BACKGROUND DATA RELATING

TO RETIREMENT INCOME

Scheduled for a Public Hearing

Before the

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS

on February 6, 2019

Prepared by the Staff

of the

JOINT COMMITTEE ON TAXATION

February 4, 2019

JCX-4-19
i

CONTENTS

Page

INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY........................................................................................... 1

I. DATA RELATING TO RETIREMENT SAVINGS ......................................................... 2

A. Overview....................................................................................................................... 2

B. General Data on Qualified Retirement Plan Participation............................................ 5

C. Data Related to Social Security Benefits as a Source of Retirement Income............. 13

D. Assets Held Outside of Qualified Plans and Individual Retirement Arrangements... 15
1

INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY

The Committee on Ways and Means has scheduled a hearing on February 6, 2019, 

regarding improving retirement security for America’s workers. This document, prepared by the 

staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, provides background data relating to retirement 

income.1

Generally, in retirement, individuals may derive the resources to support their living 

needs from one or more of three sources: income from pension benefits accumulated during 

their working years under employer pension plans or individual retirement arrangements; 

benefits received under Social Security, which also are based on an individual’s employment 

history; and other assets. The tables that follow provide data related to the extent to which 

current retirees use these sources and data indicative of the extent to which the next generation of 

retirees may draw upon these same sources. 

 1

 This document may be cited as follows: Joint Committee on Taxation, Background Data Relating to 

Retirement Income, (JCX-4-19), February 4, 2019. This document can be found on the Joint Committee on 

Taxation website at www.jct.gov. 
2

I. DATA RELATING TO RETIREMENT SAVINGS

A. Overview

A retired individual generally has three primary sources of funds to support him or 

herself in retirement: distributions or benefits from qualified retirement plans2 or individual 

retirement arrangements (IRAs); Social Security and/or railroad retirement benefits; and other 

assets held outside of qualified plans. Some taxpayers who consider themselves to be retired 

may supplement these sources with earned income. Some retired individuals may also receive 

Supplemental Security Income (SSI),3 Medicaid, certain Veteran’s benefits, and other public 

assistance.4

Table 1 displays tabulations of the percentage of individuals, aged 65 and above, who 

draw on each particular source of income.5 Examining individuals rather than households may 

understate the overall income and standard of living for households that have two or more 

members since each source of income is attributed to only one member of the household. Based 

on these data, a large majority of individuals aged 65 and above draws on Social Security 

income. Far fewer rely on earned income. Only 3.7 percent of individuals in the lowest income 

quartile report earned income, whereas 48.4 percent of individuals in the highest income quartile 

continue to have earned income after the age of 65. These estimates change after the age of 70 

and 75 as the majority of individuals eventually retire.6 

There is a similar difference across the income distribution in the percentage of 

individuals who draw on pensions as a source of income after the age of 65. Only 5.0 percent of 

individuals in the lowest income quartile, compared to 62.4 percent of individuals in the highest 

income quartile draw on pension income, which includes interest, dividends, and capital gains on 

retirement saving, such as savings in IRAs and 401(k) accounts. As might be expected, a large 

portion of high income individuals (85.1 percent) have available income from assets outside of 

qualified plans. Lower income individuals are more likely to draw income from SSI and public 

assistance programs than are higher income individuals. 

 2

 The term “qualified retirement plans” refers to defined benefit or defined contribution plans, or both. 

3 Supplemental Security Income is a Federal income supplement program funded by general tax revenues 

and designed to help aged, blind, and disabled people who have little or no income to meet basic needs for food, 

clothing, and shelter.

4

 Some individuals may also receive gifts from relatives or others to provide financial support in 

retirement.

5

 Calculations in Jim Poterba, “Retirement Security in an Aging Population,” American Economic Review, 

May 2014, Vol. 104, No. 5.

6 Census data show that a significant percentage of men and women aged 62 or older work in paid 

employment. For example, in 2009, 33 percent of men and 42 percent of women aged 65 to 69 worked in paid 

employment. Patrick P. Purcell, “Older workers: Employment and retirement trends,” 2009, Congressional 

Research Service.
3

Table 1.−Income Sources for Individuals Aged 65+ by Total Income Quartile, 2018

(percentage of all individuals)

Income Quartile

Income Type Lowest 25 

percent

Second 25 

percent

Third 25 

percent

Highest 25 

percent

Social Security 65.97 93.8 88.3 76.7

Earnings 3.7 9.0 24.3 48.4

Pension Income 5.0 21.0 53.8 62.4

Asset Income 38.0 52.6 70.5 85.1

SSI/Public Assistance 8.2 2.8 1.2 0.5

Other Income 2.1 4.3 9.0 12.8

Source: Current Population Survey, 2018. Calculations in Poterba, 2014, updated for 2018 by Poterba.

Columns may not add to 100 percent because some individuals have multiple sources of income.

Note: Data is categorized by quartiles based on individual income. The lowest quartile is individuals with annual income less 

than $12,000; the second lowest quartile, $12,000 to $22,816; the third quartile, $22,816 to $48,000; the highest quartile, greater 

than $48,000. 

 Table 2 displays tabulations of the size of various sources of income for individuals 

aged 65 and above, as a percentage of total income. For individuals in the lowest income 

quartile, Social Security benefits are the predominant source of income (they constitute 84.6

percent of total income), whereas individuals in the highest income quartile rely on a much more 

varied mix of income sources. This reflects both the progressivity of Social Security benefits as 

well as the higher participation rates of high income individuals in employer sponsored 

retirement plans (see Table 4 below) and their greater ability to save over the life cycle. 

 7

 In general, survey data may contain significant reporting errors. If lower income households are more 

likely to understate their Social Security income, this estimate may understate the true percentage of individuals 

in the lowest income quartile who receive Social Security benefits. See for example, Howard Iams and Patrick 

Purcell, “Social Security Income Measurement in Two Surveys,” Social Security Bulletin, 2013, Vol. 73, No. 3.
4

Table 2.−Percent of Total Income by Source for Individuals Aged 65+, 2018

Income Quartile

Income Type Lowest 25 

percent

Second 25 

percent

Third 25 

percent

Highest 25 

percent

Social Security 84.6 82.4 52.5 17.0

Earnings 2.5 5.0 15.1 42.4

Pension Income 2.5 6.7 22.4 24.9

Asset Income 2.7 3.6 6.8 13.2

SSI/Public Assistance 6.7 0.9 0.3 0.1

Other Income 1.0 1.4 3.0 2.4

Source: Current Population Survey, 2018. Calculations in Poterba, 2014, updated for 2018.

Notes: All income=100 percent. 

Data is categorized by quartiles based on individual income. The lowest quartile is individuals with annual income less than 

$12,000; the second lowest quartile, $12,000 to $22,816; the third quartile, $22,816 to $48,000; the highest quartile, greater than 

$48,000. 

Tables 1 and 2 above are estimated using the Current Population Survey, which some 

research suggests is prone to under-counting pension income relative to that reported on 

administrative records.8 It may therefore be useful to supplement Tables 1 and 2 with an 

examination of other sources of data, including tax data which may contain other types of 

measurement error but is less susceptible to reporting errors. 

The subsequent sections of this pamphlet provide additional data that is descriptive of the 

sources of retirement income for current retirees and the potential of such sources to provide

income for the next generation of retirees.

 8

 Chris E. Anguelov, Howard M. Iams, and Patrick Purcell, “Shifting Income Sources of the Aged,” 

Social Security Bulletin 2012, Vol. 72, No. 3.; Adam Bee and Joshua Mitchell, “Do Older Americans Have More 

Income Than We Think?” 2017, SEHSD Working Paper 2017-39. 
5

B. General Data on Qualified Retirement Plan Participation

Data show that a significant share of workers is not covered by any employer-provided 

retirement plan. However, there are disparities in the reported magnitude of coverage, depending 

on the data source, the definition of coverage, and the population considered. Coverage under a 

retirement plan may refer to whether an employee is offered access to a retirement plan 

(“access”), whether an employee chooses to participate in a retirement plan when offered (“takeup”), and whether any employee with access or not participates in a retirement plan (“employee 

participation”). The available sources of retirement coverage data include four household 

surveys (the Current Population Survey (“CPS”), the Survey of Income and Program 

Participation (“SIPP”), the Panel Study on Income Dynamics (“PSID”), and the Survey of 

Consumer Finances (“SCF”)), along with an employer survey (the National Compensation 

Survey (“NCS”)), and tax data. 

Household surveys often provide a rich source of detail about household characteristics. 

However, they may be subject to serious individual reporting error. The four household surveys 

listed above suggest estimated participation in an employer-provided defined benefit or defined 

contribution plan for private sector employees ranging between 40 and 55 percent over the 

period 1991-2012.9

 In contrast to the NCS, household surveys report that employers offer 

retirement plans and employees choose to participate in these retirement plans at significantly 

lower rates, suggesting significant respondent error in the surveys.10 Researchers attempt to 

correct for possible respondent errors through a variety of methods, including using matched tax 

data from W-2 records.11 However, a lack of information about access, take-up, and 

participation in defined benefit plans in the W-2 records necessitates assumptions about such 

coverage, leading to estimates of access, take-up, and participation rates that are significantly 

higher than in the NCS.

According to the NCS,12 in 2017, 66 percent of U.S. workers employed in the private 

sector had access to a qualified retirement plan and 50 percent of workers employed in the 

 9

 Alicia Munnell and Dina Bleckman, “Is Pension Coverage a Problem in the Private Sector?” Boston 

College Center for Retirement Research, April 2014, Number 14-7.

10 See tabulations by Munnell and Bleckman, 2014. In 2012, the CPS reports that employers offered 

coverage under a retirement plan to 52 percent of private, part-time and full-time workers, while the NCS reports 64 

percent. The CPS reports that 43 percent of private, part-time and full-time employees participated in these plans, 

while the NCS reports 48 percent. 

11 Irena Dushi, Howard M. Iams, and Jules Lichtenstein, “Assessment of Retirement Plan Coverage by 

Firm Size, Using W-2 Tax Records,” Social Security Bulletin, 2011, Vol. 71, No. 2.

12 The NCS is an annual survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics 

(“BLS”). Each release contains data categorized as civilian, private industry, and State and local government 

workers in the United States. Data on the private sector refers to workers in private industry, not including State and 

local government workers. Also excluded are Federal government workers, the military, agricultural workers, 

private household workers, and the self-employed.
6

private sector participated in a qualified retirement plan (see Table 3).13 This translates to a takeup rate of 75 percent, meaning 75 percent of those with access participated.14 Take-up rates 

were stable at between 74 and 76 percent over the seven-year period, 2011 to 2017. These takeup rates indicate that while a large percentage of employees participate in an employer plan if 

available to them, some employees do not. 

Table 3.−Retirement Benefits: Access, Participation

and Take-Up Rates in the Private Sector by Year

(percentage of all workers)

Year Access Rate

Employee 

Participation

Rate Take-Up Rate

2011 64 49 76

2012 65 48 75

2013 64 49 76

2014 65 48 75

2015 66 49 74

2016 66 49 75

2017 66 50 75

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey Data, 2011-2017.

Note: All workers = 100 percent. Rates are rounded to the nearest percent. As a result, take-up

rates may not be exactly equal to the employee participation rate divided by the access rate as

presented in this table.

 13 The term “qualified retirement plans” refers to defined benefit or defined contribution plans, or both. 

Employees are considered to have access to a qualified retirement plan if at least one type of plan is available for 

their use and they are participants if they have fulfilled requirements, including making required contributions. 

14 Take-up rates are calculated to be participation among those employees who are offered access to an 

employer plan. Therefore, TTTTTTTT UUUU = EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE PPPPPPPPPPPPPP PPPPPP PP

AA AAAA .
7

Rates of access, participation, and take-up in qualified retirement plans vary by a number 

of worker and industry characteristics. Figure 1 shows that access rates are lower in the private 

sector than they are in the State and local government sector. In addition, the take-up rate in the 

private sector is 75 percent compared to an 88 percent take-up rate in the State and local 

government sector. 

Figure 1.−Access, Participation, and Take-up Rates by Sector in 2017

(percentage)

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey Data, 2017.

Note: All workers=100 percent.

66

91

50

80

75

88

Private State/Local

Access Employee Participation Take-up
8

The data in Figure 2 show that access, employee participation, and take-up rates are 

significantly higher for full time workers than for part time ones. Overall participation rates are 

only 21 percent for part time workers, compared to a 60 percent participation rate for full time 

workers.

Figure 2.−Access, Participation, and Take-up Rates in the Private Sector 

by Full-time Status in 2017 (percentage)

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey Data, 2017.

Note: All workers=100 percent.

77

38

60

21

78

56

Full time Part time

Access Employee Participation Take-up
9

There is also a disparity in take-up rates between union and non-union workers. As 

shown in Figure 3, access, employee participation, and take-up rates are significantly higher for 

union workers than they are for non-union workers. 

Figure 3.−Access, Participation, and Take-up Rates in the Private Sector 

by Union Status in 2017 (percentage)

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey Data, 2017.

Note: All workers=100 percent.

92

64

82

47

90

73

Union Non-union

Access Employee Participation Take-up
10

The NCS also contains data on employee occupations, along with the average wage for 

each occupation. Table 4 uses NCS data, classifying individuals by the average wage for their 

occupation, to show access, employee participation, and take-up rates across the wage 

distribution. Participation rates are 21 percent for those employees with occupations in the 

lowest quartile of the wage distribution, and they are 77 percent for those in the highest quartile. 

Access and take-up rates also differ across the wage distribution, with all rates increasing as 

wages increase. 

Table 4.−Retirement Benefits: Access, Participation, and Take-Up

Rates in the Private Sector by Wage Centile, 2017

(percentage of all workers)

Wage Centile1 Access Rate

Employee 

Participation

Rate

Take-Up Rate

Lowest 10 percent 33 14 41

Lowest 25 percent 42 21 51

Second 25 percent 66 46 70

Third 25 percent 83 64 81

Highest 25 percent 89 77 88

Highest 10 percent 89 81 90

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Compensation Survey Data, 2017.

Notes: All workers=100 percent. 1 Hourly wages for the 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, and 90th percentiles are $9.79, $12.25, $18.16, $29.44,

and $46.10, respectively. 

As reported above, past participation in qualified plans, including accrued defined benefit 

plan benefits, and past saving in IRAs are important financial resources for many current retirees. 

Table 5 uses tax data to estimate the percentage of tax units15 with primary taxpayer aged 65 and 

above that have a taxable IRA or pension distribution.16 Keeping in mind that tabulations of 

individuals will differ from tabulations of tax units, these estimates are consistent with the 

 15 The unit of observation in the Joint Committee’s Individual Tax Model is a tax unit. A tax unit is the 

collection of individuals appearing on a Form 1040 as primary, secondary, or dependent filers. Tax units differ from 

households in that households can be comprised of multiple tax units. For example, unmarried cohabitating couples, 

multi-generational households, and roommates will generally be comprised of multiple tax units. 

16 Qualified Roth distributions that satisfy appropriate requirements are tax-free. As a result, information 

on distributions from Form 1040 will not account for Roth distributions, and the estimates in Table 5 will likely 

understate the amount of total IRA and pension distributions. 
11

general pattern seen in Table 1, where the percent of tax units drawing on IRA or pension 

distributions increases through much of the income distribution. In addition, the data show that 

tax units with primary filers aged 65 and above with the highest levels of AGI ($200,000 and 

above) draw on their taxable distributions and pensions at lower rates than those with AGI of 

$30,000 to $200,000. This is consistent with the ability of higher income tax units to delay 

drawing down IRA and pension income by relying on earned income (see Tables 1 and 2 above) 

and other income from assets held outside of qualified plans and IRAs.

Table 5.−Tax Units Aged 65+ with Taxable IRA

or Pension Distribution, 2019

AGI category Percent of tax units with taxable 

IRA or pension distribution

Less than $10,000 37.7

$10,000 to $20,000 76.9

$20,000 to $30,000 78.7

$30,000 to $40,000 80.5

$40,000 to $50,000 83.1

$50,000 to $75,000 83.6

$75,000 to $100,000 85.5

$100,000 to $200,000 86.2

$200,000 to $500,000 79.7

$500,000 to $1,000,000 69.4

Greater than $1,000,000 62.8

Source: JCT staff calculations based on the Individual Tax Model. 

Note: These tabulations do not include distributions from Roth accounts.
12

Using data on annual distributions from retirement accounts reported on Form 1099-R, 

Table 6 provides information on the percent of individuals with distributions from defined 

contribution (“DC”) and IRA plans versus defined benefit (“DB”) plans.17 With the exception of 

those in the highest AGI categories ($200,000 and above), the percentage of individuals with 

distributions from IRAs or DC plans and DB plans and the average amount of these distributions 

generally increases with income. Furthermore, in AGI categories less than $200,000, a larger 

percentage of individuals reports distributions from DB plans than they do from IRA or DC 

plans. For AGI categories greater than $200,000, this pattern is reversed and a larger percentage 

of individuals report distributions from IRA or DC plans than they do from DB plans. 

Table 6.−Individuals Aged 65+ with Annual Distributions from Defined Contribution (DC)

and IRA versus Defined Benefit (DB) Plans, 2015

AGI category

Percent of 

individuals 

with IRA

or DC 

distribution

Average 

distribution 

from IRA or 

DC Plan

Percent of 

individuals 

with DB 

distribution

Average 

distribution 

from DB Plan

Less than $10,000 24.8 $1,156 30.8 $1,846

$10,000 to $20,000 33.7 $2,106 46.9 $4,606

$20,000 to $30,000 36.4 $2,828 50.5 $7,006

$30,000 to $40,000 38.2 $3,397 52.4 $8,984

$40,000 to $50,000 40.4 $4,071 53.9 $10,774

$50,000 to $75,000 43.5 $5,423 55.5 $13,506

$75,000 to $100,000 46.9 $7,538 55.8 $16,027

$100,000 to $200,000 49.7 $12,534 53.0 $18,996

$200,000 to $500,000 48.8 $24,399 39.1 $17,145

$500,000 to $1,000,000 42.4 $30,939 25.6 $10,489

Greater than $1,000,000 37.1 $33,773 21.9 $9,869

Source: JCT staff calculations. 

Notes: All individuals=100 percent. Data for this table are from distributions net of rollovers for accounts on Form 1099-R 

determined by Joint Committee Staff to be pension or IRA distributions, including Roth IRAs and Roth 401(k)s.

 17 Form 1099-R does not separately identify defined benefit and defined contribution distributions. 

However, Joint Committee staff have developed an algorithm to classify the type of account on a Form 1099-R, 

which is used in the construction of Table 6.
13

C. Data Related to Social Security Benefits as a Source of Retirement Income

Table 1, above, shows that nearly all individuals draw on Social Security benefits as a 

source of retirement income, and Table 2 documents that for many individuals, these benefits are 

an important source of retirement income. 

Table 7, using tax data, shows tabulations of the percentage of tax units with primary 

taxpayer aged 66 to 75 and aged 76 to 85 that draw on Social Security income. Based on these 

data, nearly all tax units aged 65 and above rely on Social Security income as a source of 

income. Higher income tax units are more likely to delay drawing on this source of income, but 

by age 85, nearly all do so. 

Table 7.−Tax Units Aged 65+ with Social Security Income, 2019

AGI category

Age 66 to 75 Age 76 to 85

Percent of 

tax units with 

Social 

Security 

income

Average 

value of 

annual Social 

Security 

income

Percent of 

tax units with 

Social 

Security 

income

Average value 

of annual 

Social Security 

income

Less than $10,000 94.1 $21,219 95.0 $19,383

$10,000 to $20,000 95.3 $23,635 98.8 $22,871

$20,000 to $30,000 92.8 $25,066 96.3 $24,548

$30,000 to $40,000 90.0 $26,331 95.8 $24,697

$40,000 to $50,000 91.8 $25,941 94.7 $25,313

$50,000 to $75,000 91.5 $25,893 97.0 $24,682

$75,000 to $100,000 92.7 $28,776 98.4 $27,997

$100,000 to $200,000 91.5 $33,994 96.8 $32,162

$200,000 to $500,000 85.6 $37,526 99.0 $36,860

$500,000 to $1,000,000 78.6 $38,569 98.0 $38,780

Greater than $1,000,000 74.1 $40,387 100.0 $42,175

Source: JCT staff calculations based on the Individual Tax Model. 

Note: Tabulations include Tier 1 Railroad Retirement benefits.
14

Table 8, using tax data, shows the percentage of tax units with a primary or secondary 

taxpayer between the ages of 50 and 59 who pays FICA or SECA taxes, by AGI category. While 

an imperfect measure of future Social Security benefits to be paid,18 this statistic offers some 

idea of the percentage of tax units that may be eligible for Social Security benefits in the future. 

Table 8.−Tax Units, Aged 50 to 59, that Pay FICA or SECA Tax, 2019

(percentage)

AGI category Percent of tax units that pay 

FICA/SECA

Less than $10,000 34.7

$10,000 to $20,000 87.6

$20,000 to $30,000 89.9

$30,000 to $40,000 92.2

$40,000 to $50,000 93.2

$50,000 to $75,000 93.3

$75,000 to $100,000 93.9

$100,000 to $200,000 94.5

$200,000 to $500,000 94.2

$500,000 to $1,000,000 91.8

Greater than $1,000,000 89.9

Source: JCT staff calculations based on the Individual Tax Model. 

 18 For individuals born in 1929 or later, Social Security benefits are eligible to be paid at age 62 or later, 

and only after 40 quarters (10 years) of FICA or SECA tax payments. Whether an individual pays FICA/SECA at 

ages 50 to 59 does not necessarily indicate whether or not he or she attains 40 quarters of credits by the end of his or 

her work life. 
15

D. Assets Held Outside of Qualified Plans and Individual

Retirement Arrangements

Tables 1 and 2, above, document that in addition to qualified retirement plans, IRAs, 

Social Security and/or railroad retirement benefits, individuals may rely on other assets held 

outside of qualified plans and IRAs as sources of income in retirement. Assets accumulated in 

bank accounts, mutual funds, and stock held directly or in a brokerage account are examples of 

such additional sources of income for retirement. These assets can provide current income 

through regular payment of interest and dividends. These assets may also provide a source of 

income as the individual decumulates asset holdings. As the individual ages he or she may draw 

down bank balances and sell shares of mutual funds or other equities to finance current 

consumption.

Table 9, below, shows the percentage of tax units with interest and dividend income, for 

primary taxpayers aged 55 to 64, 65 to 74, and 75 and above. These data provide some 

information on the extent to which current retirees, generally tax units aged 65 or greater, and the 

next generation of retirees, tax units aged 55 to 64 in the table, have assets producing interest and 

dividend income. Generally, assets with a higher valuation will generate greater annual interest 

and dividend income for the tax unit. Table 9 provides some insight regarding the extent of asset 

holdings by both current retirees and the next generation of retirees by reporting statistics on 

interest and dividend income in three categories: tax units with less than $100 in annual interest 

and dividend income; tax units with annual interest and dividend income of at least $100 but less 

than $500; and tax units with $500 or more in annual interest and dividend income. For all age 

groups, tax units in higher AGI categories are more likely to have significant interest and 

dividend income. 
16

Table 9.−Percent of Tax Units with Interest and Dividend Income, 2019

(percentage of returns)

Source: JCT staff calculations.

In addition to a lifetime of saving and the accumulation of financial assets, for many 

retired individuals, years of mortgage payments generate an important source of retirement 

income - the income they consume in kind by owning their own home. Home ownership means 

that some of the individual’s other financial resources are not consumed by rental payments.19 

The value of their home provides an important source of additional financial wealth for many 

retired individuals. Similarly, homeownership by the next generation of retirees may provide 

both a source of in-kind income and financial wealth. 

Table 10 shows the home ownership rates of those households with a householder aged 

55 or above as well as the share of those owners that have no mortgage on their residence. Home 

ownership is relatively high for these households, with older households owning at slightly 

higher rates. Furthermore, the presence of a mortgage for owners drops significantly with age, 

with only 26 percent of owners aged 75 and above having mortgages compared to nearly 64 

percent of owners aged 55 to 64. This suggests that as households enter and progress through 

retirement, a large share own their homes outright, allowing them to consume housing without 

regular housing payments (i.e., rent or principal and interest on a loan) as well as possible 

significant equity in their property. 

 19 The homeowner will incur maintenance expenses and property taxes.

AGI category

Age 55 to 64 Age 65 to 74 Age 75 +

Less 

than 

$100

$100 

and 

$500

$500 

and 

Above

Less 

than 

$100

$100 

and 

$500

$500 

and 

Above

Less 

than 

$100

$100 

and 

$500

$500 

and 

Above

Less than $10,000 91.1 4.4 4.5 82.0 7.8 9.3 75.6 11.8 12.6

$10,000 to $20,000 88.3 4.6 7.1 74.7 10.6 14.6 53.7 15.1 31.2

$20,000 to $30,000 86.5 5.0 8.5 69.7 10.5 19.8 44.0 14.9 41.1

$30,000 to $40,000 84.3 6.6 9.0 63.1 13.1 23.9 38.2 13.8 48.0

$40,000 to $50,000 81.5 8.6 9.9 61.9 11.8 26.2 32.8 16.6 50.6

$50,000 to $75,000 73.4 10.6 16.0 55.2 14.4 30.4 28.0 15.8 56.1

$75,000 to $100,000 67.1 13.4 19.5 48.6 14.8 36.5 23.0 11.1 65.9

$100,000 to $200,000 53.2 15.2 31.6 36.5 14.2 49.3 15.2 9.3 75.6

$200,000 to $500,000 29.0 14.7 56.3 21.2 11.1 67.7 7.4 3.9 88.7

$500,000 to 

$1,000,000

8.9 8.2 83.0 6.5 5.3 88.2 2.7 4.0 93.3

Greater than 

$1,000,000

3.8 3.1 93.1 2.2 2.2 95.5 2.5 2.5 97.5

Total, All Taxpayers 72.5 9.3 18.2 60.9 11.4 27.7 50.9 12.6 36.5
17

Table 10.−Home Ownership and Mortgage Status by Age Group, 2015

Age Percent of households 

that own home

Percent of owners that 

have a mortgage

55-64 68.2 63.5

65-74 72.8 44.9

75+ 75.1 26.2

Source: JCT staff calculations using the 2016 Survey of Consumer Finances. 

Note: These tabulations do not include those living on working farms and in mobile homes.