236

1997 .................................. 44,542 38,000 40,239 42,586 44,768

1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43,379 36,984 39,481 41,927 44,232

19958. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42,871 36,589 39,148 41,472 44,063

19949. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41,779 35,752 38,058 40,191 42,725

199310 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41,320 35,559 37,839 39,920 42,124

199211 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41,385 35,436 37,560 39,517 41,930

1991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41,580 35,408 37,303 39,083 41,933

1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42,622 (NA) (NA) 39,451 42,194

1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43,560 (NA) (NA) 40,142 43,447

1988 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43,003 (NA) (NA) 39,534 43,085

198712 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42,520 (NA) (NA) 39,443 43,067

1986 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41,914 (NA) (NA) 38,835 41,841

198513 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,614 (NA) (NA) 37,245 41,235

1984 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39,843 (NA) (NA) 36,588 41,078

198314 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,608 (NA) (NA) 35,817 39,798

1982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,537 (NA) (NA) 35,185 39,971

1981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,954 (NA) (NA) 34,881 40,912

1980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39,506 (NA) (NA) 35,641 39,343

197915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,523 (NA) (NA) 36,792 39,248

WHITE ALONE, NOT HISPANIC

2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47,777 41,486 44,194 46,911 48,744

20025 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47,974 41,199 43,678 46,376 48,426

See footnotes at end of table.

APPENDIX B. 

HISTORICAL ESTIMATES OF INCOME
U.S. Census Bureau 23

Table B-1.

Median Household Income for Selected Definitions of Income, by Race and Hispanic

Origin of Householder: 1979 to 2003—Con.

(Income in 2003 CPI-U-RS adjusted dollars. See text for comparability issues regarding comparison of data for racial groups using single

and multiple race reporting methods. For meaning of symbols, see text)

Race and Hispanic origin

of householder and year

Total money

income (MI) (MI-Tx)1 (MI-Tx+NC-MM)2 (MI-Tx+NC)3 (MI-Tx+NC+HE)4

WHITE ALONE, NOT HISPANIC—Con.

2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48,119 41,176 43,495 46,206 48,111

20006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48,734 41,543 43,803 46,169 48,699

19997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48,742 41,809 43,902 46,296 48,673

BLACK ALONE OR IN COMBINATION

2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,689 27,095 29,444 31,758 32,591

20025 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,845 27,082 29,337 31,540 32,339

BLACK ALONE18

2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,645 27,017 29,397 31,671 32,500

20025 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,691 26,958 29,221 31,415 32,216

BLACK17

2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30,625 27,222 29,407 31,713 32,622

20006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31,690 27,917 30,053 32,052 33,211

19997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30,808 27,438 29,533 31,836 33,045

1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,572 25,769 27,810 30,108 31,062

1997 .................................. 28,630 25,485 27,616 29,494 30,562

1996 .................................. 27,411 24,693 26,918 29,142 30,196

19958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26,842 24,220 26,516 28,673 29,722

19949 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,816 23,136 25,460 27,436 28,811

199310 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,487 22,021 24,261 26,099 27,117

199211 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,098 21,716 23,796 25,580 26,727

1991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,702 22,266 24,226 26,221 27,397

1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,596 (NA) (NA) 27,169 28,388

1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26,869 (NA) (NA) 28,521 29,800

1988 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,023 (NA) (NA) 29,745 31,080

198712 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,043 (NA) (NA) 30,829 32,211

1986 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30,033 (NA) (NA) 31,879 33,309

198513 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30,581 (NA) (NA) 32,461 33,917

1984 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31,600 (NA) (NA) 33,543 35,048

198314 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32,861 (NA) (NA) 34,881 36,446

1982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,841 (NA) (NA) 22,775 25,624

1981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,133 (NA) (NA) 24,123 27,140

1980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,306 (NA) (NA) 26,388 29,689

197915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,100 (NA) (NA) 29,302 32,967

ASIAN ALONE OR IN COMBINATION

2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,262 47,126 50,644 52,333 53,820

20025 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53,483 45,249 48,823 50,294 52,058

ASIAN ALONE19

2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,699 47,509 50,980 52,697 54,197

20025 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53,832 45,559 49,090 50,590 52,349

ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER17

2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,736 46,399 49,393 51,057 52,807

20006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57,292 47,694 50,772 52,482 54,281

19997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59,204 49,286 52,466 54,233 56,092

1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52,562 43,548 46,528 47,720 49,748

1997 .................................. 53,302 44,161 47,183 48,392 50,448

1996 .................................. 54,440 45,104 48,190 49,426 51,526

19958 ................................. 55,902 46,315 49,484 50,752 52,909

19949 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57,260 47,440 50,686 51,985 54,194

199310 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58,465 48,439 51,753 53,080 55,335

199211 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48,570 39,789 42,436 43,681 46,072

1991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49,788 39,071 41,118 42,651 45,019

1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51,589 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)

1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54,154 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)

See footnotes at end of table.
24 U.S. Census Bureau

Table B-1.

Median Household Income for Selected Definitions of Income, by Race and Hispanic

Origin of Householder: 1979 to 2003—Con.

(Income in 2003 CPI-U-RS adjusted dollars. See text for comparability issues regarding comparison of data for racial groups using single

and multiple race reporting methods. For meaning of symbols, see text)

Race and Hispanic origin

of householder and year

Total money

income (MI) (MI-Tx)1 (MI-Tx+NC-MM)2 (MI-Tx+NC)3 (MI-Tx+NC+HE)4

ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER17—Con.

1988 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56,480 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)

198712 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58,537 (NA) (NA) (NA) (NA)

HISPANIC (OF ANY RACE)

2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32,997 30,926 33,277 35,495 36,155

20025 ................................. 33,861 31,356 33,899 35,720 36,592

2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34,400 31,308 33,426 35,739 36,704

20006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,360 32,182 34,044 35,958 37,119

19997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36,540 33,256 33,034 34,835 35,643

1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31,929 28,996 31,069 32,699 33,570

1997 .................................. 32,379 29,404 31,507 33,159 34,043

1996 .................................. 33,070 30,032 32,180 33,867 34,770

19958 ................................. 33,958 30,838 33,043 34,777 35,703

19949 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34,783 31,587 33,846 35,621 36,570

199310 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,515 32,252 34,559 36,371 37,341

199211 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,035 26,018 28,062 29,739 30,906

1991 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,763 26,679 28,776 30,484 31,680

1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30,839 (NA) (NA) 31,587 32,826

1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32,373 (NA) (NA) 33,158 34,459

1988 .................................. 33,763 (NA) (NA) 34,582 35,939

198712 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34,993 (NA) (NA) 35,841 37,247

1986 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36,185 (NA) (NA) 37,062 38,516

198513 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36,846 (NA) (NA) 37,739 39,220

1984 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,074 (NA) (NA) 38,997 40,527

198314 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39,593 (NA) (NA) 40,553 42,144

1982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27,699 (NA) (NA) 27,531 29,650

1981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,338 (NA) (NA) 29,160 31,404

1980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32,093 (NA) (NA) 31,898 34,353

197915 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,637 (NA) (NA) 35,421 38,147

(NA) Not available.

1

Money income, less taxes.

2

Money income, less taxes, plus value of noncash transfers, less Medicare and Medicaid.

3

Money income, less taxes, plus value of noncash transfers.

4

Money income, less taxes, plus value of noncash transfers, plus imputed value of home equity.

5

Implementation of new tax model.

6

Implementation of a 28,000-household sample expansion.

7

Implementation of Census 2000-based population controls.

8

Full implementation of 1990 census-based sample design and metropolitan definitions, 7,000-household sample reduction, revised race edits.

9

Introduction of 1990 census sample design.

10Data collection method changed from paper and pencil to computer-assisted interviewing. In addition, the March 1994 income supplement was revised to

allow for the coding of different income amounts on selected questionnaire items. Limits either increased or decreased in the following categories: earnings limits increased to $999,999; social security limits increased to $49,999; Supplemental Security Income and public assistance limits increased to $24,999; veterans’

benefits limits increased to $99,999; child support and alimony limits decreased to $49,999. 11Implementation of 1990 census population controls. 12Implementation of a new March CPS processing system. 13Recording of amounts for earnings from longest job increased to $299,999. Full implementation of 1980 census-based sample design. 14Implementation of Hispanic population weight controls and introduction of 1980 census-based sample design. 15Implementation of 1980 census population controls. Questionnaire expanded to show 27 possible values from 51 possible sources of income. 16The 2003 and 2004 CPS asked respondents to choose more than one race. White alone refers to people who reported White and did not report any other

race category. The use of this single-race population does not imply that it is the preferred method of presenting or analyzing data. The Census Bureau uses a

variety of approaches. Information on people who reported more than one race, such as White and American Indian and Alaska Native or Asian and Black or

African American, is available from Census 2000 through American FactFinder. About 2.6 percent of people reported more than one race in Census 2000. 17For 2001 and earlier years, the CPS allowed respondents to report only one race group. The reference race groups for 2001 and earlier income data are

White, non-Hispanic White, Black, and Asian and Pacific Islander. 18Black or African American alone refers to people who reported Black or African American and did not report any other race category. 19Asian alone refers to people who reported Asian and did not report any other race category.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1980 to 2004 Annual Social and Economic Supplements.
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