Issued September 2015

P60-252

By Carmen DeNavas-Walt and Bernadette D. Proctor

Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 

Current Population Reports

U.S. Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

census.gov

Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014

Current Population Reports

Issued September 2015

P60-252

By Carmen DeNavas-Walt and Bernadette D. Proctor
Acknowledgments

Carmen DeNavas-Walt, with the assistance of Melissa A. Kollar, 

Jessica L. Semega, and Jonathan L. Rothbaum prepared the income 

sections of this report under the direction of Edward J. Welniak, Jr., 

Chief of the Income Statistics Branch. Bernadette D. Proctor prepared 

the poverty section under the direction of Trudi J. Renwick, Chief of the 

Poverty Statistics Branch.

David E. Adams, Vonda M. Ashton, Susan S. Gajewski,

Richard Lee, Demographic Surveys Division, and Tim J. Marshall,

Lisa Cheok, Greg Weyland, and Aaron Cantu, Associate Directorate 

Demographic Programs, processed the Current Population Survey 2015 

Annual Social and Economic Supplement file.

Kirk E. Davis, Raymond E. Dowdy, Van P. Duong, Thy K. Le, and

Chandararith R. Phe programmed and produced the historical, detailed, 

and publication tables under the direction of Hung X. Pham, Chief of the 

Tabulation and Applications Branch, Demographic Surveys Division.

Lindsay Longsine and Rebecca A. Hoop, under the supervision 

of David V. Hornick, all from the Demographic Statistical Methods 

Division, conducted sample review.

Tim J. Marshall, Lisa Cheok, and Aaron Cantu, Associate Directorate 

Demographic Programs, and Roberto Picha, Agatha Jung, and 

Johanna Rupp, Technologies Management Office, prepared and 

programmed the computer-assisted interviewing instrument used to 

conduct the Annual Social and Economic Supplement.

Additional people within the U.S. Census Bureau also made significant 

contributions to the preparation of this report. Ashley Edwards, 

Kayla Fontenot, Brian E. Glassman, John Hisnanick,

Laryssa Mykyta, Kathleen S. Short, Sharon M. Stern, and

Bruce H. Webster, Jr., reviewed the contents.

Census Bureau field representatives and telephone interviewers collected 

the data. Without their dedication, the preparation of this report or any 

report from the Current Population Survey would be impossible.

Linda Chen of the Census Bureau’s Center for New Media and 

Promotion and Donna Gillis and Anthony Richards of the Public 

Information Office provided publication management, graphics design 

and composition, and editorial review for print and electronic media. 

George E. Williams of the Census Bureau’s Administrative and 

Customer Services Division provided printing management.

The Social, Economic, and Housing Statistics Division of the Census 

Bureau recognizes Charles T. Nelson for his 38 years of service with the 

Census Bureau. Mr. Nelson retired in 2015. He spent his career improving 

the collection of income, poverty, and health insurance data and the 

development of the Supplemental Poverty Measure. Mr. Nelson provided 

guidance on the collection of economic data in the Current Population 

Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement, the Survey of Income 

and Program Participation, the American Community Survey, and three 

decennial censuses. His dedication, professionalism, and institutional 

knowledge will be greatly missed.
U.S. Department of Commerce

Penny Pritzker, 

Secretary

Bruce H. Andrews,

Deputy Secretary

Economics and Statistics Administration

Mark Doms, 

Under Secretary for Economic Affairs

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

John H. Thompson, 

Director

Income and Poverty in 

the United States: 2014 Issued September 2015

P60-252
Suggested Citation

DeNavas-Walt, Carmen and 

Bernadette D. Proctor,

 U.S. Census Bureau, 

Current Population Reports, P60-252, 

Income and Poverty

 in the United States: 2014, 

U.S. Government Printing Office, 

Washington, DC,

2015.

Economics and Statistics

Administration

Mark Doms,

Under Secretary for Economic Affairs

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

John H. Thompson, 

Director

Nancy A. Potok,

Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer

Enrique Lamas,

Associate Director for Demographic Programs

Victoria Velkoff,

Chief, Social, Economic, and Housing Statistics Division

ECONOMICS

AND STATISTICS

ADMINISTRATION
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 iii

Contents

TEXT

Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 ...............................1

Introduction .........................................................................................1

Source of Estimates .............................................................................1

Statistical Accuracy ..............................................................................2

Supplemental Poverty Measure ............................................................2

State and Local Estimates of Income and Poverty ................................3

Dynamics of Economic Well-Being ........................................................4

Income in the United States ................................................................5

Highlights ............................................................................................5

Household Income ...............................................................................7

Type of Household ...............................................................................7

Race and Hispanic Origin .....................................................................7

Age of Householder .............................................................................7

Nativity ................................................................................................8

Region .................................................................................................8

Residence ............................................................................................8

Income Inequality ...............................................................................8

Equivalence-Adjusted Income Inequality ..............................................9

Earnings and Work Experience ...........................................................10

Poverty in the United States ..............................................................12

Highlights ..........................................................................................12

Race and Hispanic Origin ...................................................................12

Age ....................................................................................................14

Sex ....................................................................................................15

Nativity ..............................................................................................15

Region ...............................................................................................15

Residence ..........................................................................................15

Work Experience ................................................................................16

Disability Status .................................................................................16

Educational Attainment ......................................................................16

Families .............................................................................................16

Depth of Poverty ...............................................................................17

Ratio of Income to Poverty ...........................................................17

Income Deficit ..............................................................................18

Shared Households ............................................................................18

Alternative/Experimental Poverty Measures .......................................19

National Academy of Sciences (NAS)-Based Measures ...................20

Research Files ...............................................................................20

CPS Table Creator .........................................................................20

Comments .............................................................................................20
iv Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau

TEXT TABLES

Table 1. Income and Earnings Summary Measures by Selected Characteristics: 2013 and 2014 ..........6

Table 2. Income Distribution Measures Using Money Income and EquivalenceAdjusted Income: 2013 and 2014 .......................................................................................9

Table 3. People in Poverty by Selected Characteristics: 2013 and 2014 .............................................13

Table 4. Families in Poverty by Type of Family: 2013 and 2014 .........................................................16

Table 5. People With Income Below Specified Ratios of Their Poverty Thresholds by Selected 

Characteristics: 2014 ........................................................................................................17

Table 6. Income Deficit or Surplus of Families and Unrelated Individuals by Poverty Status: 2014 .....19

TEXT FIGURES

Figure 1. Real Median Household Income by Race and Hispanic Origin: 1967 to 2014 ........................5

Figure 2. Female-to-Male Earnings Ratio and Median Earnings of Full-Time, 

Year-Round Workers 15 Years and Older by Sex: 1960 to 2014 .........................................10

Figure 3. Total and Full-Time, Year-Round Workers With Earnings by Sex: 1967 to 2014 ....................11

Figure 4. Number in Poverty and Poverty Rate: 1959 to 2014 ...........................................................12

Figure 5. Poverty Rates by Age: 1959 to 2014 ..................................................................................14

Figure 6. Poverty Rates by Age and Sex: 2014...................................................................................15

Figure 7. Demographic Makeup of the Population at Varying Degrees of Poverty: 2014 ....................18
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 v

APPENDIXES

Appendix A. Estimates of Income ............................................................................................. 21

How Income Is Measured ............................................................................................................. 21

Recessions ................................................................................................................................... 21

Annual Average Consumer Price Index Research Series (CPI-U-RS) 

Using Current Methods All Items: 1947 to 2014 ...................................................................... 22

Cost-of-Living Adjustment ........................................................................................................... 22

Poverty Threshold Adjustment ..................................................................................................... 22

Appendix B. Estimates of Poverty ............................................................................................. 43

How Poverty Is Calculated ........................................................................................................... 43

Poverty Thresholds for 2014 by Size of Family and Number of Related Children 

Under 18 Years......................................................................................................................... 43

Weighted Average Poverty Thresholds in 2014 by Size of Family................................................. 43

Appendix C. Replicate Weights .................................................................................................. 57

Appendix D. Comparison of 2013 Income and Poverty Estimates Using the 

Traditional and Redesigned Income Questions .................................. 59

Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 59

Effects on Income Data ............................................................................................................... 60

Effects on Poverty Data ................................................................................................................ 60

Appendix E. Combining the 2014 ASEC Traditional and Redesign Samples Using 

Modeled Income ............................................................................................. 65

Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 65

Imputation Method ...................................................................................................................... 65

Selecting the Variables to Be Imputed .......................................................................................... 66

Comparing the Redesign and Closest Income-Consistent File ...................................................... 67

Appendix F. Additional Data and Contacts ............................................................................ 71

Customized Tables ..................................................................................................................... 71

The CPS Table Creator ............................................................................................................ 71

DataFerrett ............................................................................................................................. 71

Public Use Microdata ................................................................................................................... 71

CPS ASEC .............................................................................................................................. 71

Taxes and Noncash Benefits ................................................................................................... 71

Research Files ......................................................................................................................... 71

Topcoding .................................................................................................................................... 71

Comments ................................................................................................................................... 71
vi Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau

APPENDIX TABLES

Table A-1. Households by Total Money Income, Race, and Hispanic Origin of Householder: 

 1967 to 2014 . .............................................................................................................. 23

Table A-2. Selected Measures of Household Income Dispersion: 1967 to 2014 .................................. 31

Table A-3. Selected Measures of Equivalence-Adjusted Income Dispersion: 1967 to 2014 ................. 37

Table A-4. Number and Real Median Earnings of Total Workers and Full-Time, 

 Year-Round Workers by Sex and Female-to-Male Earnings Ratio: 1960 to 2014 ............... 41

Table B-1. Poverty Status of People by Family Relationship, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 

 1959 to 2014 ................................................................................................................ 44

Table B-2. Poverty Status of People by Age, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1959 to 2014 ....................... 50

Table B-3. Poverty Status of Families by Type of Family: 1959 to 2014 .............................................. 56

Table D-1. Income and Earnings Summary Measures by Selected Characteristics: 

 2013 Traditional and Redesign ...................................................................................... 61

Table D-2. People in Poverty by Selected Characteristics: 2013 Traditional and Redesign .................. 62

Table E-1. Household Median Income by Selected Characteristics: 

 2013 Redesign and Closest Income-Consistent.............................................................. 69

Table E-2. People in Poverty by Selected Characteristics: 2013 Redesign and 

 Closest Income-Consistent............................................................................................. 70

APPENDIX FIGURES

Figure E-1. Overview of Imputation Method: Example of Interest Income ........................................... 66

Figure E-2. Absolute Difference in Income Recipients Between the ASEC Traditional and 

 ASEC Redesign Samples ............................................................................................... 67

Figure E-3. Absolute Difference in Aggregate Income Between the ASEC Traditional and 

 ASEC Redesign Samples ............................................................................................... 68
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 1

Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014

INTRODUCTION

This report presents data on 

income and poverty in the United 

States based on information 

collected in the 2015 and earlier 

Current Population Survey Annual 

Social and Economic Supplements 

(CPS ASEC) conducted by the 

U.S. Census Bureau. The 2013 

income and poverty estimates 

used in this report are based 

on the 2014 CPS ASEC sample 

of 30,000 addresses eligible to 

complete the questionnaire that 

included redesigned questions 

for income. These 2013 estimates 

differ from those released in 

September 2014. See the text 

box “Source of Estimates” and 

Appendix D for more information.

Summary of findings:

• Real median household 

income in 2014 was not 

statistically different from the 

2013 median.1

• The official poverty rate in 

2014 was not statistically 

different from 2013.

For most groups, the 2014 income 

estimates were not statistically 

different from 2013 estimates. 

There were a few exceptions. 

Real median household income 

increased for households maintained by a foreign-born householder; income declined for 

1 “Real” refers to income after adjusting 

for inflation. All income values are adjusted 

to reflect 2014 dollars. The adjustment 

is based on percentage changes in prices 

between 2014 and earlier years and is 

computed by dividing the annual average Consumer Price Index Research Series 

(CPI-U-RS) for 2014 by the annual average for 

earlier years. The CPI-U-RS values for 1947 to 

2014 are available in Appendix A and on the 

Internet at <www.census.gov/hhes/www

/income/data/incpovhlth/2014/CPI-U-RS

-Index-2014.pdf>. Consumer prices between 

2013 and 2014 increased by 1.6 percent.

Source of Estimates

The data in this report are from the 2015 Current Population Survey (CPS) Annual 

Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC). The 2015 CPS ASEC data on income and 

poverty are based on a redesigned questionnaire aimed at improving income reporting, increasing response rates, reducing reporting errors by taking better advantage 

of an automated questionnaire environment, and updating questions on retirement 

income and the income generated from retirement accounts and other assets. 

The 2013 income and poverty estimates in this report differ from those released in 

September 2014 on the Internet and in the report, Income and Poverty in the United 

States: 2013, series P60-249. All of the approximately 98,000 addresses in the 

2014 CPS ASEC were eligible to receive the redesigned set of health insurance coverage questions. The redesigned income questions were implemented to a subsample of the 98,000 addresses using a probability split panel design. Approximately 

68,000 addresses were eligible to receive a set of income questions similar to those 

used in the 2013 CPS ASEC and the remaining 30,000 addresses were eligible to 

receive the redesigned income questions. The source of the new 2013 data used in 

this report text and tables is the portion of the CPS ASEC sample, which received the 

redesigned income questions, approximately 30,000 addresses.* 

See Appendix D for more information on the difference between the traditional 

(income questions similar to those used in the 2013 and prior CPS ASECs) and 

redesigned income questions and for a comparison of the income and poverty estimates based on these two 2014 CPS ASEC samples.

Data from the 2015 CPS ASEC were collected in the 50 states and the District 

of Columbia. The data do not represent residents of Puerto Rico and U.S. Island 

Areas.** The data are based on a sample of about 100,000 addresses. The 2014 

estimates in this report are controlled to independent national population estimates by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin for March 2015. Beginning with 2010, 

estimates are based on 2010 Census population counts and are updated annually 

taking into account births, deaths, emigration, and immigration. 

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 not eligible to be interviewed in the 

CPS. Students living in dormitories are included in the estimates only if information about them is reported in an interview at their parents’ home. Since the CPS 

is a household survey, people who are homeless and not living in shelters are not 

included in the sample. The sample universe for the CPS ASEC is slightly larger than 

that of 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 CPS 

ASEC, see <ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf>.

* Income and poverty detailed tables based on both 2014 CPS ASEC samples are available on the 

Internet at <www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/> and <www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/>, 

respectively. Income and poverty historical tables will display data for each of the 2013 estimates.

** U.S. Island Areas include American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

Islands, and the Virgin Islands of the United States.
2 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau

non-Hispanic White households, households 

maintained by a native-born householder, 

households in the West and those inside principal cities of metropolitan statistical areas. 

The 2014 poverty rate increased for two 

groups: people aged 25 and older with at 

least a bachelor’s degree and married-couple 

families.

This report contains two main sections; one 

focuses on income and the other on poverty. 

Each section presents estimates by characteristics such as race, Hispanic origin, nativity, 

and region.2 Other topics, such as earnings 

and family poverty rates are included only in 

the relevant section.

2 Federal surveys give respondents the option of 

reporting more than one race. Therefore, two basic ways 

of defining a race group are possible. A group such as 

Asian may be defined as those who reported Asian and 

no other race (the race-alone or single-race concept) or as 

those who reported Asian regardless of whether they also 

reported another race (the race-alone-or-in-combination 

concept). The body of this report (text, figures, and 

tables) shows data using the first approach (race alone). 

The appendix tables show data using both approaches. 

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.

In this report, the terms “White, not Hispanic” and 

“non-Hispanic White” are used interchangeably and refer 

to people who are not Hispanic and who reported White 

and no other race. The Census Bureau uses non-Hispanic 

Whites as the comparison group for other race groups and 

Hispanics.

Since Hispanics may be any race, data in this report 

for Hispanics overlap with data for race groups. Being 

Hispanic was reported by 14.6 percent of White householders who reported only one race, 5.0 percent of Black 

householders who reported only one race, and 2.0 percent 

of Asian householders who reported only one race. 

The small sample size of the Asian population and 

the fact that the CPS does not use separate population 

controls for weighting the Asian sample to national totals 

contribute to the large variances surrounding estimates 

for this group. As a result, we are unable to detect statistically significant differences between some estimates for 

the Asian population. The American Community Survey 

(ACS), based on a much larger sample size of the population, is a better source for estimating and identifying 

changes for small subgroups of the population.

The householder is the person (or one of the people) in 

whose name the home is owned or rented and the person 

to whom the relationship of other household members is 

recorded. If a married couple owns the home jointly, either 

the husband or the wife may be listed as the householder. 

Since only one person in each household is designated as 

the householder, the number of householders is equal to 

the number of households. This report uses the characteristics of the householder to describe the household.

Data users should exercise caution when interpreting aggregate results for the Hispanic population or for 

race groups because these populations consist of many 

distinct groups that differ in socioeconomic characteristics, culture, and recent immigration status. Data were 

first collected for Hispanics in 1972 and for Asians and 

Pacific Islanders in 1987. For further information, see 

<www.census.gov/cps>.

Statistical Accuracy

Most of the data from the CPS ASEC were collected in March 

(with some data collected in February and April). The estimates 

in this report (which may be shown in text, figures, and tables) 

are based on responses from a sample of the population and may 

differ from actual values because of sampling variability or other 

factors. As a result, apparent differences between the estimates 

for two or more groups may not be statistically significant. All 

comparative statements have undergone statistical testing and 

are significant at the 90 percent confidence level unless otherwise noted. In this report, the variances of estimates were 

calculated using both the Successive Difference Replication (SDR) 

method and the Generalized Variance Function (GVF) approach. 

(See Appendix C for a more extensive discussion of these 

methods.) Further information about the source and accuracy of 

the estimates is available at <ftp://ftp2.census.gov/library

/publications/2015/demo/p60-252sa.pdf>.

Supplemental Poverty Measure

In 2010, an interagency technical working group (which included 

representatives from the Bureau of Labor Statistics [BLS], the 

Census Bureau, the Economics and Statistics Administration, the 

Council of Economic Advisers, the U.S. Department of Health 

and Human Services, and the Office of Management and Budget) 

issued a series of suggestions to the Census Bureau and the BLS 

on how to develop the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM). 

Their suggestions drew on the recommendations of a 1995 

National Academy of Sciences report and the extensive research 

on poverty measurement conducted over the past 15 years. See 

<www.census.gov/library/infographics/poverty_measure-how

.html>.

The new measure based on these suggestions serves as an additional indicator of economic well-being and provides a deeper 

understanding of economic conditions and policy effects. The 

new measure creates a more complex statistical picture incorporating additional items such as tax payments and work expenses 

in its family resource estimates. Thresholds used in the new 

measure are derived from Consumer Expenditure Survey data on 

spending for basic necessities (food, shelter, clothing, and utilities) and are adjusted for geographic differences in the cost of 

housing. The new thresholds are not intended to assess eligibility for government programs.

The Census Bureau began publishing annual poverty estimates 

using the new approach in November 2011. SPM estimates for 

2014 will be released in a separate report, The Supplemental 

Poverty Measure: 2014 (P60-254).
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 3

The CPS is the longest-running survey 

conducted by the Census Bureau. The 

CPS ASEC asks detailed questions 

categorizing income into over 50 

sources. The key purpose of the CPS 

ASEC is to provide timely and detailed 

estimates of income and poverty and 

to measure change in these nationallevel estimates. The CPS ASEC is the 

official source of the national poverty 

estimates calculated in accordance 

with the Office of Management and 

Budget’s Statistical Policy Directive 14 

(Appendix B).

The Census Bureau also reports 

income and poverty estimates 

based on data from the American 

Community Survey (ACS). The ACS is 

part of the 2020 Census program and 

eliminates the need for a long-form 

census questionnaire. The ACS offers 

broad, comprehensive information on 

social, economic, and housing topics 

and provides this information at many 

levels of geography.

Since the CPS ASEC produces more 

complete and thorough estimates 

of income and poverty, the Census 

Bureau recommends that people use 

it as the data source for national 

estimates. State-level estimates of 

income, poverty, and other economic 

characteristics from the ACS are 

found in American FactFinder. For 

more information on state and local 

estimates, see the text box “State 

and Local Estimates of Income and 

Poverty.”

The CPS ASEC provides reliable 

estimates of the net change, from 

one year to the next, in the overall 

distribution of economic characteristics such as income and earnings. 

It does not, however, show how 

these characteristics change for the 

same person, family, or household. 

Longitudinal measures of income and 

poverty based on following the same 

people over time are available from 

the Survey of Income and Program 

Participation (SIPP). Estimates derived 

from SIPP data answer questions 

such as:

• What percentage of households 

move up or down the income 

distribution over time?

• How many people remain in poverty over time?

The text box “Dynamics of Economic 

Well-Being” provides more information 

about the SIPP.

State and Local Estimates of Income and Poverty

The Census Bureau presents annual estimates of median household 

income and poverty by state and other smaller geographic units based 

on data collected in the American Community Survey (ACS). Single-year 

estimates are available for geographic units with populations of 65,000 

or more. Five-year income and poverty estimates are available for all 

geographic units, including census tracts and block groups, by pooling 

5 years of ACS data. 

The Census Bureau’s Small Area Income and Poverty Estimates (SAIPE) 

program produces annual estimates of a select set of income and poverty 

measures. Using statistical models, SAIPE produces estimates of median 

household income and poverty for states and all counties, as well as 

population and poverty estimates for school districts. The SAIPE approach 

combines data from a variety of sources, including administrative records, 

population estimates, the decennial census, and the ACS, to provide consistent and reliable single-year estimates. In general, SAIPE estimates have 

lower variances than ACS estimates but are released later because they 

incorporate ACS data in the models. 

The income and poverty estimates for 2013 are available at <www.census

.gov/did/www/saipe/index.html>. Estimates for 2014 will be available 

later this year.
4 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau

The income and poverty estimates 

shown in this report are based solely 

on money income before taxes and 

do not include the value of noncash 

benefits, such as those provided by 

the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance 

Program (SNAP), Medicare, Medicaid, 

public housing, or employer-provided 

fringe benefits. 

Since the publication of the first official U.S. poverty estimates in 1964, 

there has been a continuing debate 

about the best approach to measuring income and poverty in the United 

States. Recognizing that alternative 

estimates of income and poverty can 

provide useful information to the public as well as to the federal government, the U.S. Office of Management 

and Budget’s (OMB) Chief Statistician 

formed the Interagency Technical 

Working Group on Developing a 

Supplemental Poverty Measure. This 

group asked the Census Bureau, in 

cooperation with the U.S. Bureau of 

Labor Statistics (BLS), to develop a 

new measure that allows an improved 

understanding of the economic wellbeing of American families and how 

federal policies affect those living in 

poverty. Since November 2011, the 

Census Bureau has released annual 

estimates of the Supplemental Poverty 

Measure (SPM).3 For the first time, this 

year the Census Bureau is releasing 

SPM estimates on the same day as the 

official poverty estimates. These are 

available at <www.census.gov

/hhes/povmeas/methodology

/supplemental/index.html>. The text 

box “Supplemental Poverty Measure” 

provides more information about this 

initiative.

3 See <www.census.gov/hhes/povmeas

/methodology/supplemental/research

/Short_ResearchSPM2010.pdf>.

Dynamics of Economic Well-Being

The Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) 

provides monthly data about labor force participation and income sources and amounts. The data yield 

insights into the dynamic nature of these experiences 

and the economic mobility of U.S. residents. For example, the data demonstrate that using a longer time frame 

to measure poverty (e.g., 4 years) yields, on average, a 

lower poverty rate than the annual measures presented 

in this report, while using a shorter time frame (e.g., 

2 months) yields higher poverty rates. Some specific 

findings include:

• Income data from the 2008 SIPP panel suggested 

that households between 2009 and 2012 experienced less mobility than found in earlier SIPP panels. 

Overall, 57.1 percent of households remained in 

the same income quintile between 2009 and 2012, 

while the remaining 42.9 percent of households 

experienced either an upward or downward movement across the income distribution.

• Households with householders who had lower levels 

of education were more likely to remain in or move 

into a lower quintile than households whose householders had higher levels of education.

• During the 4-year period from 2009 to 2012, 

34.5 percent of the population had at least one spell 

of poverty lasting 2 or more months.

• Chronic poverty over the 4-year period from 2009 to 

2012 was relatively uncommon, with 2.7 percent of 

the population living in poverty all 48 months.

More information based on these data is available in the 

Census Bureau’s P70 Series Reports, as well as in table 

packages and working papers. For more information, 

see <www.census.gov/programs-surveys/sipp

/publications.html>.

The U.S. Census Bureau has recently reengineered the 

SIPP. The redesigned survey was fielded in early 2014, 

collecting data for calendar year 2013. The survey 

changed to a design that reduces respondent burden 

and cost by collecting data in an annual format rather 

than the three-times per year format of the prior SIPP 

panels. The redesigned SIPP addresses the same topic 

areas of the earlier SIPP panels, combining the topical 

module and core content into an integrated instrument. 

For more information, see <www.census.gov/sipp/>.
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 5

INCOME IN THE UNITED STATES

Highlights

• Median household income was 

$53,657 in 2014, not statistically 

different in real terms from the 

2013 median of $54,462 (Figure 1 

and Table 1). This is the third 

consecutive year that the annual 

change was not statistically significant, following two consecutive years of annual declines in 

median household income. 

• In 2014, real median household 

income was 6.5 percent lower 

than in 2007, the year before the 

most recent recession (Figure 1 

and Table A-1).

• The real median income of 

non-Hispanic White households 

declined 1.7 percent between 

2013 and 2014. For Black, Asian, 

and Hispanic-origin households, 

the 2013-2014 percentage 

changes in real median income 

were not statistically significant 

(Table 1).

• The real median income of households maintained by a foreignborn person increased by 4.3 

percent between 2013 and 2014. 

In contrast, the median income 

of households maintained by a 

native-born person declined 2.3 

percent (Table 1).4

4 Native-born households are those in which 

the householder was born in the United States, 

Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Island Areas of Guam, 

the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana 

Islands, American Samoa, or the Virgin Islands 

of the United States or was born in a foreign 

country but had at least one parent who was a 

U.S. citizen. All other households are considered 

foreign born regardless of the date of entry into 

the United States or citizenship status. The CPS 

does not interview households in Puerto Rico. 

Of all householders, 85.2 percent were native 

born; 7.8 percent were foreign-born, naturalized 

citizens; and 7.0 percent were noncitizens.

• For the West, real median household income declined 4.6 percent; 

for the Northeast, Midwest, and 

South, the 2013-2014 changes 

in real median household income 

were not statistically significant 

(Table 1).

• The number of men and women 

working full time, year round 

with earnings increased by 1.2 

million and 1.6 million, respectively, between 2013 and 2014 

(Table 1).5

• The changes in the real median 

earnings of men and women 

who worked full time, year round 

between 2013 and 2014 were not 

statistically significant (Table 1). 

5 The difference between the 2013-2014 

increases in the number of male and the number 

of female full-time, year-round workers with 

earnings was not statistically significant.

Figure 1.

Real Median Household Income by Race and Hispanic Origin: 1967 to 2014

Note: The 2013 data reflect the implementation of the redesigned income questions. See Appendix D for more information. 

Median household income data are not available prior to 1967. For more information on recessions, see Appendix A. For more information 

on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see <ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys

/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf>.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1968 to 2015 Annual Social and Economic Supplements.

2014 dollars Recession

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

1959 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2014

$74,297

$60,256

$53,657

$42,491

$35,398

All races

White, not Hispanic 

Black

Asian

Hispanic (any race) 
6 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 1.

Income and Earnings Summary Measures by Selected Characteristics: 2013 and 2014

(Income in 2014 dollars. Households and people as of March of the following year. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling 

error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf)

Characteristic

20131 2014

Percentage change* in 

real median income 

(2014 less 2013)

Number 

(thousands)

Median income (dollars)

Number 

(thousands)

Median income (dollars)

Estimate

Margin of 

error2 Estimate (±)

Margin of 

error2 (±) Estimate

Margin of 

error2 (±)

HOUSEHOLDS

 All households . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123,931 54,462 1,093 124,587 53,657 645 –1.5 2.24

Type of Household

Family households . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82,270 68,018 886 81,716 68,426 814 0.6 1.67

Married-couple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59,626 80,188 1,382 60,010 81,025 676 1.0 1.85

Female householder, no husband present . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,158 35,991 1,537 15,544 36,151 682 0.4 4.42

Male householder, no wife present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,486 53,338 2,774 6,162 53,684 1,642 0.6 6.00

Nonfamily households . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41,660 31,995 967 42,871 32,047 466 0.2 3.19

Female householder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,827 26,668 1,035 22,728 26,673 522 Z 4.04

Male householder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,834 40,023 1,701 20,143 39,181 1,117 –2.1 4.88

Race3 and Hispanic Origin of Householder

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98,807 57,674 864 98,679 56,866 585 –1.4 1.74

White, not Hispanic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84,432 61,317 891 84,228 60,256 605 * –1.7 1.64

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,009 35,902 1,433 16,437 35,398 758 –1.4 4.41

Asian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,818 73,568 5,622 6,040 74,297 3,466 1.0 8.54

Hispanic (any race) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,088 40,337 1,986 16,239 42,491 848 5.3 5.55

Age of Householder

Under 65 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94,862 61,252 783 94,640 60,462 442 –1.3 1.37

15 to 24 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,652 34,344 3,208 6,370 34,605 1,296 0.8 9.92

25 to 34 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,988 53,274 2,133 20,075 54,243 1,315 1.8 4.52

35 to 44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,164 68,700 2,008 21,121 66,693 1,024 –2.9 3.04

45 to 54 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,664 71,753 2,149 23,566 70,832 1,364 –1.3 3.29

55 to 64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,395 61,471 1,865 23,509 60,580 1,125 –1.4 3.24

65 years and older . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,069 37,907 1,304 29,946 36,895 584 –2.7 3.72

Nativity of Householder

Native born . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105,900 55,989 955 106,191 54,678 712 * –2.3 2.04

Foreign born . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,031 47,561 1,589 18,396 49,592 1,141 * 4.3 3.99

Naturalized citizen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,489 57,276 3,149 9,735 59,261 2,236 3.5 6.59

Not a citizen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,542 40,842 1,976 8,661 40,795 779 –0.1 5.25

Region

Northeast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,511 57,798 2,605 22,179 59,210 2,263 2.4 5.99

Midwest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27,426 54,300 2,136 27,459 54,267 1,366 –0.1 4.30

South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46,553 50,670 1,357 47,040 49,655 837 –2.0 2.94

West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27,441 60,500 2,101 27,909 57,688 1,319 * –4.6 3.83

Residence

Inside metropolitan statistical areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104,128 56,798 824 104,009 55,855 581 –1.7 1.66

Inside principal cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41,360 49,604 1,647 40,578 47,850 973 * –3.5 3.32

Outside principal cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62,768 61,781 952 63,431 61,600 626 –0.3 1.82

Outside metropolitan statistical areas4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,802 44,315 1,784 20,578 45,482 858 2.6 4.61

EARNINGS OF FULL-TIME, YEAR-ROUND WORKERS

Men with earnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61,240 50,834 950 62,455 50,383 217 –0.9 1.91

Women with earnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,629 39,427 1,164 46,226 39,621 718 0.5 3.21

Female-to-male earnings ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N 0.78 0.027 N 0.79 0.014 1.4 3.77

* An asterisk preceding an estimate indicates change is statistically different from zero at the 90 percent confidence level.

N Not applicable.

Z Represents or rounds to zero. 1

 The 2014 CPS ASEC included redesigned questions for income and health insurance coverage. All of the approximately 98,000 addresses were eligible to receive the redesigned set of health 

insurance coverage questions. The redesigned income questions were implemented to a subsample of these 98,000 addresses using a probability split panel design. Approximately 68,000 addresses were 

eligible to receive a set of income questions similar to those used in the 2013 CPS ASEC and the remaining 30,000 addresses were eligible to receive the redesigned income questions. The source of data 

for this table is the portion of the CPS ASEC sample which received the redesigned income questions, approximately 30,000 addresses. 2 A margin of error is a measure of an estimate’s variability. The larger the margin of error in relation to the size of the estimate, the less reliable the estimate. This number, when added to and 

subtracted from the estimate, forms the 90 percent confidence interval. Margins of error shown in this table are based on standard errors calculated using replicate weights. For more information, see 

“Standard Errors and Their Use” at <ftp://ftp2.census.gov/library/publications/2015/demo/p60-252sa.pdf>. 3

 Federal surveys give respondents the option of reporting more than one race. Therefore, two basic ways of defining a race group are possible. A group such as Asian may be defined as those who 

reported Asian and no other race (the race-alone or single-race concept) or as those who reported Asian regardless of whether they also reported another race (the race-alone-or-in-combination concept).

This table shows data using the first approach (race alone). 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 

2010 through American FactFinder. About 2.9 percent of people reported more than one race in Census 2010. Data for American Indians and Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders, 

and those reporting two or more races are not shown separately. 4

 The “Outside metropolitan statistical areas” category includes both micropolitan statistical areas and territory outside of metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas. For more information, see 

“About Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas” at <www.census.gov/population/metro/>.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2014 and 2015 Annual Social and Economic Supplements.
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 7

• The 2014 female-to-male earnings ratio was 0.79, not statistically different from the 2013 ratio 

(Table 1 and Figure 2). 

• There were more women fulltime, year-round workers with 

earnings in 2014 than in 2007, 

the year before the most recent 

recession (Table A-4). For male 

full-time, year-round workers with 

earnings, the difference between 

the 2014 and 2007 estimates was 

not statistically significant.

• The real median earnings of fulltime, year-round working women 

in 2014 were not statistically different from their median in 2007, 

the year before the most recent 

recession. The median earnings of 

full-time, year-round working men 

were 2.2 percent lower in 2014 

than in 2007 (Table A-4). 

Household Income

Median household income was 

$53,657 in 2014, not statistically 

different from the 2013 median in 

real terms, 6.5 percent lower than the 

2007 (the year before the most recent 

recession) median ($57,357), and 

7.2 percent lower than the median 

household income peak ($57,843) 

that occurred in 1999 (Figure 1 and 

Table A-1).6

Type of Household

Real median incomes in 2014 of 

family households, $68,426, and 

nonfamily households, $32,047, were 

not statistically different from their 

respective 2013 medians (Table 1). 

For the specific types of family and 

nonfamily households, changes in 

real income between 2013 and 2014 

were also not statistically significant. Family households have not 

6 The difference between the 1999 and 2007 

median household incomes was not statistically 

significant. The difference between the 2007-

2014 and 1999-2014 percentage changes (6.5 

and 7.2 percent, respectively) was not statistically significant. 

experienced an annual increase in 

median household income since 

2007. The last increase for nonfamily 

households was in 2009.

For family households, married-couple 

households had the highest median 

income in 2014 ($81,025), followed 

by households maintained by men 

with no wife present ($53,684). Those 

maintained by women with no husband present had the lowest median 

($36,151).

Race and Hispanic Origin

The real median income of nonHispanic White households declined 

by 1.7 percent between 2013 and 

2014, from $61,317 to $60,256. 

For Black, Asian, and Hispanic-origin 

households, the 2013-2014 percentage changes in real median household 

income were not statistically significant (Table 1). Non-Hispanic White and 

Black households last experienced 

an annual increase in median income 

in 2007, and Asian household’s last 

annual increase was in 1999. Hispanic 

households experienced an annual 

increase in 2013. 

Among the race groups, Asian 

households had the highest median 

income in 2014 ($74,297). The 

median income of non-Hispanic White 

households was $60,256, and for 

Black households it was $35,398 

(Table 1 and Figure 1). For Hispanic 

households, the median income was 

$42,491. 

The real median income of Asian 

households in 2014 was not statistically different from the pre-2001-

recession peak.7 Whereas, household 

income in 2014 was 4.0 percent 

lower for non-Hispanic Whites (from 

$62,762 in 1999), 13.2 percent lower 

for Blacks (from $40,783 in 2000), 

7 The difference between the real median 

income of Asian households in 2014 and 2000 

was not statistically significant.

and 6.8 percent lower for Hispanics 

(from $45,596 in 2000) (Table A-1).8

Comparing the 2014 income of nonHispanic White households with that 

of other households shows that the 

ratio of Asian to non-Hispanic White 

income was 1.23, the ratio of Black 

to non-Hispanic White income was 

0.59, and the ratio of Hispanic to 

non-Hispanic White income was 0.71. 

Between 1972 and 2014, the change 

in the Black to non-Hispanic White 

income ratio was not statistically 

significant.9 Over the same period, 

the Hispanic to non-Hispanic White 

income ratio declined from 0.74 

to 0.71. Income data for the Asian 

population was first available in 1987. 

The 2014 Asian to non-Hispanic White 

income ratio was not statistically different from the 1987 ratio. 

Age of Householder

Between 2013 and 2014, there were 

no statistically significant changes 

in household income by age of the 

householders. Households maintained by householders aged 45 to 

54 had the highest median income in 

2014 ($70,832), followed by those 

with householders aged 35 to 44 

($66,693), those with householders 

aged 55 to 64 ($60,580), householders aged 25 to 34 ($54,243), and 

those with householders aged 65 and 

older ($36,895). Households maintained by householders aged 15 to 

24 had the lowest median income 

($34,605).

8 The difference between the declines for 

non-Hispanic White households and Hispanic 

households was not statistically significant. For 

non-Hispanic White households, the $62,762 

income peak in 1999 was not statistically different from their 2000 median of $62,718. For 

Blacks, the $40,783 income peak in 2000 was 

not statistically different from their 1999 median 

of $39,669. For Hispanics, the $45,596 income 

peak in 2000 was not statistically different from 

their 2001 median of $44,882. 9 The first year that income data for the 

Hispanic and non-Hispanic White populations 

were collected in the CPS ASEC was 1972.
8 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau

Nativity

Change in real median household 

income between 2013 and 2014 varied by nativity of the householder. The 

income of households maintained by 

a foreign-born person increased 4.3 

percent, from $47,561 to $49,592; 

while the median income of households maintained by a native-born 

person declined 2.3 percent, from 

$55,989 to $54,678. The median 

incomes of households maintained by 

a naturalized citizen ($59,261) or a 

noncitizen ($40,795), in 2014, were 

not statistically different from their 

respective 2013 medians (Table 1).

In 2014, households maintained by a 

naturalized citizen ($59,261) had the 

highest median household income, 

followed by households maintained 

by a native-born person ($54,678). 

Households maintained by a noncitizen had the lowest household income 

($40,795) (Table 1). 

Region10

Households in the West experienced a 4.6 percent decline in real 

median income between 2013 

and 2014, whereas the apparent 

changes in income of households in 

the Northeast, Midwest, and South 

were not statistically significant. 

Households with the highest median 

household incomes were in the 

Northeast ($59,210) and the West 

10 The Northeast region includes Connecticut, 

Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New 

Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, 

and Vermont. The Midwest region includes 

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, 

Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, 

Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The South 

region includes Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, 

Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, 

Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South 

Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West 

Virginia, and the District of Columbia, a state 

equivalent. The West region includes Alaska, 

Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, 

Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, 

Washington, and Wyoming. 

($57,688), followed by the Midwest 

($54,267) and the South ($49,655) 

(Table 1).11

Residence

In 2014, households within metropolitan areas but outside principal 

cities had the highest median income 

($61,600), while households outside 

metropolitan areas had the lowest 

($45,482). Between 2013 and 2014, 

the real income of households inside 

principal cities declined 3.5 percent, 

while the changes in median incomes 

of households for the remaining three 

residential categories shown in Table 1 

were not statistically significant. 

Income Inequality 

The Census Bureau traditionally 

reports two measures of income 

inequality: (1) the shares of aggregate 

household income received by quintiles and (2) the Gini index. In addition 

to these measures, the Census Bureau 

also produces estimates of the ratio 

of income percentiles; the Theil index, 

which is similar to the Gini index in 

that it is a single statistic that summarizes the dispersion of income across 

the entire income distribution; the 

mean logarithmic deviation of income 

(MLD), which measures the gap 

between median and average income; 

and the Atkinson measure, which is 

useful in determining which end of 

the income distribution contributed 

most to inequality.12

Changes in income inequality 

between 2013 and 2014 were not 

statistically significant as measured 

by the shares of aggregate household 

income by quintiles, the Gini index, 

11 The difference between the median household incomes for the Northeast and the West was 

not statistically significant. 12 An article by Paul Allison, “Measures of 

Inequality,” American Sociological Review, 43, 

December 1977, pp. 865–880, provides an 

explanation of inequality measures. 

the MLD, the Theil index, and the 

Atkinson measures (Table 2 and A-2). 

Households in the lowest quintile had 

incomes of $21,432 or less in 2014. 

Households in the second quintile 

had incomes between $21,433 and 

$41,186, those in the third quintile 

had incomes between $41,187 and 

$68,212, and those in the fourth quintile had incomes between $68,213 

and $112,262. Households in the 

highest quintile had incomes of 

$112,263 or more. The top 5 percent 

had incomes of $206,568 or more.

The Gini index was 0.480 in 2014, 

not statistically different from 2013. 

Since 1993, the earliest year available 

for comparable measures of income 

inequality, the Gini index was up 5.9 

percent (Table A-2).13, 14, 15

Comparing changes in household 

income at selected percentiles shows 

that income inequality has increased 

between 1999 (the year that household income peaked before the 2001 

recession) and 2014 (Table A-2). 

Incomes at the 50th and 10th percentiles declined 7.2 percent and 16.5 

percent, respectively, while income 

at the 90th percentile increased 2.8 

percent between 1999 and 2014. 

In 2014, the 90th to 10th percentile income ratio was 12.83, not 

statistically different from the 2013 

ratio. Since 1999, the 90th to 10th 

13 Exercise caution when making direct comparisons with years earlier than 1993 because 

of substantial methodological changes in the 

1994 CPS ASEC. In that year, the Census Bureau 

introduced computer-assisted interviewing and 

increased income reporting limits. 14 For further discussion of how high incomes 

reported in the CPS ASEC affect income distribution measures, see Jessica Semega and Ed 

Welniak, “Evaluating the Impact of Unrestricted 

Income Values on Income Distribution Measures 

Using the Current Population Survey’s Annual 

Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC),” April 

2007, <www.census.gov/hhes/www/income

/publications/unrestrict-tables/index.html>. 15 The calculated percentage change is different due to rounded components.
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 9

percentile income ratio increased 23.1 

percent.

Equivalence-Adjusted Income 

Inequality

Another way to measure income 

inequality is to use an equivalenceadjusted income estimate that takes 

into consideration the number of 

people living in the household and 

how these people share resources and 

take advantage of economies of scale. 

For example, the money-incomebased distribution treats an income of 

$30,000 for a single-person household and a family household similarly, 

while the equivalence-adjusted 

income of $30,000 for a single-person 

household would be more than twice 

the equivalence-adjusted income of 

$30,000 for a family household with 

two adults and two children. The 

equivalence adjustment used here is 

based on a three-parameter scale16

that reflects:

16 The three-parameter scale used here is 

the same as the one used in the Supplemental 

Poverty Measure. For details on the derivation of the three-parameter scale, see Kathleen 

Short, The Supplemental Poverty Measure: 

2013, Current Population Reports, P60-251, U.S. 

Census Bureau, October 2014, <www.census.gov

/content/dam/Census/library/publications 

/2014/demo/p60-251.pdf>.

1. On average, children consume 

less than adults.

2. As family size increases, expenses 

do not increase at the same rate.

3. The increase in expenses is larger 

for a first child of a single-parent 

family than the first child of a 

two-adult family. 

Table 2 shows several income inequality measures, including aggregate 

income shares and the Gini index, 

using both money income and 

equivalence-adjusted income for 2013 

and 2014. For both 2013 and 2014, 

Table 2. 

Income Distribution Measures Using Money Income and Equivalence-Adjusted Income: 

2013 and 2014

(For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs

-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf)

Measure

20131 2014 Percentage change3,*

Money 

income 

Equivalenceadjusted 

income

Money

income 

Equivalenceadjusted 

income

Money 

income 

Equivalenceadjusted 

income

Estimate

Margin 

of error2

(±)

Estimate

Margin 

of error2

(±)

Estimate

Margin 

of error2

(±)

Estimate

Margin 

of error2

(±)

Estimate

Margin 

of error2

(±)

Estimate

Margin 

of error2

(±)

 Shares of Aggregate Income by 

Percentile

Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1 0.09 3.4 0.09 3.1 0.05 3.3 0.05 –0.1 3.14 –0.4 3.05

Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2 0.14 8.8 0.15 8.2 0.08 9.0 0.08 0.2 1.79 1.5 1.78

Middle quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.3 0.21 14.7 0.21 14.3 0.11 14.8 0.11 –0.2 1.56 0.5 1.46

Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.0 0.28 22.8 0.27 23.2 0.15 22.9 0.14 0.8 1.30 0.5 1.24

Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51.4 0.59 50.3 0.61 51.2 0.33 50.0 0.32 –0.4 1.21 –0.6 1.24

Top 5 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.2 0.76 22.1 0.74 21.9 0.39 21.8 0.39 –1.3 3.53 –1.6 3.39

Summary Measures

Gini index of income inequality . . . . . . . . . . . 0.482 0.0061 0.467 0.0064 0.480 0.0034 0.464 0.0033 –0.3 1.32 –0.7 1.40

Mean logarithmic deviation of income . . . . . . 0.606 0.0205 0.635 0.0203 0.611 0.0120 0.648 0.0126 0.9 3.89 2.1 3.77

Theil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.428 0.0176 0.409 0.0183 0.419 0.0090 0.397 0.0088 –2.1 4.16 –3.0 4.43

Atkinson:

 e=0.25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.103 0.0034 0.098 0.0035 0.102 0.0018 0.096 0.0018 –1.3 3.41 –2.0 3.61

 e=0.50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.202 0.0055 0.194 0.0056 0.200 0.0030 0.192 0.0029 –0.7 2.84 –1.2 2.99

 e=0.75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.307 0.0071 0.301 0.0072 0.307 0.0040 0.301 0.0039 –0.1 2.52 –0.1 2.59

* An asterisk preceding an estimate indicates change is statistically different from zero at the 90 percent confidence level. 1

 The 2014 CPS ASEC included redesigned questions for income and health insurance coverage. All of the approximately 98,000 addresses were eligible to receive the 

redesigned set of health insurance coverage questions. The redesigned income questions were implemented to a subsample of these 98,000 addresses using a probability 

split panel design. Approximately 68,000 addresses were eligible to receive a set of income questions similar to those used in the 2013 CPS ASEC and the remaining 30,000 

addresses were eligible to receive the redesigned income questions. The source of data for this table is the portion of the CPS ASEC sample which received the redesigned 

income questions, approximately 30,000 addresses. 2 A margin of error is a measure of an estimate’s variability. The larger the margin of error in relation to the size of the estimate, the less reliable the estimate. This number, 

when added to and subtracted from the estimate, forms the 90 percent confidence interval. Margins of error shown in this table are based on standard errors calculated using 

replicate weights. For more information, see “Standard Errors and Their Use” at <ftp://ftp2.census.gov/library/publications/2015/demo/p60-252sa.pdf>. 3

 Calculated estimate may be different due to rounded components.

Source: U. S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2014 and 2015 Annual Social and Economic Supplements.
10 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau

the Gini index was lower when based 

on an equivalence-adjusted income 

estimate than on the traditional 

money-income estimate, suggesting a more equal income distribution. Generally, the income shares in 

the lower quintiles are higher with 

equivalence-adjusted income than 

money income while the reverse is 

true for the higher quintiles. This 

redistribution would be expected 

because the lower end of the income 

distribution has a higher concentration of single-person households and 

smaller family sizes than those at the 

upper end of the distribution. Thus, 

equivalence adjusting increases the 

relative income of people living in 

lower-income groups.

Based on equivalence-adjusted 

income, changes in inequality 

between 2013 and 2014 were not 

statistically significant as measured 

by the shares of aggregate income, 

Gini index, the MLD, the Theil index, 

and the Atkinson measures (Table 2). 

The equivalence-adjusted Gini index 

was 0.464 in 2014, the MLD was 

0.648, the Theil index was 0.397, and 

the Atkinson measure calculated with 

e=0.25 was 0.096, and 0.301 with 

e=0.75. Table A-3 shows equivalenceadjusted measures of the income 

distribution as well as the Gini index, 

MLD, Theil index, and Atkinson measure for income years 1967 to 2014. 

Earnings and Work Experience

In 2014, the real median earnings of men ($50,383) and women 

($39,621) who worked full time, year 

round were not statistically different 

from their respective 2013 medians 

(Table 1 and Figure 2).17 Neither group 

has experienced a significant annual 

increase in median earnings since 

2009. The 2014 female-to-male earnings ratio was 0.79, not statistically 

different from the 2013 ratio. The 

female-to-male earnings ratio has not 

experienced a statistically significant 

annual increase since 2007.

Between 2013 and 2014 the number 

of women with earnings, regardless of 

17 A full-time, year-round worker is a person 

who worked 35 or more hours per week (full 

time) and 50 or more weeks during the previous 

calendar year (year round). For school personnel, 

summer vacation is counted as weeks worked if 

they are scheduled to return to their job in the 

fall. For detailed information on work experience, see Table PINC-05, “Work Experience in 

2014—People 15 Years Old and Over by Total 

Money Earnings in 2014, Age, Race, Hispanic 

Origin, and Sex” at <www.census.gov/hhes

/www/cpstables/032015/perinc/toc.htm>. 

Figure 2.

Female-to-Male Earnings Ratio and Median Earnings of Full-Time, Year-Round Workers

15 Years and Older by Sex: 1960 to 2014

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1959 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2014

Note: The 2013 data reflect the implementation of the redesigned income questions. See Appendix D for more information. 

Data on earnings of full-time, year-round workers are not readily available before 1960. For more information on recessions, 

see Appendix A. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see 

<ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf>.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1961 to 2015 Annual Social and Economic Supplements.

Earnings in thousands (2014 dollars), ratio in percent Recession

Earnings of women

Female-to-male 

earnings ratio

79 percent

$50,383

$39,621

Earnings of men
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 11

work experience, increased by about 

800,000, while the change for their 

male counterparts was not statistically significant. In addition, the 

number of men and women full-time, 

year-round workers increased by 1.2 

and 1.6 million, respectively, between 

2013 and 2014, suggesting a shift 

from part-year, part-time work status 

to full-time, year-round work status 

(Figure 3 and Table A-4).18 An estimated 73.9 percent of working men 

with earnings and 61.2 percent of 

working women with earnings worked 

full time, year round in 2014, both 

percentages higher than the 2013 

estimates of 73.0 and 59.6 percent, 

respectively. 

18 The differences among the 2013-2014 

increases in the number of women with earnings 

(regardless of work experience), the increase in 

the number of men full-time, year-round workers, and the increase in the number of women 

full-time, year-round workers were not statistically significant. 

There were more women full-time, 

year-round workers with earnings in 

2014 than in 2007, the year before 

the most recent recession (Table A-4). 

For male full-time, year-round workers 

with earnings, the difference between 

the 2014 and 2007 estimates was not 

statistically significant. In addition, in 

real terms, the 2014 median earnings of full-time, year-round working 

women in 2014 were not statistically 

different from their 2007 median. 

The real median earnings of full-time, 

year-round working men were 2.2 percent lower in 2014 than in 2007.

Figure 3.

Total and Full-Time, Year-Round Workers With Earnings by Sex: 1967 to 2014

Note: The 2013 data reflect the implementation of the redesigned income questions. See Appendix D for more information. Data on 

number of workers are not readily available before 1967. Data are for people aged 15 and older beginning in 1980 and people aged 14 

and older for previous years. Before 1989, data are for civilian workers only. For more information on recessions, see Appendix A. 

For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see <ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys

/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf>.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1968 to 2015 Annual Social and Economic Supplements.

Numbers in millions Recession

84.5 million

75.6 million

62.5 million

46.2 million

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1959 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2014

Female full-time, year-round 

workers

Male workers

Female workers

Male full-time, year-round 

workers
12 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau

POVERTY IN THE UNITED STATES 19

Highlights

• In 2014, the official poverty rate 

was 14.8 percent. There were 

46.7 million people in poverty. 

Neither the poverty rate nor the 

number of people in poverty 

were statistically different from 

the 2013 estimates (Figure 4 and 

Table 3).

• For the fourth consecutive year, 

the number of people in poverty 

at the national level was not statistically different from the previous year’s estimates (Figure 4 and 

Table 3).

19 The Office of Management and Budget 

determined the official definition of poverty 

in Statistical Policy Directive 14. Appendix B 

provides a more detailed description of how the 

Census Bureau calculates poverty.

• The 2014 poverty rate was 2.3 

percentage points higher than in 

2007, the year before the most 

recent recession (Figure 4).

• The 2014 poverty rates for most 

demographic groups examined 

were not statistically different 

from the 2013 rates. Poverty rates 

went up between 2013 and 2014 

for only two groups: people with 

a bachelor’s degree or more and 

married-couple families (Table 3 

and Table 4). 

• For most groups, the number 

of people in poverty did not 

show a statistically significant 

change. The number of people in 

poverty increased for unrelated 

individuals, people aged 18 to 

64 with a disability, people with 

at least a bachelor’s degree, and 

married-couple families (Table 3 

and Table 4).

• The poverty rate in 2014 for children under age 18 was 21.1 percent. The poverty rate for people 

aged 18 to 64 was 13.5 percent, 

while the rate for people aged 65 

and older was 10.0 percent. None 

of these poverty rates were statistically different from the 2013 

estimates (Table 3 and Figure 5).20

Race and Hispanic Origin

The poverty rate for non-Hispanic 

Whites was 10.1 percent in 2014, 

lower than the poverty rates for other 

20 Since unrelated individuals under age 15 

are excluded from the poverty universe, there 

are 364,000 fewer children in the poverty 

universe than in the total civilian noninstitutionalized population.

Figure 4.

Number in Poverty and Poverty Rate: 1959 to 2014

Note: The 2013 data reflect the implementation of the redesigned income questions. See Appendix D for more information.

The data points are placed at the midpoints of the respective years. For information on recessions, see Appendix A. 

For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see 

<ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf>.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1960 to 2015 Annual Social and Economic Supplements.

Numbers in millions Recession

46.7 million

14.8 percent

Number in poverty

Poverty rate

Percent 

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

0

5

10

15

20

25

1959 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 2000 1995 2005 2010 2014
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 13

Table 3.

People in Poverty by Selected Characteristics: 2013 and 2014

(Numbers in thousands, margin of error in thousands or percentage points as appropriate. People as of March of the following year. For information on 

 confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf)

20131 2014 Change in poverty 3, Below poverty Below poverty (2014 less 2013) *

Characteristic

Total Number

Margin of 

error2

 (±) Percent

Margin of 

error2 (±) Total Number

Margin of 

error2 (±) Percent

Margin of 

error2 (±) Number Percent

PEOPLE

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Family Status

313,096 46,269 1,474 14 .8 0 .5 315,804 46,657 857 14 .8 0 .3 388 Z

In families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256,070 32,786 1,370 12 .8 0 .5 256,308 32,615 741 12 .7 0 .3 –171 –0 .1

 Householder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82,316 9,645 421 11 .7 0 .5 81,730 9,467 228 11 .6 0 .3 –178 –0 .1

 Related children under age 18 . . . . . . . . . 72,246 15,116 723 20 .9 1 .0 72,383 14,987 403 20 .7 0 .6 –129 –0 .2

 Related children under age 6 . . . . . . . . 23,606 5,590 340 23 .7 1 .4 23,470 5,504 197 23 .5 0 .8 –86 –0 .2

In unrelated subfamilies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,626 776 220 47 .7 8 .4 1,558 668 104 42 .9 5 .0 –108 –4 .9

 Reference person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661 291 86 44 .0 8 .2 652 266 40 40 .8 4 .8 –25 –3 .2

 Children under age 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 844 448 130 53 .1 9 .3 832 388 63 46 .6 5 .6 –59 –6 .4

Unrelated individuals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Race4

 and Hispanic Origin

55,400 12,707 579 22 .9 0 .9 57,937 13,374 372 23 .1 0 .6 *667 0 .1

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243,346 31,287 1,073 12 .9 0 .4 244,253 31,089 640 12 .7 0 .3 –198 –0 .1

 White, not Hispanic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195,118 19,552 815 10 .0 0 .4 195,208 19,652 524 10 .1 0 .3 100 Z

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,498 10,186 632 25 .2 1 .6 41,112 10,755 363 26 .2 0 .9 569 1 .0

Asian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,257 2,255 330 13 .1 1 .9 17,790 2,137 208 12 .0 1 .2 –119 –1 .1

Hispanic (any race) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Sex

54,181 13,356 801 24 .7 1 .5 55,504 13,104 427 23 .6 0 .8 –252 –1 .0

Male . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153,465 20,294 769 13 .2 0 .5 154,639 20,708 443 13 .4 0 .3 414 0 .2

Female . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Age

159,630 25,975 902 16 .3 0 .6 161,164 25,949 524 16 .1 0 .3 –26 –0 .2

Under age 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,439 15,801 725 21 .5 1 .0 73,556 15,540 406 21 .1 0 .5 –261 –0 .4

Aged 18 to 64 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194,694 25,899 877 13 .3 0 .5 196,254 26,527 533 13 .5 0 .3 628 0 .2

Aged 65 and older . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Nativity

44,963 4,569 286 10 .2 0 .6 45,994 4,590 176 10 .0 0 .4 21 –0 .2

Native born . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272,423 38,831 1,299 14 .3 0 .5 273,628 38,871 774 14 .2 0 .3 40 Z

Foreign born . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,673 7,438 556 18 .3 1 .2 42,175 7,786 285 18 .5 0 .6 348 0 .2

 Naturalized citizen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,247 2,132 249 11 .1 1 .3 19,731 2,347 146 11 .9 0 .7 215 0 .8

 Not a citizen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Region

21,426 5,306 498 24 .8 1 .9 22,444 5,439 241 24 .2 0 .9 133 –0 .5

Northeast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,529 7,205 700 13 .0 1 .3 55,725 7,020 341 12 .6 0 .6 –185 –0 .4

Midwest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66,732 9,269 641 13 .9 1 .0 67,130 8,714 358 13 .0 0 .5 –555 –0 .9

South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116,956 19,040 968 16 .3 0 .8 118,193 19,531 466 16 .5 0 .4 491 0 .2

West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Residence

73,879 10,754 670 14 .6 0 .9 74,756 11,391 454 15 .2 0 .6 638 0 .7

Inside metropolitan statistical areas . . . . . . 265,301 37,994 1,491 14 .3 0 .5 265,788 38,416 895 14 .5 0 .3 422 0 .1

 Inside principal cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101,094 18,617 1,140 18 .4 1 .0 99,182 18,708 664 18 .9 0 .6 91 0 .4

 Outside principal cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164,207 19,377 1,091 11 .8 0 .6 166,606 19,708 659 11 .8 0 .3 331 Z

Outside metropolitan statistical areas5 . . . .

Work Experience

47,795 8,275 891 17 .3 1 .3 50,016 8,241 526 16 .5 0 .7 –34 –0 .8

 Total, aged 18 to 64 . . . . . . . . . . . . 194,694 25,899 877 13 .3 0 .5 196,254 26,527 533 13 .5 0 .3 628 0 .2

All workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146,957 10,261 452 7 .0 0 .3 147,712 10,155 270 6 .9 0 .2 –106 –0 .1

 Worked full-time, year-round . . . . . . . . . . 101,146 3,014 247 3 .0 0 .2 103,379 3,091 148 3 .0 0 .1 76 Z

 Less than full-time, year-round . . . . . . . . . 45,811 7,247 425 15 .8 0 .9 44,332 7,064 231 15 .9 0 .5 –182 0 .1

Did not work at least 1 week . . . . . . . . . . . .

Disability Status6

47,737 15,638 684 32 .8 1 .2 48,542 16,372 424 33 .7 0 .7 734 1 .0

 Total, aged 18 to 64 . . . . . . . . . . . . 194,694 25,899 877 13 .3 0 .5 196,254 26,527 533 13 .5 0 .3 628 0 .2

With a disability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,461 4,013 316 27 .8 1 .9 15,429 4,403 195 28 .5 1 .1 *390 0 .8

With no disability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Educational Attainment

179,206 21,777 783 12 .2 0 .4 179,905 22,055 471 12 .3 0 .3 279 0 .1

 Total, aged 25 and older . . . . . . . . 209,259 24,692 873 11 .8 0 .4 212,132 25,163 485 11 .9 0 .2 471 0 .1

No high school diploma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,192 7,253 452 30 .0 1 .6 24,582 7,098 218 28 .9 0 .8 –154 –1 .1

High school, no college . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61,581 8,642 458 14 .0 0 .7 62,575 8,898 279 14 .2 0 .4 256 0 .2

Some college, no degree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,990 5,817 361 10 .4 0 .6 56,031 5,719 207 10 .2 0 .4 –98 –0 .2

Bachelor’s degree or higher . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67,496 2,981 291 4 .4 0 .4 68,945 3,449 168 5 .0 0 .2 *468 *0 .6

* An asterisk preceding an estimate indicates change is statistically different from zero at the 

90 percent confidence level .

Z Represents or rounds to zero . 

1

 The 2014 CPS ASEC included redesigned questions for income and health insurance 

coverage . All of the approximately 98,000 addresses were eligible to receive the redesigned set of 

health insurance coverage questions . The redesigned income questions were implemented to a 

subsample of these 98,000 addresses using a probability split panel design . Approximately 68,000 

addresses were eligible to receive a set of income questions similar to those used in the 2013 CPS 

ASEC and the remaining 30,000 addresses were eligible to receive the redesigned income questions . The source of data for this table is the portion of the CPS ASEC sample which received the 

redesigned income questions, approximately 30,000 addresses . 2

 A margin of error is a measure of an estimate’s variability . The larger the margin of error in 

 relation to the size of the estimate, the less reliable the estimate . This number, when added to and subtracted from the estimate, forms the 90 percent confidence interval . Margins of error shown in this table 

are based on standard errors calculated using replicate weights . For more information, see “Standard 

Errors and Their Use” at <ftp://ftp2 .census .gov/library/publications/2015/demo/p60-252sa .pdf> . 3

 Details may not sum to totals because of rounding .

4

 Federal surveys now give respondents the option of reporting more than one race . Therefore, 

two basic ways of defining a race group are possible . A group such as Asian may be defined as 

those who reported Asian and no other race (the race-alone or single-race concept) or as those 

who reported Asian regardless of whether they also reported another race (the race-alone-or-incombination concept) . This table shows data using the first approach (race alone) . 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 2010 through American FactFinder . About 2 .9 percent of people reported 

more than one race in Census 2010 . Data for American Indians and Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians 

and Other Pacific Islanders, and those reporting two or more races are not shown separately . 5

 The “Outside metropolitan statistical areas” category includes both micropolitan statistical 

areas and territory outside of metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas . For more information, 

see “About Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas” at <www .census .gov/population/metro/> . 6

 The sum of those with and without a disability does not equal the total because disability 

status is not defined for individuals in the Armed Forces .

Source: U .S . Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2014 and 2015 Annual Social and 

Economic Supplements .
14 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau

racial groups. Non-Hispanic Whites 

accounted for 61.8 percent of the 

total population and 42.1 percent 

of the people in poverty. For nonHispanic Whites, neither the poverty 

rate nor the number of people in 

poverty experienced a statistically 

significant change between 2013 and 

2014.

For Blacks, the 2014 poverty rate was 

26.2 percent and there were 10.8 million people in poverty. For Asians, the 

2014 poverty rate was 12.0 percent, 

which represented 2.1 million people 

in poverty. Among Hispanics, the 

2014 poverty rate was 23.6 percent 

and there were 13.1 million people in 

poverty. None of these estimates were 

statistically different from the 2013 

estimates.

Age

In 2014, 13.5 percent of people 

aged 18 to 64 (26.5 million) were in 

poverty compared with 10.0 percent 

of people aged 65 and older (4.6 

million) and 21.1 percent of children 

under age 18 (15.5 million). Children 

represented 23.3 percent of the total 

population and 33.3 percent of the 

people in poverty. None of these age 

groups experienced a statistically significant change in the number or rate 

of people in poverty between 2013 

and 2014 (Table 3 and Figure 5).

Related children are people under 

age 18 related to the householder 

by birth, marriage, or adoption who 

are not themselves householders or 

spouses of householders.21 The poverty rate and the number in poverty 

for related children under age 18 

were 20.7 percent and 15.0 million in 

2014, not statistically different from 

the 2013 estimates. For related children in families with a female householder, 46.5 percent were in poverty, 

compared with 10.6 percent of related 

children in married-couple families.22

The poverty rate and the number in 

poverty for related children under age 

21 Official poverty estimates for children are 

compiled in two ways—estimates for all children 

and estimates for related children. In 2014, estimates for all children included an additional 1.2 

million children. About 832,000 were members 

of unrelated subfamilies. 22 In the text of this report, families with a 

female householder with no husband present will 

be referred to as families with a female householder. Families with a male householder with no 

wife present will be referred to as families with a 

male householder.

Figure 5.

Poverty Rates by Age: 1959 to 2014

Note: The 2013 data reflect the implementation of the redesigned income questions. See Appendix D for more information.

The data points are placed at the midpoints of the respective years. Data for people aged 18 to 64 and 65 and older are not available 

from 1960 to 1965. For information on recessions, see Appendix A. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, 

nonsampling error, and definitions, see <ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf>. 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1960 to 2015 Annual Social and Economic Supplements. 

Percent 

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

1959 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2014

Recession

13.5 percent

10.0 percent

21.1 percent

Aged 18 to 64

Under age 18

Aged 65 and older
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 15

6 were 23.5 percent and 5.5 million 

in 2014, not statistically different 

from the 2013 estimates. About 1 in 

5 of these children were in poverty in 

2014. More than half (55.1 percent) 

of related children under age 6 in 

families with a female householder 

were in poverty. This was more than 

four times the rate of their counterparts in married-couple families (11.6 

percent).

Sex

In 2014, 13.4 percent of males and 

16.1 percent of females were in 

poverty. Neither poverty rate showed 

a statistically significant change from 

its 2013 estimate (Table 3).

Gender differences in poverty rates 

were more pronounced for those 

aged 65 and older. The poverty rate 

for women aged 65 and older was 

12.1 percent while the poverty rate 

for men aged 65 and older was 7.4 

percent. The poverty rate for women 

aged 18 to 64 was 15.3 percent while 

the poverty rate for men aged 18 to 

64 was 11.6 percent.23 For children 

under age 18, the poverty rate for 

girls (21.1 percent) was not statistically different from the poverty rate 

for boys (21.2 percent) (Figure 6). 

Nativity

Of all people, 86.6 percent were 

native-born and 13.4 percent were 

foreign-born. The 2014 poverty rate 

and the number in poverty for the 

native born and the foreign born were 

not statistically different from 2013; 

14.2 percent and 38.9 million for the 

native born and 18.5 percent and 7.8 

million for the foreign born (Table 3).

23 The poverty rate for females aged 65 and 

older was not statistically different from the 

poverty rate for males aged 18 to 64.

Within the foreign-born population, 

46.8 percent were naturalized U.S. 

citizens, while the remaining were 

not citizens of the United States. The 

poverty rates in 2014 were 11.9 percent for the foreign-born naturalized 

citizens and 24.2 percent for those 

who were not U.S. citizens, neither 

statistically different from 2013.

Region

None of the four regions experienced 

a significant change in the poverty 

rate or the number in poverty between 

2013 and 2014. In 2014, the poverty rate and the number in poverty 

were 12.6 percent and 7.0 million for 

the Northeast, 13.0 percent and 8.7 

million for the Midwest, 16.5 percent 

and 19.5 million for the South, and 

15.2 percent and 11.4 million for the 

West (Table 3). The South continued 

to have a higher poverty rate than the 

other three regions.24

24 The difference in the poverty rates for the 

Northeast and the Midwest was not statistically 

significant.

Residence

Inside metropolitan statistical areas, 

the poverty rate and the number of 

people in poverty were 14.5 percent 

and 38.4 million in 2014. Among 

those living outside metropolitan 

statistical areas, the poverty rate and 

the number in poverty were 16.5 percent and 8.2 million in 2014. Neither 

group experienced a statistically significant change in the poverty rates or 

the number in poverty between 2013 

and 2014.

The 2014 poverty rate and the number of people in poverty for those living inside metropolitan areas, but not 

in principal cities, were 11.8 percent 

and 19.7 million. Among those who 

lived in principal cities, the 2014 poverty rate and the number in poverty 

were 18.9 percent and 18.7 million. 

Neither group experienced a statistically significant change in the poverty rates or the number in poverty 

between 2013 and 2014.

Figure 6.

Poverty Rates by Age and Sex: 2014

(In percent)

Female

Male

21.1

21.2

15.3

7.4

12.1

11.6

Under age

18

Aged

18 to 64

Aged 65

and older

Note: For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, 

and definitions, see <ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf>.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2015 Annual Social and Economic Supplement.

 
16 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau

Within metropolitan areas, people 

in poverty were more likely to live in 

principal cities in 2014. While 37.3 

percent of all people living in metropolitan areas lived in principal cities, 

48.7 percent of poor people in metropolitan areas lived in principal cities 

(Table 3).

Work Experience

In 2014, 6.9 percent of workers aged 

18 to 64 were in poverty. The poverty 

rate for those who worked full time, 

year round was 3.0 percent, while the 

poverty rate for those working less 

than full time, year round was 15.9 

percent. None of these rates were 

statistically different from the 2013 

poverty rates (Table 3).

Among those who did not work at 

least 1 week in 2014, the poverty rate 

and the number in poverty were 33.7 

percent and 16.4 million in 2014, not 

statistically different from the 2013 

estimates (Table 3). Those who did 

not work in 2014 represented 24.7 

percent of all people aged 18 to 64, 

compared with 61.7 percent of people 

aged 18 to 64 in poverty.

Disability Status

In 2014, for people aged 18 to 64 

with a disability, the poverty rate was 

28.5 percent, not statistically different 

from 2013, whereas the number of 

people aged 18 to 64 with a disability 

increased from 4.0 million in 2013 to 

4.4 million 2014. For people aged 18 

to 64 without a disability, the poverty 

rate and number in poverty were 12.3 

percent and 22.1 million, neither statistically different from the previous 

year estimates. 

Among people aged 18 to 64, those 

with a disability represented 7.9 

percent of all people compared with 

16.6 percent of people aged 18 to 64 

in poverty.

Educational Attainment

In 2014, 28.9 percent of people aged 

25 and older without a high school 

diploma were in poverty. The poverty rate for those with a high school 

diploma but with no college was 

14.2 percent, while the poverty rate 

for those with some college but no 

degree was 10.2 percent. None of 

these rates were statistically different 

from the 2013 poverty rates (Table 3).

Among people with at least a bachelor’s degree, the poverty rate and the 

number in poverty were 5.0 percent 

and 3.4 million in 2014, up from 

4.4 percent and 3.0 million in 2013 

(Table 3). People with at least a bachelor’s degree in 2014 represented 32.5 

percent of all people aged 25 and 

older, compared with 13.7 percent of 

people aged 25 and older in poverty.

Families

In 2014, the family poverty rate and 

the number of families in poverty 

were 11.6 percent and 9.5 million, 

neither statistically different from the 

2013 estimates (Table 4).

For married-couple families, both the 

poverty rate and the number in poverty increased to 6.2 percent and 3.7 

million in 2014, up from 5.7 percent 

and 3.4 million in 2013. The poverty 

rate for families with a female householder was 30.6 percent in 2014, not 

statistically different from 2013, while 

the number in poverty decreased 

to 4.8 million in 2014 down from 

Table 4.

Families in Poverty by Type of Family: 2013 and 2014

(Numbers in thousands, margin of error in thousands or percentage points as appropriate. Families as of March of the following year. For information on 

confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf)

Characteristic

20131 2014 Change in poverty 

(2014 less 2013)3,*

Total

Below poverty

Total

Below poverty

Number

Margin of 

error2 (±) Percent

Margin of 

error2 (±) Number

Margin of 

error2 (±) Percent

Margin of 

error2 (±) Number Percent

FAMILIES

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82,316 9,645 421 11.7 0.5 81,730 9,467 228 11.6 0.3 –178 –0.1

Type of Family

Married-couple............. 59,643 3,394 249 5.7 0.4 60,015 3,735 141 6.2 0.2 *341 *0.5

Female householder, 

no husband present........ 16,176 5,203 324 32.2 1.6 15,553 4,764 171 30.6 0.9 *–439 –1.5

Male householder, 

no wife present . . . . . . . . . . 6,497 1,048 170 16.1 2.4 6,162 969 69 15.7 1.0 –80 –0.4

* An asterisk preceding an estimate indicates change is statistically different from zero at the 90 percent confidence level. 1

 The 2014 CPS ASEC included redesigned questions for income and health insurance coverage. All of the approximately 98,000 addresses were eligible to receive the 

redesigned set of health insurance coverage questions. The redesigned income questions were implemented to a subsample of these 98,000 addresses using a probability 

split panel design. Approximately 68,000 addresses were eligible to receive a set of income questions similar to those used in the 2013 CPS ASEC and the remaining 30,000 

addresses were eligible to receive the redesigned income questions. The source of data for this table is the portion of the CPS ASEC sample which received the redesigned 

income questions, approximately 30,000 addresses. 2 A margin of error is a measure of an estimate’s variability. The larger the margin of error in relation to the size of the estimate, the less reliable the estimate. This number, when 

added to and subtracted from the estimate, forms the 90 percent confidence interval. Margin of errors shown in this table are based on standard errors calculated using replicate 

weights. For more information, see “Standard Errors and Their Use” at <ftp://ftp2.census.gov/library/publications/2015/demo/p60-252sa.pdf>. 3

 Details may not sum to totals because of rounding.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2014 and 2015 Annual Social and Economic Supplements.
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 17

5.2 million in 2013. For families 

with a male householder, neither 

the poverty rate nor the number in 

poverty showed any statistical change 

between 2013 and 2014. For families 

with a male householder, 15.7 percent 

were in poverty in 2014. This represented 1.0 million families in 2014.

Depth of Poverty

Categorizing a person as “in poverty” 

or “not in poverty” is one way to 

describe his or her economic situation. The income-to-poverty ratio and 

the income deficit or surplus describe 

additional aspects of economic wellbeing. While the poverty rate shows 

the proportion of people with income 

below the relevant poverty threshold, 

the income-to-poverty ratio gauges 

the depth of poverty and shows how 

close a family’s income is to its poverty threshold. The income-to-poverty 

ratio is reported as a percentage that 

compares a family’s or an unrelated 

person’s income with the applicable 

threshold. For example, a family with 

an income-to-poverty ratio of 125 

percent has income that is 25 percent 

above its poverty threshold.

The income deficit or surplus shows 

how many dollars a family’s or an individual’s income is below (or above) 

their poverty threshold. For those 

with an income deficit, the measure is 

an estimate of the dollar amount necessary to raise a family’s or a person’s 

income to their poverty threshold.

Ratio of Income to Poverty

Table 5 presents the number and 

the percentage of people with specified income-to-poverty ratios—those 

below 50 percent of poverty (“Under 

0.50”), those below 125 percent of 

poverty (“Under 1.25”), those below 

150 percent of poverty (“Under 1.50”), 

and those below 200 percent of poverty (“Under 2.00”).

In 2014, 20.8 million people reported 

family income below one-half of their 

poverty threshold. They represented 

6.6 percent of all people and 44.6 percent of those in poverty. About 1 in 

5 people (19.4 percent) had family 

income below 125 percent of their 

threshold, about 1 in 4 people (24.1 

Table 5.

People With Income Below Specified Ratios of Their Poverty Thresholds by Selected 

Characteristics: 2014

(Numbers in thousands, margin of error in thousands or percentage points as appropriate. People as of March of the following year. For information on 

confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf)

Characteristic

Total

Income-to-poverty ratio1

Under 0.50 Under 1.25 Under 1.50 Under 2.00

Number

Margin of 

error2

(±)

Percent

Margin of 

error2

(±) Number

Margin of 

error2

(±)

Percent

Margin of 

error2

(±) Number

Margin of 

error2

(±)

Percent

Margin of 

error2

(±) Number

Margin of 

error2

(±)

Percent

Margin of 

error2

(±)

 All people . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315,804 20,803 571 6.6 0.2 61,339 905 19.4 0.3 76,135 975 24.1 0.3 105,343 1,100 33.4 0.3

Age

Under age 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,556 6,813 301 9.3 0.4 19,895 405 27.0 0.5 23,940 432 32.5 0.6 31,533 458 42.9 0.6

Aged 18 to 64 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196,254 12,515 362 6.4 0.2 34,439 580 17.5 0.3 42,513 621 21.7 0.3 58,879 715 30.0 0.4

Aged 65 and older . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45,994 1,475 109 3.2 0.2 7,005 220 15.2 0.5 9,683 259 21.1 0.6 14,931 295 32.5 0.6

Sex

Male . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154,639 9,245 299 6.0 0.2 27,441 465 17.7 0.3 34,188 495 22.1 0.3 48,157 597 31.1 0.4

Female . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161,164 11,558 365 7.2 0.2 33,898 556 21.0 0.3 41,948 588 26.0 0.4 57,186 611 35.5 0.4

Race3 and Hispanic Origin

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244,253 13,609 412 5.6 0.2 41,829 766 17.1 0.3 52,647 826 21.6 0.3 74,468 936 30.5 0.4

White, not Hispanic . . . . . . . . . . . 195,208 9,076 326 4.6 0.2 26,487 633 13.6 0.3 33,937 691 17.4 0.4 49,222 824 25.2 0.4

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41,112 4,925 300 12.0 0.7 13,344 421 32.5 1.0 15,700 420 38.2 1.0 20,276 406 49.3 1.0

Asian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,790 1,003 118 5.6 0.6 2,774 229 15.6 1.3 3,634 261 20.4 1.4 4,951 293 27.8 1.6

Hispanic (any race) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,504 5,316 280 9.6 0.5 17,496 474 31.5 0.9 21,303 499 38.4 0.9 28,668 492 51.6 0.9

Family Status

In families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256,308 13,506 498 5.3 0.2 43,517 809 17.0 0.3 54,713 887 21.3 0.3 77,442 1,015 30.2 0.4

Householder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81,730 4,062 151 5.0 0.2 12,635 263 15.5 0.3 16,004 282 19.6 0.3 22,911 324 28.0 0.4

Related children under age 18 . . . 72,383 6,474 301 8.9 0.4 19,237 408 26.6 0.6 23,213 439 32.1 0.6 30,684 464 42.4 0.6

 Related children under age 6 . . 23,470 2,554 158 10.9 0.7 7,037 202 30.0 0.8 8,409 217 35.8 0.9 10,792 217 46.0 0.9

In unrelated subfamilies . . . . . . . . . . 1,558 373 72 23.9 4.0 834 116 53.5 5.0 941 124 60.4 4.9 1,149 139 73.7 4.1

Unrelated individuals . . . . . . . . . . . . 57,937 6,925 268 12.0 0.4 16,988 425 29.3 0.6 20,482 454 35.4 0.6 26,753 540 46.2 0.7

1

 The estimates for people with income below 100 percent of their poverty thresholds (under 1.00) can be found in Table 3. 2

 A margin of error is a measure of an estimate’s variability.The larger the margin of error in relation to the size of the estimate, the less reliable the estimate.This number, when added to and subtracted from 

the estimate, forms the 90 percent confidence interval. Margin of errors shown in this table are based on standard errors calculated using replicate weights. For more information, see “Standard Errors and Their 

Use” at <ftp://ftp2.census.gov/library/publications/2015/demo/p60-252sa.pdf>. 3

 Federal surveys now give respondents the option of reporting more than one race. Therefore, two basic ways of defining a race group are possible. A group such as Asian may be defined as those 

who reported Asian and no other race (the race-alone or single-race concept) or as those who reported Asian regardless of whether they also reported another race (the race-alone-or-in-combination 

concept). This table shows data using the first approach (race alone). 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 2010 through American FactFinder. About 2.9 percent of people reported more than one race in Census 2010. Data for American Indians and Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiian and Other 

Pacific Islanders, and those reporting two or more races are not shown separately.

Note: Details may not sum to totals because of rounding.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2015 Annual Social and Economic Supplement.
18 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau

percent) had family income below 

150 percent of their poverty threshold, while approximately 1 in 3 (33.4 

percent) had family income below 200 

percent of their threshold (Table 5).

Of the 20.8 million people with family income below one-half of their 

poverty threshold, 6.8 million were 

children under age 18, 12.5 million 

were aged 18 to 64, and 1.5 million 

were aged 65 and older. The percentage of people aged 65 and older with 

income below 50 percent of their 

poverty threshold was 3.2 percent, 

less than one-half the percentage 

of the total population at this poverty level (6.6 percent) (Table 5). 

The demographic makeup of the 

population differs at varying degrees 

of poverty (Figure 7). In 2014 children 

represented:

• 23.3 percent of the overall 

population.

• 20.0 percent of the people with 

income above 200 percent of 

their poverty threshold.

• 27.3 percent of people with 

income between 100 percent 

and 200 percent of their poverty 

threshold.

• 32.8 percent of the population 

below 50 percent of their poverty 

threshold.

By comparison, people aged 65 and 

older represented:

• 14.6 percent of the overall 

population.

• 14.8 percent of the people with 

income above 200 percent of 

their poverty threshold.

• 17.6 percent of the people 

between 100 percent and 200 

percent of their poverty threshold.

• 7.1 percent of people below 50 

percent of their poverty threshold.

Income Deficit

The income deficit for families in 

poverty (the difference in dollars 

between a family’s income and its 

poverty threshold) averaged $10,137 

in 2014, which was not statistically 

different from the inflation-adjusted 

2013 estimate. The average income 

deficit was larger for families with a 

female householder ($10,662) than 

for married-couple families ($9,474) 

(Table 6).

For families in poverty, the average 

income deficit per capita for families 

with a female householder ($3,194) 

was higher than for married-couple 

families ($2,565).25 For unrelated individuals, the average income deficit for 

those in poverty was $6,826 in 2014. 

The $6,552 deficit for women was 

lower than the $7,183 deficit for men.

Shared Households

Shared households are defined as 

households that include at least one 

“additional” adult, a person aged 18 

or older, who is not the householder, 

spouse or cohabiting partner of the 

householder. Adults aged 18 to 24 

who are enrolled in school are not 

counted as additional adults.

In 2015, the number and percentage 

of shared households remained higher 

than in 2007, prior to the recession.26

In 2007, there were 19.7 million 

shared households, representing 17.0 

percent of all households; by 2015, 

there were 23.9 million shared households, representing 19.2 percent of all 

households. 

Between 2014 and 2015, however, the 

changes in the number and percentage of shared households were not 

25 The income deficit per capita is computed 

by dividing the average deficit by the average 

number of people in that type of family. Since 

families with a female householder were smaller 

on average than married-couple families, the 

larger per capita deficit for female householder 

families reflects their smaller average family size 

as well as their lower average family income. 26 While poverty estimates are based on 

income in the previous calendar year, estimates 

of living arrangements, including shared households, reflect household composition at the time 

of the survey. The CPS ASEC is collected during 

the months of February, March, and April of each 

year.

Figure 7.

Demographic Makeup of the Population at Varying Degrees 

of Poverty: 2014

Below 50%

Between 50% and 99%

Between 100% and 199%

200% and above

Population with

 income-to-poverty ratios

Total

Children under

age 18

(In percent)

23.3 62.1 14.6

65.3 14.8

17.6

12.0

7.1

55.1

54.2

60.2

20.0

27.3

33.8

32.8

People aged 

18 to 64 

People aged 

65 and older

Note: For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, 

see <ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf>.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2015 Annual Social and Economic Supplement.
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 19

statistically significant. The changes 

in the number and percentage of 

adults residing in shared households 

were also not statistically significant. 

In 2015, an estimated 11.1 million 

adults aged 25 to 34 were additional 

adults in someone else’s household. 

Of these young adults, 6.5 million 

lived with their parents. The changes 

in the number and percentage of 

young adults living in their parent’s 

household between 2014 and 2015 

were not statistically significant. 

It is difficult to assess the precise 

impact of household sharing on overall poverty rates. In 2014, adults aged 

25 to 34 living with their parents had 

an official poverty rate of 7.2 percent 

(when the entire family’s income is 

compared with the threshold that 

includes the young adult as a member 

of the family). However, if poverty 

status was determined using only 

the young adult’s own income, 39.4 

percent of those aged 25 to 34 would 

have been below the poverty threshold for a single person under age 65. 

Moreover, although 7.3 percent of 

families including at least one adult 

child of the householder aged 25 to 

34 were poor, 13.1 percent of those 

families would have had incomes 

below poverty if the young adult were 

not living in the household.

Alternative/Experimental 

Poverty Measures

The poverty estimates in this report 

compare the official poverty thresholds to money income before taxes, 

not including the value of noncash 

benefits. The money income measure does not completely capture 

the economic well-being of individuals and families, and there are many 

questions about the adequacy of the 

official poverty thresholds. Families 

and individuals also derive economic 

well-being from noncash benefits, 

such as food and housing subsidies, 

and their disposable income is determined by both taxes paid and tax 

credits received. The official poverty 

thresholds developed more than 50 

years ago do not take into account 

rising standards of living or such 

things as childcare expenses, other 

work-related expenses, variations 

in medical costs across population 

groups, or geographic differences in 

the cost of living. For more details, 

see the text box “Supplemental 

Poverty Measure” on page 2. Poverty 

estimates using the Supplemental 

Poverty Measure (SPM) address many 

Table 6.

Income Deficit or Surplus of Families and Unrelated Individuals by Poverty Status: 2014

(Numbers of families and unrelated individuals in thousands, deficits and surpluses and their margin of error in dollars. For information on 

confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf)

Characteristic

Total

Size of deficit or surplus Average deficit 

or surplus 

(dollars)

Deficit or 

surplus per 

capita (dollars)

Under

$1,000 

$1,000 

to 

$2,499

$2,500 

to 

$4,999

$5,000 

to 

$7,499

$7,500 

to 

$9,999

$10,000 

to 

$12,499

$12,500 

to 

$14,999

$15,000 

or 

more

Estimate

Margin of 

error1

(±)

Estimate

Margin of 

error1

(±)

Below Poverty Threshold, Deficit

All families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,467 593 907 1,382 1,333 957 902 855 2,537 10,137 161 2,943 51

Married-couple families . . . . . . . . . 3,735 270 383 618 541 377 300 393 853 9,474 271 2,565 74

Families with a female householder, 

no husband present . . . . . . . . . . . 4,764 264 443 614 652 487 509 390 1,405 10,662 231 3,194 74

Families with a male householder, 

no wife present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 969 59 81 151 140 94 93 72 280 10,113 524 3,358 188

Unrelated individuals . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,374 1,429 2,041 2,454 1,310 1,125 5,014 Z Z 6,826 117 6,826 117

Above Poverty Threshold, Surplus

All families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72,263 692 935 1,626 1,846 1,792 1,876 1,869 61,626 79,210 996 25,588 344

Married-couple families . . . . . . . . . 56,280 345 475 814 1,043 1,011 1,178 1,149 50,266 89,349 1,191 28,400 388

Families with a female householder, 

no husband present . . . . . . . . . . . 10,789 265 367 617 583 599 540 537 7,280 38,647 1,147 12,984 398

Families with a male householder, 

no wife present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,193 82 93 194 220 183 157 184 4,081 53,598 2,559 19,173 955

Unrelated individuals . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,563 1,166 1,545 3,101 2,678 3,136 2,098 2,694 28,147 35,459 712 35,459 712

Z Represents or rounds to zero. 1

 A margin of error is a measure of an estimate’s variability.The larger the margin of error in relation to the size of the estimate, the less reliable the estimate.This number, when 

added to and subtracted from the estimate, forms the 90 percent confidence interval. Margin of errors shown in this table are based on standard errors calculated using replicate 

weights. For more information, see “Standard Errors and Their Use” at <ftp://ftp2.census.gov/library/publications/2015/demo/p60-252sa.pdf>.

Note: Details may not sum to totals because of rounding.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2015 Annual Social and Economic Supplement.
20 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau

of these concerns. For more information on SPM estimates for 2014 see 

<ftp://ftp2.census.gov/library

/publications/2015/demo/p60-254

.pdf>. 

National Academy of Sciences (NAS)-

Based Measures

The Census Bureau also computes 

alternative poverty measures based 

on the 1995 recommendations of the 

National Academy of Sciences Panel 

on Poverty and Family Assistance. The 

NAS-based measures, which use both 

alternative poverty thresholds and an 

expanded income definition, provide 

a consistent time series available from

1999 to the present (www.census

.gov/prod/2001pubs/p60-216.pdf).27

The estimates for 2013 for the NASbased measures can be found at 

<www.census.gov/hhes/povmeas

/data/nas/tables/2013/index.html>.

Research Files

The Census Bureau makes available 

microdata research files that provide 

the variables used to construct SPM 

estimates and NAS-based alternative 

measures at <www.census.gov/hhes

/povmeas/data/public-use.html>. An 

expanded version of the CPS ASEC 

public use file includes estimates 

27 However, many of the elements of these 

measures are no longer being updated.

of the value of taxes and noncash 

benefits at <http://thedataweb.rm

.census.gov/ftp/cps_ftp.html>. 

CPS Table Creator

CPS Table Creator is a Web-based tool 

designed to help researchers explore 

alternative income and poverty measures. The tool is available from a link 

on the Census Bureau’s poverty Web 

site at <www.census.gov/cps/data

/cpstablecreator.html>. Table Creator 

allows researchers to produce poverty and income estimates using their 

own combinations of threshold and 

resource definitions and to see the 

incremental impact of the addition 

or subtraction of a single resource 

element. 

Researchers can also estimate poverty rates using alternative poverty 

thresholds. Many other countries use 

relative poverty measures with thresholds that are based on a percentage of 

median or mean income.28 The Table 

Creator allows researchers to estimate 

poverty rates using a relative poverty 

threshold calculated as any percentage of mean or median equivalence28 For example, the Organization for Economic 

Cooperation and Development (OECD) uses 

a poverty threshold of 50 percent of median 

income. The European Union defines poverty 

as an income below 60 percent of the national 

median equalized disposable income after social 

transfers.

adjusted income. For example, using 

poverty thresholds based on 50 

percent of median income rather than 

the official poverty thresholds would 

increase the overall poverty rate from 

14.8 percent to 22.6 percent in 2013.

COMMENTS

The Census Bureau welcomes the 

comments and advice of data and 

report users. If you have suggestions 

or comments on the income data, 

please write to:

Edward J. Welniak, Jr.

Chief, Income Statistics Branch

Social, Economic, and Housing

Statistics Division

U.S. Census Bureau

Washington, D.C. 20233-8500

Or send e-mail to: 

edward.j.welniak.jr@census.gov

If you have suggestions or comments 

on the poverty data, please write to:

Trudi J. Renwick

Chief, Poverty Statistics Branch

Social, Economic, and Housing

Statistics Division

U.S. Census Bureau

Washington, D.C. 20233-8500

Or send e-mail to: 

trudi.j.renwick@census.gov
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 21

APPENDIX A. ESTIMATES OF INCOME

How Income Is Measured

For each person 15 years and older 

in the sample, the Annual Social and 

Economic Supplement (ASEC) asks 

questions on the amount of money 

income received in the preceding calendar year from each of the following 

sources: 

1. Earnings 

2. Unemployment compensation 

3. Workers’ compensation 

4. Social security 

5. Supplemental security income 

6. Public assistance 

7. Veterans’ payments 

8. Survivor benefits 

9. Disability benefits 

10. Pension or retirement income 

11. Interest 

12. Dividends 

13. Rents, royalties, and estates and 

trusts 

14. Educational assistance 

15. Alimony 

16. Child support 

17. Financial assistance from outside 

of the household 

18. Other income 

It should be noted that although the 

income statistics refer to receipts during the preceding calendar year, the 

demographic characteristics, such as 

age, labor force status, and household 

composition, are as of the survey date. 

The income of the household does not 

include amounts received by people 

who were members during all or part 

of the previous year if these people 

no longer resided in the household at 

the time of the interview. The ASEC 

collects income data for people who 

are current residents but did not reside 

in the household during the previous 

year.

Data on income collected in the ASEC 

by the Census Bureau cover money 

income received (exclusive of certain 

money receipts such as capital gains) 

before payments for personal income 

taxes, social security, union dues, 

Medicare deductions, etc. Therefore, 

money income does not reflect the 

fact that some families receive noncash benefits, such as Supplemental 

Nutrition Assistance/food stamps, 

health benefits, subsidized housing, 

and goods produced and consumed 

on the farm. In addition, money 

income does not reflect the fact that 

noncash benefits are also received by 

some nonfarm residents, which often 

take the form of the use of business 

transportation and facilities, full or 

partial payments by business for 

retirement programs, medical and 

educational expenses, etc. Data users 

should consider these elements when 

comparing income levels. Moreover, 

readers should be aware that for many 

different reasons there is a tendency 

in household surveys for respondents 

to underreport their income. Based on 

an analysis of independently derived 

income estimates, the Census Bureau 

determined that respondents report 

income earned from wages or salaries 

more accurately than other sources of 

income, and that the reported wage 

and salary income is nearly equal to 

independent estimates of aggregate 

income.

Recessions

Business cycle peaks and troughs used 

to delineate the beginning and end of 

recessions, as shown in the text box 

above, are determined by the National 

Bureau of Economic Research, a private 

research organization. The data points 

in the time series charts in this report 

use July as a reference.

Recessions

Peak month Year Trough month Year

November 1948 October 1949

July 1953 May 1954

August 1957 April 1958

April 1960 February 1961

December 1969 November 1970

November 1973 March 1975

January 1980 July 1980

July 1981 November 1982

July 1990 March 1991

March 2001 November 2001

December 2007 June 2009

Source: National Bureau of Economic Research

 Cambridge, MA 02138

 <www nber org . . >
22 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau

Annual Average Consumer Price Index Research Series (CPI-U-RS) 

Using Current Methods All Items: 1947 to 2014

Year CPI-U-RS1

 index

(December 1977 = 100) Year CPI-U-RS1

 index

(December 1977 = 100)

1947 . . . . . . . . . . . 37.5 1981 . . . . . . . . . . . 139.2

1948 . . . . . . . . . . . 40.5 1982 . . . . . . . . . . . 147.6

1949 . . . . . . . . . . . 40.0 1983 . . . . . . . . . . . 153.8

1950 . . . . . . . . . . . 40.5 1984 . . . . . . . . . . . 160.2

1951 . . . . . . . . . . . 43.7 1985 . . . . . . . . . . . 165.7

1952 . . . . . . . . . . . 44.5 1986 . . . . . . . . . . . 168.7

1953 . . . . . . . . . . . 44.8 1987 . . . . . . . . . . . 174.4

1954 . . . . . . . . . . . 45.2 1988 . . . . . . . . . . . 180.8

1955 . . . . . . . . . . . 45.0 1989 . . . . . . . . . . . 188.6

1956 . . . . . . . . . . . 45.7 1990 . . . . . . . . . . . 197.9

1957 . . . . . . . . . . . 47.2 1991 . . . . . . . . . . . 205.1

1958 . . . . . . . . . . . 48.5 1992 . . . . . . . . . . . 210.3

1959 . . . . . . . . . . . 48.9 1993 . . . . . . . . . . . 215.5

1960 . . . . . . . . . . . 49.7 1994 . . . . . . . . . . . 220.0

1961 . . . . . . . . . . . 50.2 1995 . . . . . . . . . . . 225.3

1962 . . . . . . . . . . . 50.7 1996 . . . . . . . . . . . 231.4

1963 . . . . . . . . . . . 51.4 1997 . . . . . . . . . . . 236.4

1964 . . . . . . . . . . . 52.1 1998 . . . . . . . . . . . 239.6

1965 . . . . . . . . . . . 52.9 1999 . . . . . . . . . . . 244.7

1966 . . . . . . . . . . . 54.4 2000 . . . . . . . . . . . 253.0

1967 . . . . . . . . . . . 56.1 2001 . . . . . . . . . . . 260.1

1968 . . . . . . . . . . . 58.3 2002 . . . . . . . . . . . 264.3

1969 . . . . . . . . . . . 60.9 2003 . . . . . . . . . . . 270.2

1970 . . . . . . . . . . . 63.9 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . 277.5

1971 . . . . . . . . . . . 66.7 2005 . . . . . . . . . . . 286.9

1972 . . . . . . . . . . . 68.7 2006 . . . . . . . . . . . 296.2

1973 . . . . . . . . . . . 73.0 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . 304.6

1974 . . . . . . . . . . . 80.3 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . 316.3

1975 . . . . . . . . . . . 86.9 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . 315.2

1976 . . . . . . . . . . . 91.9 2010 . . . . . . . . . . . 320.3

1977 . . . . . . . . . . . 97.7 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . 330.4

1978 . . . . . . . . . . . 104.4 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . 337.3

1979 . . . . . . . . . . . 114.3 2013 . . . . . . . . . . . 342.2

1980 . . . . . . . . . . . 127.1 2014 . . . . . . . . . . . 347.8

1 The Census Bureau uses the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index Research Series 

(CPI-U-RS) for 1977 through 2014. The Census Bureau derived the CPI-U-RS for years before 1977 by 

applying the 1977 CPI-U-RS-to-CPI-U ratio to the 1947-to-1976 CPI-U.

Note: Data users can compute the percentage changes in prices between earlier years’ data and 

2014 data by dividing the annual average CPI-U-RS for 2014 by the annual average for the earlier 

year(s).

For more information on the CPI-U-RS, see <www.bls.gov/cpi/cpiurs.htm>.

Cost-of-Living Adjustment

In order to accurately assess changes 

in income and earnings over time, 

an adjustment for changes in the 

cost of living is required. The Census 

Bureau uses the research series of 

the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U-RS), 

provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor 

Statistics for 1977 through 2014, 

to adjust for changes in the cost of 

living. The indexes used to make the 

constant dollar conversions are shown 

in the text box “Annual Average 

Consumer Price Index Research Series 

(CPI-U-RS) Using Current Methods All 

Items: 1947 to 2014.”

Poverty Threshold Adjustment

The Office of Management and 

Budget’s (OMB) Statistical Policy 

Directive 14 directed the Census 

Bureau to use the CPI-U to update 

the poverty thresholds each year for 

changes in the cost of living. These 

thresholds are compared to current 

year (unadjusted for inflation) money 

income. If, alternatively, the CPI-U-RS 

index had been used to inflationadjust poverty thresholds from 

previous years, current poverty rates 

would be lower. This is because the 

CPI-U-RS results in a smaller cost of 

living adjustment over time than the 

CPI-U.
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 23 Table A-1. Households by Total Money Income, Race, and Hispanic Origin of Householder: 1967 to 2014—Con. (Income in 2014 CPI-U-RS adjusted dollars. Households as of March of the following year. Beginning with 2010, standard errors were calculated using replicate weights. Before 2010, standard errors were calculated using the generalized variance function. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf) Race and Hispanic origin of householder and year Number (thousands) Percentage distribution Median income (dollars) Mean income (dollars) Total Under $15,000 $15,000 to $24,999 $25,000 to $34,999 $35,000 to $49,999 $50,000 to $74,999 $75,000 to $99,999 $100,000 to $149,999 $150,000 to $199,999 $200,000 and over Value Standard error Value Standard error ALL RACES 2014.............. 124,587 100.0 12.6 11.0 10.1 13.1 17.0 11.5 13.4 5.7 5.6 53,657 392 75,738 446 20131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123,931 100.0 12.5 11.2 9.8 13.1 17.1 11.9 12.9 5.9 5.6 54,462 665 76,426 675 20132 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122,952 100.0 12.5 11.2 10.3 13.5 17.4 12.1 12.6 5.4 5.0 52,789 281 73,830 507 2012.............. 122,459 100.0 12.7 11.4 10.4 13.5 17.4 11.8 12.8 5.2 4.8 52,605 216 73,493 434 2011.............. 121,084 100.0 12.7 11.0 10.9 13.6 17.5 11.4 12.7 5.4 4.8 52,690 264 73,346 387 20103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119,927 100.0 12.4 11.5 10.4 13.3 17.1 12.2 13.0 5.3 4.8 53,507 353 73,178 391 20094 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117,538 100.0 11.6 10.8 10.5 13.8 17.3 12.4 13.3 5.4 4.9 54,925 235 75,007 268 2008.............. 117,181 100.0 11.6 10.7 10.3 13.8 17.2 12.5 13.6 5.5 4.8 55,313 151 75,238 266 2007.............. 116,783 100.0 11.2 10.3 10.2 12.9 17.9 12.3 14.4 5.7 5.2 57,357 160 77,198 269 2006.............. 116,011 100.0 10.9 10.3 9.6 14.3 17.6 12.5 13.9 5.7 5.3 56,598 243 78,167 302 2005.............. 114,384 100.0 11.4 10.7 9.6 13.8 17.8 12.6 13.6 5.4 5.1 56,160 188 76,790 290 20045 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113,343 100.0 11.3 10.4 10.5 13.3 17.6 12.8 13.7 5.5 4.8 55,565 246 75,784 286 2003.............. 112,000 100.0 11.4 10.5 10.0 13.2 17.7 12.6 14.1 5.4 4.9 55,759 242 76,031 278 2002.............. 111,278 100.0 11.1 10.4 10.3 13.3 17.8 12.9 14.2 5.3 4.8 55,807 183 76,129 286 2001.............. 109,297 100.0 10.7 10.3 10.1 13.6 17.8 12.7 14.4 5.2 5.1 56,466 172 77,834 310 20006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108,209 100.0 10.4 10.1 9.8 13.5 18.0 13.1 14.3 5.7 5.0 57,724 181 78,544 309 19997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106,434 100.0 10.3 10.3 9.8 13.7 18.0 13.1 14.3 5.4 5.1 57,843 270 77,799 404 1998.............. 103,874 100.0 11.1 10.4 9.7 13.7 18.5 13.0 14.1 5.0 4.5 56,445 334 75,272 406 1997.............. 102,528 100.0 11.6 10.7 10.1 13.7 18.7 13.0 13.3 4.8 4.1 54,443 252 73,109 409 1996.............. 101,018 100.0 11.7 11.3 10.2 14.3 18.0 13.6 12.5 4.7 3.6 53,345 269 70,827 397 19958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99,627 100.0 11.8 11.6 10.3 14.3 18.9 12.8 12.6 4.2 3.5 52,604 304 69,372 380 19949 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98,990 100.0 12.7 11.7 10.6 14.1 18.6 12.6 12.1 4.1 3.4 51,006 232 68,189 367 199310 . . . . . . . . . . . . 97,107 100.0 13.2 11.5 10.6 14.6 18.6 12.6 11.9 4.0 3.1 50,421 236 66,862 362 199211 . . . . . . . . . . . . 96,426 100.0 13.2 11.7 10.5 14.5 18.9 13.0 11.7 3.8 2.7 50,667 240 64,235 270 1991.............. 95,669 100.0 12.8 11.1 10.6 14.7 19.5 12.8 12.1 3.8 2.6 51,086 246 64,307 265 1990.............. 94,312 100.0 12.4 10.8 9.9 14.9 20.0 13.2 12.2 3.8 2.9 52,623 269 65,734 278 1989.............. 93,347 100.0 12.1 10.7 9.9 14.6 19.6 13.5 12.6 4.0 3.0 53,306 293 67,347 293 1988.............. 92,830 100.0 12.7 10.5 10.6 13.9 19.8 13.5 12.3 3.8 2.8 52,372 256 65,438 292 198712 . . . . . . . . . . . . 91,124 100.0 13.1 10.7 10.3 14.5 19.7 13.2 12.3 3.6 2.6 51,973 245 64,634 265 1986.............. 89,479 100.0 13.4 10.8 10.3 14.6 19.9 13.2 11.8 3.6 2.4 51,329 266 63,414 258 198513 . . . . . . . . . . . . 88,458 100.0 13.6 11.0 10.9 14.8 20.4 12.9 11.3 3.1 2.1 49,574 269 61,009 241 198414 . . . . . . . . . . . . 86,789 100.0 13.4 11.7 11.2 15.0 20.2 12.9 10.7 3.0 1.9 48,664 221 59,625 219 1983.............. 85,407 100.0 14.0 11.9 11.3 15.6 20.2 12.6 9.9 2.7 1.7 47,229 215 57,441 215 1982.............. 83,918 100.0 14.3 11.7 11.1 15.9 20.6 12.4 9.8 2.5 1.6 47,530 214 57,281 212 1981.............. 83,527 100.0 13.9 11.9 11.6 15.1 20.9 13.0 9.9 2.3 1.4 47,658 250 56,935 207 1980.............. 82,368 100.0 13.6 11.5 11.2 15.3 21.5 13.1 9.9 2.5 1.3 48,462 249 57,637 211 197915 . . . . . . . . . . . . 80,776 100.0 13.1 11.2 11.0 14.9 21.3 14.0 10.2 2.7 1.6 50,089 237 59,500 225 1978.............. 77,330 100.0 13.0 11.5 10.9 14.8 21.8 13.7 10.3 2.5 1.5 50,184 203 59,066 227 1977.............. 76,030 100.0 13.3 12.1 10.8 15.5 21.8 13.5 9.4 2.1 1.4 48,315 182 57,314 174 197616 . . . . . . . . . . . . 74,142 100.0 13.3 12.1 11.1 15.7 22.1 13.4 9.0 2.0 1.2 48,011 178 56,473 174 197517 . . . . . . . . . . . . 72,867 100.0 13.8 12.3 11.1 16.1 22.4 12.6 8.7 1.9 1.1 47,227 192 55,148 172 197417, 18 . . . . . . . . . . . 71,163 100.0 13.2 11.4 11.0 16.3 22.5 13.2 9.0 2.1 1.2 48,497 186 56,713 178 1973.............. 69,859 100.0 13.2 11.5 10.0 15.5 22.7 13.7 9.7 2.2 1.5 50,083 191 57,921 176 197219 . . . . . . . . . . . . 68,251 100.0 13.6 11.1 10.5 15.9 23.0 13.4 9.1 2.1 1.4 49,092 187 57,136 177 197120 . . . . . . . . . . . . 66,676 100.0 14.5 11.0 11.2 16.7 23.6 12.5 7.8 1.6 1.1 47,076 183 54,141 172 1970.............. 64,778 100.0 14.5 10.6 10.9 17.1 23.7 12.5 7.8 1.7 1.1 47,538 174 54,434 174 1969.............. 63,401 100.0 14.4 10.5 10.7 17.2 24.5 12.4 7.6 1.6 1.1 47,910 177 54,506 171 1968.............. 62,214 100.0 14.7 10.9 11.0 18.7 24.3 11.7 6.5 1.3 0.9 46,192 167 52,259 167 196721 . . . . . . . . . . . . 60,813 100.0 16.0 11.3 11.4 19.5 23.2 10.5 5.7 1.4 1.0 44,284 161 49,529 161 See footnotes at end of table.
24 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau Table A-1. Households by Total Money Income, Race, and Hispanic Origin of Householder: 1967 to 2014—Con. (Income in 2014 CPI-U-RS adjusted dollars. Households as of March of the following year. Beginning with 2010, standard errors were calculated using replicate weights. Before 2010, standard errors were calculated using the generalized variance function. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf) Race and Hispanic origin of householder and year Number (thousands) Percentage distribution Median income (dollars) Mean income (dollars) Total Under $15,000 $15,000 to $24,999 $25,000 to $34,999 $35,000 to $49,999 $50,000 to $74,999 $75,000 to $99,999 $100,000 to $149,999 $150,000 to $199,999 $200,000 and over Value Standard error Value Standard error WHITE ALONE22 2014.............. 98,679 100.0 11.0 10.6 9.8 13.1 17.5 12.1 14.0 6.0 6.0 56,866 355 78,890 523 20131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98,807 100.0 10.9 10.9 9.6 12.9 17.4 12.6 13.4 6.2 6.0 57,674 525 79,099 770 20132 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97,774 100.0 10.8 10.7 10.1 13.4 17.9 12.8 13.2 5.7 5.3 56,161 432 77,080 553 2012.............. 97,705 100.0 10.8 11.0 10.3 13.4 17.8 12.4 13.5 5.6 5.2 55,378 396 76,733 478 2011.............. 96,964 100.0 10.8 10.5 10.7 13.7 18.0 11.9 13.3 5.8 5.2 54,964 237 76,647 444 20103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96,306 100.0 10.6 11.2 10.2 13.3 17.5 12.7 13.8 5.6 5.2 56,149 275 76,457 440 20094 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95,489 100.0 10.0 10.5 10.2 13.8 17.8 12.9 14.0 5.7 5.2 57,225 170 77,840 300 2008.............. 95,297 100.0 10.1 10.4 10.0 13.5 17.6 13.0 14.3 5.8 5.2 57,522 167 78,281 301 2007.............. 95,112 100.0 9.6 10.0 10.0 12.8 18.2 12.7 15.1 6.0 5.6 59,506 176 80,306 306 2006.............. 94,705 100.0 9.4 9.9 9.4 14.2 17.8 13.1 14.6 6.0 5.6 59,501 173 81,146 338 2005.............. 93,588 100.0 9.8 10.2 9.5 13.8 18.1 13.2 14.2 5.7 5.5 58,861 257 79,964 331 20045 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92,880 100.0 9.8 10.1 10.2 13.1 17.9 13.3 14.5 5.9 5.2 58,478 229 78,846 325 2003.............. 91,962 100.0 9.9 10.2 9.9 13.3 17.9 13.0 14.8 5.8 5.3 58,736 230 79,274 318 2002.............. 91,645 100.0 9.6 10.0 10.1 13.0 18.0 13.5 15.0 5.6 5.1 59,330 241 79,174 322 WHITE23 2001.............. 90,682 100.0 9.3 10.1 9.8 13.5 18.0 13.1 15.2 5.5 5.6 59,527 279 80,915 348 20006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90,030 100.0 9.2 9.8 9.5 13.5 18.2 13.6 15.0 6.0 5.4 60,371 267 81,457 349 19997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88,893 100.0 8.8 10.0 9.7 13.7 18.2 13.6 15.1 5.5 5.5 60,158 304 80,626 456 1998.............. 87,212 100.0 9.4 9.9 9.5 13.7 18.8 13.6 14.9 5.3 4.9 59,387 298 78,686 463 1997.............. 86,106 100.0 10.1 10.3 9.9 13.6 19.0 13.4 14.1 5.1 4.5 57,337 363 76,360 465 1996.............. 85,059 100.0 10.1 11.0 10.0 14.3 18.4 14.1 13.2 5.0 3.9 55,854 289 73,639 436 19958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84,511 100.0 10.2 11.1 10.2 14.3 19.3 13.4 13.2 4.5 3.8 55,213 289 72,136 418 19949 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83,737 100.0 10.9 11.3 10.5 14.1 19.1 13.1 12.8 4.4 3.7 53,795 302 71,195 414 199310 . . . . . . . . . . . . 82,387 100.0 11.2 11.0 10.3 14.6 19.3 13.3 12.6 4.2 3.4 53,195 310 69,859 403 199211 . . . . . . . . . . . . 81,795 100.0 11.1 11.2 10.4 14.6 19.4 13.7 12.5 4.0 3.0 53,268 258 67,135 299 1991.............. 81,675 100.0 10.8 10.7 10.4 14.8 19.9 13.5 12.9 4.1 2.8 53,533 259 67,021 292 1990.............. 80,968 100.0 10.6 10.3 9.8 15.0 20.5 13.8 12.8 4.1 3.1 54,887 251 68,386 306 1989.............. 80,163 100.0 10.2 10.3 9.8 14.7 20.0 14.2 13.2 4.3 3.3 56,072 273 70,152 325 1988.............. 79,734 100.0 10.8 9.9 10.5 14.0 20.5 14.1 13.1 4.1 3.0 55,365 327 68,229 321 198712 . . . . . . . . . . . . 78,519 100.0 11.1 10.2 10.1 14.5 20.4 13.9 13.1 3.9 2.8 54,759 275 67,396 291 1986.............. 77,284 100.0 11.6 10.3 10.1 14.6 20.6 13.9 12.6 3.8 2.6 53,964 262 66,055 282 198513 . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,576 100.0 11.9 10.5 10.7 14.9 21.0 13.5 12.0 3.3 2.3 52,281 279 63,513 267 198414 . . . . . . . . . . . . 75,328 100.0 11.7 11.1 11.0 15.1 20.9 13.6 11.3 3.2 2.1 51,338 258 62,085 241 1983.............. 74,376 100.0 12.1 11.3 11.1 15.9 21.0 13.2 10.5 2.9 1.9 49,529 224 59,825 233 1982.............. 73,182 100.0 12.5 11.2 11.0 16.1 21.2 13.0 10.5 2.8 1.7 49,759 226 59,642 233 1981.............. 72,845 100.0 12.1 11.3 11.4 15.2 21.7 13.7 10.6 2.5 1.5 50,354 232 59,321 225 1980.............. 71,872 100.0 11.9 10.8 11.0 15.4 22.3 13.9 10.6 2.7 1.5 51,127 263 59,963 230 197915 . . . . . . . . . . . . 70,766 100.0 11.6 10.5 10.7 15.0 22.0 14.6 10.9 2.9 1.8 52,517 250 61,846 246 1978.............. 68,028 100.0 11.4 11.0 10.6 14.8 22.4 14.4 10.8 2.7 1.7 52,170 230 61,255 247 1977.............. 66,934 100.0 11.9 11.3 10.5 15.5 22.6 14.3 10.0 2.3 1.5 50,807 214 59,553 192 197616 . . . . . . . . . . . . 65,353 100.0 11.9 11.5 10.9 15.7 22.8 14.1 9.6 2.2 1.3 50,293 208 58,645 189 197517 . . . . . . . . . . . . 64,392 100.0 12.3 11.7 10.9 16.1 23.1 13.3 9.2 2.0 1.3 49,388 180 57,185 188 197417, 18 . . . . . . . . . . . 62,984 100.0 11.8 10.7 10.6 16.4 23.3 13.9 9.6 2.2 1.3 50,719 191 58,814 191 1973.............. 61,965 100.0 11.9 10.8 9.7 15.4 23.3 14.4 10.4 2.4 1.7 52,489 200 60,160 191 197219 . . . . . . . . . . . . 60,618 100.0 12.3 10.4 10.1 15.8 23.8 14.0 9.7 2.3 1.5 51,502 197 59,359 192 197120 . . . . . . . . . . . . 59,463 100.0 13.1 10.4 10.8 16.8 24.4 13.2 8.3 1.7 1.2 49,240 188 56,102 183 1970.............. 57,575 100.0 13.2 10.0 10.5 17.2 24.6 13.2 8.3 1.8 1.2 49,514 191 56,339 185 1969.............. 56,248 100.0 13.1 9.8 10.2 17.2 25.4 13.2 8.1 1.7 1.2 50,000 183 56,527 188 1968.............. 55,394 100.0 13.5 10.1 10.5 18.9 25.4 12.4 6.9 1.4 1.0 48,095 179 54,139 179 196721 . . . . . . . . . . . . 54,188 100.0 14.7 10.5 11.0 19.8 24.3 11.1 6.1 1.4 1.0 46,181 167 51,339 174 See footnotes at end of table.
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 25 Table A-1. Households by Total Money Income, Race, and Hispanic Origin of Householder: 1967 to 2014—Con. (Income in 2014 CPI-U-RS adjusted dollars. Households as of March of the following year. Beginning with 2010, standard errors were calculated using replicate weights. Before 2010, standard errors were calculated using the generalized variance function. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf) Race and Hispanic origin of householder and year Number (thousands) Percentage distribution Median income (dollars) Mean income (dollars) Total Under $15,000 $15,000 to $24,999 $25,000 to $34,999 $35,000 to $49,999 $50,000 to $74,999 $75,000 to $99,999 $100,000 to $149,999 $150,000 to $199,999 $200,000 and over Value Standard error Value Standard error WHITE ALONE, NOT HISPANIC22 2014.............. 84,228 100.0 10.4 10.0 9.3 12.6 17.4 12.3 14.8 6.5 6.7 60,256 368 82,465 579 20131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84,432 100.0 10.2 10.3 8.8 12.5 17.8 13.1 14.2 6.7 6.5 61,317 542 82,557 862 20132 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83,641 100.0 10.0 10.2 9.6 12.9 18.1 13.2 13.9 6.2 5.9 59,224 622 80,638 641 2012.............. 83,792 100.0 10.0 10.4 9.8 13.0 17.9 12.8 14.3 6.0 5.7 58,783 370 80,266 531 2011.............. 83,573 100.0 10.1 10.1 10.2 13.2 18.1 12.3 14.1 6.3 5.7 58,330 345 80,069 503 20103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83,314 100.0 9.8 10.7 9.7 13.0 17.5 13.1 14.6 6.0 5.7 59,136 484 79,629 499 20094 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83,158 100.0 9.3 9.9 9.7 13.6 17.8 13.2 14.8 6.2 5.6 60,094 308 80,815 330 2008.............. 82,884 100.0 9.4 9.9 9.6 13.0 17.7 13.5 15.1 6.2 5.7 61,060 247 81,482 333 2007.............. 82,765 100.0 9.1 9.6 9.5 12.4 18.0 13.0 16.0 6.4 6.1 62,709 282 83,561 337 2006.............. 82,675 100.0 8.9 9.4 9.1 13.6 17.7 13.4 15.3 6.3 6.2 61,555 221 84,243 372 2005.............. 82,003 100.0 9.3 9.7 9.2 13.3 18.0 13.6 15.0 6.2 5.9 61,564 209 83,165 367 20045 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81,628 100.0 9.3 9.7 9.7 12.7 17.7 13.7 15.2 6.3 5.6 61,301 281 81,790 356 2003.............. 81,148 100.0 9.4 9.7 9.4 12.8 17.9 13.3 15.6 6.2 5.7 61,498 297 82,235 349 2002.............. 81,166 100.0 9.2 9.6 9.6 12.6 18.0 13.8 15.8 5.9 5.5 61,717 242 81,739 347 WHITE, NOT HISPANIC23 2001.............. 80,818 100.0 9.0 9.6 9.5 13.1 17.9 13.3 15.9 5.8 6.0 61,918 257 83,499 378 20006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80,527 100.0 8.8 9.3 9.1 13.1 18.1 13.8 15.6 6.3 5.8 62,718 252 83,935 377 19997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79,819 100.0 8.4 9.5 9.3 13.2 18.2 13.9 15.7 5.9 5.9 62,762 397 83,270 493 1998.............. 78,577 100.0 8.7 9.5 9.1 13.3 18.9 13.9 15.6 5.7 5.2 61,604 354 81,206 496 1997.............. 77,936 100.0 9.3 9.9 9.5 13.4 19.0 13.9 14.8 5.4 4.8 59,698 312 78,807 N 1996.............. 77,240 100.0 9.4 10.4 9.6 14.1 18.5 14.6 13.9 5.3 4.2 58,298 400 75,867 N 19958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,932 100.0 9.3 10.5 9.8 14.1 19.6 13.9 13.9 4.8 4.0 57,392 299 74,489 446 19949 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77,004 100.0 10.2 10.9 10.3 14.0 19.3 13.4 13.3 4.6 3.9 55,531 294 73,008 433 199310 . . . . . . . . . . . . 75,697 100.0 10.5 10.6 10.0 14.4 19.5 13.7 13.2 4.5 3.6 55,153 323 71,700 428 199211 . . . . . . . . . . . . 75,107 100.0 10.5 10.8 10.1 14.4 19.6 14.1 13.1 4.2 3.2 55,056 341 68,841 318 1991.............. 75,625 100.0 10.3 10.4 10.2 14.7 20.1 13.8 13.4 4.2 3.0 54,812 270 68,459 305 1990.............. 75,035 100.0 10.1 9.9 9.6 14.8 20.6 14.1 13.3 4.3 3.3 56,142 262 69,901 316 1989.............. 74,495 100.0 9.7 10.0 9.6 14.5 20.2 14.4 13.7 4.5 3.4 57,278 280 71,557 350 1988.............. 74,067 100.0 10.3 9.6 10.2 13.8 20.7 14.4 13.6 4.2 3.2 56,891 335 69,622 327 198712 . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,120 100.0 10.6 9.8 10.0 14.3 20.7 14.2 13.6 4.0 2.9 56,264 313 68,714 319 1986.............. 72,067 100.0 11.1 9.9 9.9 14.5 20.7 14.2 12.9 4.0 2.8 55,190 285 67,366 309 198513 . . . . . . . . . . . . 71,540 100.0 11.4 10.1 10.5 14.8 21.2 13.8 12.4 3.4 2.4 53,457 273 64,749 294 198414 . . . . . . . . . . . . 70,586 100.0 11.2 10.8 10.8 15.1 21.1 13.9 11.7 3.4 2.2 52,404 291 63,164 282 1983.............. 69,648 100.0 11.6 11.0 11.0 15.8 21.2 13.5 10.9 3.0 2.0 50,802 256 61,396 262 1982.............. 69,214 100.0 12.1 10.9 10.9 16.0 21.4 13.3 10.9 2.9 1.8 50,594 254 60,519 259 1981.............. 68,996 100.0 11.8 11.1 11.3 15.1 21.8 13.9 10.9 2.6 1.6 51,081 260 60,068 250 1980.............. 68,106 100.0 11.6 10.6 10.9 15.2 22.5 14.1 10.8 2.7 1.5 52,033 108 60,751 274 197915 . . . . . . . . . . . . 67,203 100.0 11.3 10.3 10.5 14.9 22.1 14.9 11.1 3.0 1.8 53,256 295 62,561 274 1978.............. 64,836 100.0 11.2 10.9 10.5 14.7 22.5 14.6 11.1 2.8 1.8 53,153 280 61,978 267 1977.............. 63,721 100.0 11.7 11.1 10.4 15.3 22.7 14.6 10.3 2.4 1.6 51,814 292 60,290 285 197616 . . . . . . . . . . . . 62,365 100.0 11.6 11.2 10.7 15.6 22.9 14.4 9.8 2.3 1.4 51,318 299 59,398 265 197517 . . . . . . . . . . . . 61,533 100.0 12.1 11.5 10.8 16.0 23.3 13.6 9.5 2.1 1.3 49,761 264 57,885 280 197417, 18 . . . . . . . . . . . 60,164 100.0 11.7 10.5 10.4 16.2 23.4 14.2 9.9 2.3 1.4 51,152 251 59,477 260 1973.............. 59,236 100.0 11.8 10.6 9.5 15.3 23.3 14.7 10.6 2.5 1.8 52,951 248 60,832 257 197219 . . . . . . . . . . . . 58,005 100.0 12.2 10.1 9.9 15.6 24.0 14.3 10.0 2.4 1.5 52,236 248 60,047 268 See footnotes at end of table.
26 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau Table A-1. Households by Total Money Income, Race, and Hispanic Origin of Householder: 1967 to 2014—Con. (Income in 2014 CPI-U-RS adjusted dollars. Households as of March of the following year. Beginning with 2010, standard errors were calculated using replicate weights. Before 2010, standard errors were calculated using the generalized variance function. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf) Race and Hispanic origin of householder and year Number (thousands) Percentage distribution Median income (dollars) Mean income (dollars) Total Under $15,000 $15,000 to $24,999 $25,000 to $34,999 $35,000 to $49,999 $50,000 to $74,999 $75,000 to $99,999 $100,000 to $149,999 $150,000 to $199,999 $200,000 and over Value Standard error Value Standard error BLACK ALONE OR IN COMBINATION 2014.............. 17,198 100.0 22.3 14.3 12.6 14.5 15.1 8.3 8.1 2.8 2.1 35,653 472 51,621 693 20131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,723 100.0 22.3 14.1 12.5 14.9 15.2 7.4 8.7 3.0 2.0 36,349 791 52,520 1,345 20132 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,855 100.0 22.4 14.7 12.6 14.9 14.9 8.2 7.9 2.6 1.8 35,344 711 50,519 885 2012.............. 16,559 100.0 23.5 15.0 11.7 14.3 15.1 8.5 8.0 2.3 1.6 34,768 823 49,659 761 2011.............. 16,165 100.0 24.3 14.5 12.3 13.4 15.4 8.4 7.5 2.6 1.8 34,071 582 50,008 814 20103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,909 100.0 23.7 14.4 12.2 14.4 14.6 9.2 7.4 2.5 1.5 34,917 510 49,405 681 20094 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,212 100.0 21.5 13.9 13.3 14.7 15.3 9.6 7.6 2.5 1.6 36,137 461 51,067 569 2008.............. 15,056 100.0 21.1 13.4 12.6 16.0 15.7 9.0 8.0 2.7 1.5 37,765 483 51,328 537 2007.............. 14,976 100.0 21.4 13.0 12.1 14.1 16.6 9.5 8.9 2.8 1.7 38,926 531 53,473 585 2006.............. 14,709 100.0 20.7 13.8 11.2 16.3 16.0 9.1 8.5 2.5 2.0 37,730 279 53,418 655 2005.............. 14,399 100.0 21.5 14.7 11.1 15.0 15.9 9.2 8.2 2.8 1.5 37,525 358 51,797 564 20045 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,151 100.0 21.5 12.7 12.9 15.2 15.7 10.0 8.0 2.5 1.6 37,895 347 51,085 543 2003.............. 13,969 100.0 21.2 13.5 12.3 13.9 16.8 9.4 8.7 2.5 1.5 38,216 480 51,895 550 2002.............. 13,778 100.0 20.6 13.7 12.2 15.4 15.9 9.4 8.2 2.5 2.0 38,395 505 53,077 618 BLACK ALONE24 2014.............. 16,437 100.0 22.4 14.4 12.7 14.4 15.1 8.2 8.1 2.7 2.0 35,398 461 51,230 691 20131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,009 100.0 22.9 14.1 12.4 14.8 15.1 7.5 8.4 3.0 1.9 35,902 871 51,280 1,204 20132 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,108 100.0 22.6 14.8 12.5 14.7 15.0 8.2 7.8 2.5 1.8 35,164 740 50,441 899 2012.............. 15,872 100.0 23.7 15.2 11.7 14.3 15.1 8.5 7.7 2.2 1.6 34,358 815 49,223 776 2011.............. 15,583 100.0 24.4 14.5 12.3 13.4 15.4 8.4 7.3 2.5 1.7 33,926 536 49,744 845 20103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,265 100.0 23.9 14.3 12.1 14.5 14.8 9.2 7.3 2.4 1.4 34,882 542 48,817 680 20094 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,730 100.0 21.6 13.9 13.3 14.8 15.3 9.6 7.6 2.4 1.5 35,954 435 50,808 579 2008.............. 14,595 100.0 21.2 13.4 12.6 16.0 15.7 9.0 7.9 2.6 1.5 37,626 485 51,167 548 2007.............. 14,551 100.0 21.4 13.0 12.3 14.0 16.6 9.6 8.7 2.7 1.7 38,726 542 53,244 594 2006.............. 14,354 100.0 20.8 13.9 11.3 16.2 15.9 9.2 8.4 2.4 2.0 37,538 283 52,988 655 2005.............. 14,002 100.0 21.6 14.8 11.2 15.0 15.9 9.3 8.1 2.7 1.5 37,408 365 51,466 559 20045 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,809 100.0 21.6 12.7 13.0 15.3 15.5 10.0 7.9 2.4 1.6 37,719 392 50,927 551 2003.............. 13,629 100.0 21.4 13.5 12.2 14.0 16.9 9.3 8.7 2.5 1.5 38,159 497 51,656 553 2002.............. 13,465 100.0 20.7 13.7 12.3 15.4 15.8 9.5 8.1 2.5 1.9 38,196 515 52,652 608 See footnotes at end of table.
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 27 Table A-1. Households by Total Money Income, Race, and Hispanic Origin of Householder: 1967 to 2014—Con. (Income in 2014 CPI-U-RS adjusted dollars. Households as of March of the following year. Beginning with 2010, standard errors were calculated using replicate weights. Before 2010, standard errors were calculated using the generalized variance function. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf) Race and Hispanic origin of householder and year Number (thousands) Percentage distribution Median income (dollars) Mean income (dollars) Total Under $15,000 $15,000 to $24,999 $25,000 to $34,999 $35,000 to $49,999 $50,000 to $74,999 $75,000 to $99,999 $100,000 to $149,999 $150,000 to $199,999 $200,000 and over Value Standard error Value Standard error BLACK23 2001.............. 13,315 100.0 20.1 13.2 12.2 15.0 17.0 10.0 8.7 2.3 1.4 39,407 464 52,482 554 20006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,174 100.0 19.0 13.0 12.7 14.6 17.7 9.8 8.8 3.0 1.4 40,783 540 53,858 546 19997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,838 100.0 19.8 13.2 11.4 14.8 16.6 10.2 8.8 3.4 1.8 39,669 739 54,667 785 1998.............. 12,579 100.0 22.4 14.1 11.9 14.1 16.3 9.6 8.1 2.4 1.3 36,799 576 49,556 662 1997.............. 12,474 100.0 22.2 13.9 12.2 14.8 16.8 9.7 7.3 2.2 1.0 36,854 634 48,496 696 1996.............. 12,109 100.0 23.0 14.7 12.0 14.8 15.5 10.4 6.7 1.6 1.1 35,294 694 48,788 953 19958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,577 100.0 23.6 15.1 11.8 15.0 16.2 8.3 7.6 1.5 1.0 34,569 590 46,929 803 19949 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,655 100.0 25.4 14.6 12.1 14.1 15.0 8.9 6.7 2.0 1.2 33,242 618 46,256 664 199310 . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,281 100.0 27.2 14.9 12.4 14.5 14.3 7.8 6.3 1.7 0.9 31,525 623 43,945 729 199211 . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,269 100.0 28.0 15.7 10.9 14.6 15.1 8.1 5.4 1.6 0.6 31,018 633 42,090 571 1991.............. 11,083 100.0 28.0 14.1 11.6 14.0 16.2 8.0 5.9 1.6 0.6 31,892 670 42,467 555 1990.............. 10,671 100.0 26.8 14.4 11.0 14.3 16.5 8.7 6.1 1.5 0.7 32,822 749 43,609 589 1989.............. 10,486 100.0 26.4 14.1 11.2 14.9 15.9 8.3 7.0 1.7 0.5 33,347 679 44,250 601 1988.............. 10,561 100.0 27.4 14.8 11.9 14.0 14.4 8.7 6.6 1.5 0.7 31,562 658 43,238 631 198712 . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,192 100.0 28.0 14.8 11.8 15.2 14.4 8.1 5.7 1.4 0.7 31,254 598 42,201 580 1986.............. 9,922 100.0 27.9 14.7 12.2 14.3 15.5 8.2 5.3 1.4 0.5 31,090 610 41,711 567 198513 . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,797 100.0 27.3 15.2 12.9 14.1 15.8 8.1 5.3 1.1 0.3 31,105 605 40,584 527 198414 . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,480 100.0 27.5 16.8 13.5 14.1 14.3 7.4 5.1 0.9 0.2 29,246 562 39,005 480 1983.............. 9,236 100.0 29.1 16.3 13.3 14.2 14.5 7.3 4.6 0.7 0.1 28,107 527 37,383 461 1982.............. 8,916 100.0 28.8 16.6 12.8 14.7 15.7 7.3 3.4 0.4 0.3 28,201 452 37,106 464 1981.............. 8,961 100.0 29.0 16.9 13.3 14.0 15.1 7.2 4.0 0.5 0.1 28,256 475 37,119 450 1980.............. 8,847 100.0 27.1 17.2 12.9 14.5 15.6 7.4 4.4 0.7 0.2 29,455 555 38,228 471 197915 . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,586 100.0 25.7 17.0 13.2 14.3 15.8 8.5 4.7 0.6 0.2 30,833 563 39,563 487 1978.............. 8,066 100.0 26.1 15.8 13.0 14.9 16.6 7.8 5.0 0.7 0.1 31,352 663 40,067 523 1977.............. 7,977 100.0 25.1 18.7 13.3 15.4 15.7 6.8 4.2 0.6 0.3 29,981 402 38,415 342 197616 . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,776 100.0 25.5 17.7 13.2 15.1 16.9 7.3 3.7 0.5 0.2 29,906 371 38,209 341 197517 . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,489 100.0 26.5 17.9 12.5 16.4 15.9 6.8 3.5 0.5 Z 29,649 436 37,009 328 197417, 18 . . . . . . . . . . . 7,263 100.0 25.2 16.7 15.0 16.2 16.0 7.1 3.3 0.4 0.1 30,163 364 37,513 334 1973.............. 7,040 100.0 24.1 18.1 12.9 16.0 17.3 6.8 3.9 0.6 0.2 30,897 481 38,368 381 197219 . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,809 100.0 25.6 17.0 13.8 16.3 15.4 7.8 3.2 0.5 0.4 30,062 451 37,974 405 197120 . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,578 100.0 26.8 16.9 14.5 16.5 15.9 6.0 2.9 0.4 0.1 29,086 433 36,042 370 1970.............. 6,180 100.0 26.4 16.2 14.8 16.4 15.9 6.7 3.1 0.4 0.2 30,137 414 36,799 397 1969.............. 6,053 100.0 25.6 17.1 15.5 17.1 16.0 5.6 2.8 0.3 0.1 30,223 445 35,979 383 1968.............. 5,870 100.0 26.5 18.3 15.5 17.0 14.7 5.2 2.4 0.3 Z 28,361 412 34,541 364 196721 . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,728 100.0 29.1 18.7 15.3 16.8 12.8 4.3 2.2 0.4 0.2 26,813 446 32,220 360 See footnotes at end of table.
28 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau Table A-1. Households by Total Money Income, Race, and Hispanic Origin of Householder: 1967 to 2014—Con. (Income in 2014 CPI-U-RS adjusted dollars. Households as of March of the following year. Beginning with 2010, standard errors were calculated using replicate weights. Before 2010, standard errors were calculated using the generalized variance function. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf) Race and Hispanic origin of householder and year Number (thousands) Percentage distribution Median income (dollars) Mean income (dollars) Total Under $15,000 $15,000 to $24,999 $25,000 to $34,999 $35,000 to $49,999 $50,000 to $74,999 $75,000 to $99,999 $100,000 to $149,999 $150,000 to $199,999 $200,000 and over Value Standard error Value Standard error ASIAN ALONE OR IN COMBINATION 2014.............. 6,333 100.0 10.0 6.9 7.8 9.8 15.6 12.2 18.4 9.5 9.8 74,829 1,981 98,142 1,927 20131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,160 100.0 10.3 7.8 5.5 10.7 16.4 12.7 16.8 8.6 11.2 73,658 3,244 102,732 4,293 20132 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,111 100.0 10.9 7.3 7.7 11.6 16.4 11.7 16.8 8.7 8.8 68,468 1,852 92,827 2,302 2012.............. 5,872 100.0 10.2 7.1 7.4 10.8 17.6 12.3 16.7 8.7 9.2 70,304 1,791 94,558 1,953 2011.............. 5,705 100.0 10.0 8.7 8.2 10.8 16.9 12.5 17.6 7.4 8.0 68,418 1,646 90,303 2,161 20103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,550 100.0 9.9 8.8 7.7 10.1 17.5 11.8 16.4 9.6 8.2 68,981 1,591 90,900 1,746 20094 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,940 100.0 10.9 6.9 8.2 10.4 15.6 12.6 16.8 8.8 9.8 71,803 1,583 99,430 1,953 2008.............. 4,805 100.0 10.7 7.6 7.4 11.7 14.1 13.0 17.5 9.4 8.5 72,097 1,554 94,920 1,635 2007.............. 4,715 100.0 9.3 7.2 7.6 9.5 16.4 12.9 18.9 9.4 8.7 75,219 1,583 96,554 1,651 2006.............. 4,664 100.0 8.8 6.8 7.1 10.3 17.1 12.9 17.7 10.4 8.9 75,032 1,899 102,776 2,151 2005.............. 4,500 100.0 10.0 7.7 6.2 9.6 17.5 12.5 18.7 8.1 9.7 74,007 884 96,978 1,692 20045 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,346 100.0 9.2 6.9 7.8 9.6 18.1 13.5 17.7 9.1 8.1 72,003 1,451 95,418 1,801 2003.............. 4,235 100.0 11.9 8.4 5.9 9.3 16.9 13.9 17.6 8.6 7.6 71,133 1,586 89,347 1,537 2002.............. 4,079 100.0 9.2 7.1 8.3 11.6 17.7 12.9 17.5 8.3 7.5 68,803 1,041 91,425 1,738 ASIAN ALONE25 2014.............. 6,040 100.0 10.3 7.0 7.7 9.8 15.5 11.8 18.5 9.6 9.8 74,297 2,107 97,562 1,920 20131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,818 100.0 10.4 7.9 5.2 10.5 16.8 12.4 16.9 8.5 11.5 73,568 3,417 102,865 4,539 20132 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,759 100.0 10.9 7.6 7.7 11.5 16.5 11.6 16.6 8.8 8.7 68,162 1,748 92,237 2,344 2012.............. 5,560 100.0 10.3 7.1 7.4 10.6 17.4 12.4 16.9 8.8 9.1 70,772 1,949 94,245 1,893 2011.............. 5,374 100.0 9.9 8.6 8.3 10.8 17.0 12.5 17.7 7.5 7.8 68,559 1,650 90,154 2,182 20103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,212 100.0 10.1 8.8 7.4 9.7 17.5 11.7 16.5 9.9 8.4 69,776 1,710 91,846 1,842 20094 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,687 100.0 10.8 6.9 8.2 10.0 15.9 12.6 16.9 8.8 9.9 72,240 1,398 100,203 2,036 2008.............. 4,573 100.0 10.9 7.6 7.5 11.5 14.1 12.9 17.4 9.7 8.5 72,174 1,524 94,768 1,653 2007.............. 4,494 100.0 9.3 7.3 7.6 9.3 16.5 12.7 19.2 9.3 8.9 75,478 1,581 97,076 1,713 2006.............. 4,454 100.0 8.9 6.9 7.2 10.1 16.9 12.7 17.7 10.4 9.2 75,429 1,966 103,674 2,231 2005.............. 4,273 100.0 10.1 7.7 6.3 9.4 17.6 12.5 18.6 8.2 9.7 74,062 863 97,098 1,713 20045 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,123 100.0 9.2 6.9 7.9 9.6 17.9 13.4 17.8 9.1 8.3 72,072 1,532 95,901 1,855 2003.............. 4,040 100.0 12.1 8.4 5.6 9.3 16.7 13.9 17.7 8.6 7.8 71,695 1,408 90,069 1,595 2002.............. 3,917 100.0 9.0 7.2 8.3 11.7 17.4 12.8 17.6 8.3 7.7 69,252 1,212 92,177 1,798 ASIAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER23 2001.............. 4,071 100.0 9.4 6.9 7.9 11.5 16.7 13.0 17.9 8.2 8.6 71,720 1,712 97,827 2,309 20006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,963 100.0 8.1 6.8 7.4 10.9 15.8 14.4 18.1 9.7 8.8 76,649 1,307 100,074 2,077 19997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,742 100.0 9.5 7.1 6.8 11.8 16.0 13.2 16.6 9.4 9.5 72,431 2,553 95,779 2,428 1998.............. 3,308 100.0 9.8 7.7 7.4 12.3 18.6 11.7 18.9 7.4 6.3 67,698 1,884 87,397 2,524 1997.............. 3,125 100.0 10.4 7.9 7.3 10.7 19.1 14.5 16.5 7.9 5.6 66,572 1,851 86,641 2,685 1996.............. 2,998 100.0 11.0 7.5 8.0 11.7 18.7 12.5 17.9 7.9 4.8 65,045 2,331 84,992 3,048 19958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,777 100.0 11.0 9.9 6.4 12.1 19.2 14.2 15.5 5.7 6.0 62,697 1,573 85,257 3,439 19949 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,040 100.0 10.5 9.9 7.3 12.7 17.3 14.0 16.3 6.5 5.5 63,998 2,425 83,096 2,961 199310 . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,233 100.0 13.0 8.9 9.1 11.6 15.0 13.9 17.8 6.1 4.7 61,889 3,044 81,090 3,265 199211 . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,262 100.0 10.8 9.4 8.8 11.2 19.0 13.4 16.5 6.1 4.6 62,516 1,804 77,482 2,130 1991.............. 2,094 100.0 10.9 8.2 9.3 12.4 17.9 14.1 15.4 7.1 4.6 61,809 1,994 78,476 2,313 1990.............. 1,958 100.0 9.3 8.2 7.8 12.4 18.5 14.0 18.0 6.7 5.1 67,574 2,002 81,567 2,309 1989.............. 1,988 100.0 8.7 8.0 7.5 12.5 19.9 15.2 16.8 5.0 6.3 66,576 1,800 82,764 2,408 1988.............. 1,913 100.0 8.6 10.5 9.1 11.5 18.6 14.7 15.6 7.1 4.3 62,071 2,551 77,603 2,318 198712 . . . . . . . . . . . . N 100.0 10.7 11.0 7.8 10.8 18.9 13.0 17.3 7.0 3.4 64,267 2,389 N N See footnotes at end of table.
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 29 Table A-1. Households by Total Money Income, Race, and Hispanic Origin of Householder: 1967 to 2014—Con. (Income in 2014 CPI-U-RS adjusted dollars. Households as of March of the following year. Beginning with 2010, standard errors were calculated using replicate weights. Before 2010, standard errors were calculated using the generalized variance function. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf) Race and Hispanic origin of householder and year Number (thousands) Percentage distribution Median income (dollars) Mean income (dollars) Total Under $15,000 $15,000 to $24,999 $25,000 to $34,999 $35,000 to $49,999 $50,000 to $74,999 $75,000 to $99,999 $100,000 to $149,999 $150,000 to $199,999 $200,000 and over Value Standard error Value Standard error HISPANIC (ANY RACE)26 2014.............. 16,239 100.0 14.6 14.0 12.4 15.6 17.9 10.7 9.7 2.9 2.1 42,491 516 57,534 656 20131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,088 100.0 15.3 14.7 14.4 15.1 15.7 10.0 8.8 3.3 2.9 40,337 1,207 58,560 1,730 20132 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,811 100.0 15.7 13.7 13.3 16.2 17.0 10.7 8.8 2.8 1.9 41,633 561 55,538 749 2012.............. 15,589 100.0 16.4 14.4 13.1 15.8 17.4 9.7 8.4 2.8 2.0 40,219 551 55,085 720 2011.............. 14,939 100.0 15.8 13.7 14.0 16.6 17.3 9.1 8.4 3.0 1.9 40,658 576 55,109 625 20103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,435 100.0 15.8 14.3 13.7 15.0 17.4 10.1 8.5 3.2 1.8 40,862 632 55,807 717 20094 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,298 100.0 14.7 13.9 13.5 15.7 17.6 10.5 9.1 2.9 2.2 41,973 554 57,631 632 2008.............. 13,425 100.0 15.1 13.6 13.1 17.1 17.0 9.8 9.2 3.2 1.9 41,689 534 56,708 587 2007.............. 13,339 100.0 14.0 12.9 13.5 15.4 19.0 11.1 9.3 2.9 2.0 44,165 594 58,037 611 2006.............. 12,973 100.0 13.6 13.3 11.3 17.7 18.6 10.9 9.3 3.3 2.0 44,363 593 59,385 681 2005.............. 12,519 100.0 13.9 13.7 12.1 17.4 18.7 10.4 8.9 2.7 2.2 43,602 433 57,144 575 20045 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,178 100.0 13.5 13.2 14.2 15.9 19.3 10.3 8.7 2.8 2.1 42,953 602 57,499 703 2003.............. 11,693 100.0 13.6 13.6 13.5 17.0 18.0 10.6 9.1 2.5 2.2 42,474 591 57,239 633 2002.............. 11,339 100.0 13.1 13.1 13.7 16.4 18.6 11.0 9.2 2.7 2.1 43,561 634 59,068 790 2001.............. 10,499 100.0 12.8 13.5 12.8 16.4 18.5 11.3 9.5 3.0 2.0 44,882 570 59,348 750 20006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,034 100.0 12.4 13.3 12.1 16.8 19.5 11.5 9.6 2.7 2.1 45,596 657 60,457 870 19997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,579 100.0 13.1 13.9 13.1 17.2 18.3 10.6 9.7 2.3 2.0 43,700 635 57,408 1,019 1998.............. 9,060 100.0 16.2 14.1 12.5 16.8 17.8 10.0 8.6 2.2 1.8 41,123 793 55,567 1,182 1997.............. 8,590 100.0 17.9 14.0 13.4 15.9 18.5 9.1 7.5 2.1 1.7 39,176 699 52,792 1,065 1996.............. 8,225 100.0 17.2 16.0 14.0 16.2 16.7 9.5 6.9 2.1 1.3 37,434 726 51,110 1,183 19958 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,939 100.0 19.2 16.9 13.5 16.1 16.0 9.1 6.5 1.6 1.1 35,289 769 48,166 1,081 19949 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,735 100.0 19.3 15.9 12.6 15.9 17.0 9.1 7.0 1.9 1.3 37,026 688 49,928 1,246 199310 . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,362 100.0 18.6 15.6 13.5 17.0 17.2 8.7 6.7 1.5 1.2 36,936 742 48,887 1,028 199211 . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,153 100.0 18.8 15.3 13.7 16.9 16.8 9.2 6.5 1.9 0.9 37,372 772 47,667 749 1991.............. 6,379 100.0 17.4 14.8 13.5 16.6 18.3 9.3 7.1 2.0 1.0 38,478 800 48,960 783 1990.............. 6,220 100.0 17.4 15.5 12.0 17.0 19.0 9.6 6.9 1.7 1.1 39,244 805 49,159 810 1989.............. 5,933 100.0 17.3 13.7 12.1 16.5 18.4 11.1 7.5 2.0 1.3 40,425 784 51,620 887 1988.............. 5,910 100.0 18.5 13.5 13.5 16.1 18.7 9.8 6.8 1.9 1.2 39,164 993 50,002 1,060 198712 . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,642 100.0 18.7 15.0 12.4 17.0 17.5 9.9 6.5 1.8 1.2 38,561 838 49,430 915 1986.............. 5,418 100.0 18.2 16.0 12.7 15.9 17.9 9.7 7.5 1.6 0.6 37,835 985 47,775 785 198513 . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,213 100.0 19.2 16.0 12.8 16.0 18.7 8.9 6.7 1.1 0.6 36,659 856 45,806 745 198414 . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,883 100.0 19.4 15.1 14.1 15.3 18.7 9.7 5.9 1.3 0.5 36,890 925 45,872 894 1983.............. 4,326 100.0 20.6 15.6 13.1 17.4 17.7 8.8 5.4 1.0 0.4 35,969 911 43,801 841 1982.............. 4,085 100.0 19.6 16.5 13.1 17.7 17.4 8.9 5.2 1.0 0.6 35,765 945 44,139 895 1981.............. 3,980 100.0 17.2 15.4 13.5 18.0 19.3 9.6 5.5 1.0 0.5 38,228 1,047 45,906 877 1980.............. 3,906 100.0 17.5 15.6 13.6 17.8 18.9 9.6 5.3 1.2 0.5 37,355 1,012 45,627 908 197915 . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,684 100.0 15.9 14.3 14.5 16.9 20.5 10.0 6.0 1.2 0.7 39,685 1,144 48,016 965 1978.............. 3,291 100.0 15.8 14.7 14.1 18.0 20.8 10.0 5.2 1.2 0.3 39,321 953 46,447 939 1977.............. 3,304 100.0 16.1 15.6 14.2 19.1 20.2 8.8 4.7 1.0 0.3 37,902 666 44,730 691 197616 . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,081 100.0 18.1 16.9 13.6 18.5 19.6 8.5 4.1 0.6 0.2 36,214 772 42,796 696 197517 . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,948 100.0 17.8 17.0 15.0 18.4 19.9 7.5 3.4 0.6 0.5 35,480 784 42,120 748 197417, 18 . . . . . . . . . . . 2,897 100.0 14.8 16.3 14.9 18.7 21.4 8.3 4.3 0.8 0.4 38,574 845 44,686 728 1973.............. 2,722 100.0 13.9 15.8 14.7 19.3 22.2 8.5 4.6 0.6 0.3 38,801 881 45,081 734 197219 . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,655 100.0 13.5 16.9 14.4 21.3 20.7 8.2 3.8 0.6 0.5 38,866 759 44,672 759 See footnotes on next page.
30 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau

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Race and Hispanic 

origin of householder 

and year Number (thousands)

Percentage distribution Median income (dollars) Mean income (dollars)

Total

Under 

$15,000

$15,000

 to $24,999

$25,000

 to $34,999

$35,000

 to $49,999

$50,000

 to $74,999

$75,000

 to $99,999

$100,000 to 

$149,999

$150,000 to 

$199,999

$200,000 

and over Value

Standard 

error Value

Standard 

error 

N Not available.Z Represents or rounds to zero.1 The 2014 CPS ASEC included redesigned questions for income and health insurance coverage. All of the approximately 98,000 addresses were eligible to receive the redesigned set of health insurance coverage questions. The redesigned income 

questions were implemented to a subsample of the 98,000 addresses using a probability split panel design. Approximately 68,000 addresses were eligible to receive a set of income questions similar to those used in the 2013 CPS ASEC and the remaining 30,000 addresses were eligible to receive the redesigned income questions. The source of these 2013 estimates is the portion of the CPS ASEC sample which received the redesigned income questions, approximately 30,000 addresses.

2 The source of these 2013 estimates is the portion of the CPS ASEC sample which received the income questions consistent with the 2013 CPS ASEC, approximately 68,000 addresses.3 Implementation of Census 2010-based population controls.4 Median income is calculated using $2,500 income intervals. Beginning with 2009 income data, the Census Bureau expanded the upper income intervals used to calculate medians to $250,000 or more. Medians falling in the upper open-ended interval are 

plugged with “$250,000.” Before 2009, the upper open-ended interval was $100,000 and a plug of “$100,000” was used.

5 Data have been revised to reflect a correction to the weights in the 2005 ASEC.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, and revised editing of responses on race.9 Introduction of 1990 census sample design.10 Data collection method changed from paper and pencil to computer-assisted interviewing. In addition, the 1994 ASEC 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.

11 Implementation of 1990 census population controls.12 Implementation of a new CPS ASEC processing system.13 Recording of amounts for earnings from longest job increased to $299,999. Full implementation of 1980 census-based sample design.14 Implementation of Hispanic population weighting controls and introduction of 1980 census-based sample design.15 Implementation of 1980 census population controls. Questionnaire expanded to show 27 possible values from 51 possible sources of income.16 First year medians were derived using both Pareto and linear interpolation. Before this year, all medians were derived using linear interpolation.17 Some of these estimates were derived using Pareto interpolation and may differ from published data, which were derived using linear interpolation.18 Implementation of a new CPS ASEC processing system. Questionnaire expanded to ask 11 income questions.19 Full implementation of 1970 census-based sample design.20 Introduction of 1970 census sample design and population controls.21 Implementation of new CPS ASEC processing system.22 Beginning with the 2003 CPS, respondents were allowed 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 this single-race population does not imply that it is the 

preferred method of presenting or analyzing the 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 2010 through American FactFinder. About 2.9 percent of people reported more than one race in Census 2010.

23 For the year 2001 and earlier, the CPS allowed respondents to report only one race group.24 Black alone refers to people who reported Black and did not report any other race category.25 Asian alone refers to people who reported Asian and did not report any other race category.26 Because Hispanics may be any race, data in this report for Hispanics overlap with data for racial groups. Being Hispanic was reported by 14.6 percent of White householders who reported only one race, 5.0 percent of Black householders who reported 

only one race, and 2.0 percent of Asian householders who reported only one race. Data users should exercise caution when interpreting aggregate results for the Hispanic population and for race groups because these populations consist of many distinct groups that differ in socioeconomic characteristics, culture, and recency of immigration. Data were first collected for Hispanics in 1972.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1968 through 2015 Annual Social and Economic Supplements.
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 31

Table A-2.

Selected Measures of Household Income Dispersion: 1967 to 2014

(Income in 2014 CPI-U-RS adjusted dollars. Beginning with 2010, standard errors were calculated using replicate weights. For further explanation of income inequality 

measures, see Current Population Reports, Series P60-204, The Changing Shape of the Nation’s Income Distribution: 1947–1998. For information on confidentiality 

protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf)

Measures of income 

dispersion 2014 20131 20132 2012 2011 20103 20094 2008 2007 2006 2005 20045

MEASURE

Household Income at 

Selected Percentiles

10th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,276 12,399 12,604 12,617 12,632 12,880 13,378 13,372 13,887 14,091 13,690 13,670

20th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,432 21,344 21,242 21,240 21,329 21,718 22,576 22,775 23,170 23,526 23,258 23,171

40th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41,186 41,707 40,845 41,002 40,549 41,263 42,552 42,885 44,647 44,356 43,659 43,462

50th (median) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53,657 54,462 52,789 52,606 52,691 53,508 54,944 55,314 57,359 56,601 56,182 55,569

60th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68,212 68,300 66,573 66,593 65,723 66,782 68,216 68,973 70,796 70,456 69,928 69,226

80th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112,262 112,036 107,643 107,337 106,933 108,619 110,380 110,225 114,187 113,941 111,216 110,303

90th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157,479 157,969 152,455 150,546 151,176 150,695 151,919 152,077 155,294 156,177 152,917 151,496

95th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206,568 208,485 199,207 197,107 195,797 195,985 198,686 197,931 202,110 204,335 201,318 196,977

Household Income Ratios

of Selected Percentiles

90th/10th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.83 12.74 12.10 11.93 11.97 11.70 11.36 11.37 11.18 11.08 11.17 11.08

95th/20th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.64 9.77 9.38 9.28 9.18 9.02 8.80 8.69 8.72 8.69 8.66 8.50

95th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.85 3.77 3.78 3.75 3.72 3.66 3.62 3.58 3.52 3.61 3.58 3.54

80th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.09 2.02 2.04 2.04 2.03 2.03 2.01 1.99 1.99 2.01 1.98 1.98

80th/20th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.24 5.25 5.07 5.05 5.01 5.00 4.89 4.84 4.93 4.84 4.78 4.76

20th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.40 0.39 0.40 0.41 0.40 0.41 0.41 0.41 0.40 0.42 0.41 0.42

Mean Household Income of Quintiles

Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,676 11,784 11,841 11,848 11,831 11,938 12,751 12,818 13,190 13,330 12,922 12,840

Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31,087 31,317 31,008 30,620 30,742 30,982 32,294 32,457 33,618 33,792 33,178 32,855

Third quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54,041 54,620 53,178 52,773 52,468 53,390 54,676 55,126 57,057 56,626 56,152 55,665

Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87,834 87,888 84,885 84,654 84,299 85,651 86,863 87,705 90,334 89,630 88,320 87,772

Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194,053 196,516 188,236 187,568 187,397 183,938 188,578 188,097 191,800 197,475 193,536 189,815

Top 5 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 332,347 339,938 327,618 327,954 327,849 311,865 326,051 324,066 327,934 349,231 340,974 330,773

Shares of Household Income 

of Quintiles

Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1 3.1 3.2 3.2 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.4

Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2 8.2 8.4 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.6 8.7 8.6 8.6 8.7

Third quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.3 14.3 14.4 14.4 14.3 14.6 14.6 14.7 14.8 14.5 14.6 14.7

Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.2 23.0 23.0 23.0 23.0 23.4 23.2 23.3 23.4 22.9 23.0 23.2

Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51.2 51.4 51.0 51.0 51.1 50.3 50.3 50.0 49.7 50.5 50.4 50.1

Top 5 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.9 22.2 22.2 22.3 22.3 21.3 21.7 21.5 21.2 22.3 22.2 21.8

Summary Measures

Gini index of income inequality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.480 0.482 0.476 0.477 0.477 0.470 0.468 0.466 0.463 0.470 0.469 0.466

Mean logarithmic deviation of income . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.611 0.606 0.578 0.586 0.585 0.574 0.550 0.541 0.532 0.543 0.545 0.543

Theil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.419 0.428 0.415 0.423 0.422 0.400 0.403 0.398 0.391 0.417 0.411 0.406

Atkinson:

 e=0.25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.102 0.103 0.100 0.101 0.101 0.097 0.097 0.096 0.095 0.099 0.098 0.097

 e=0.50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.200 0.202 0.196 0.198 0.198 0.191 0.190 0.188 0.185 0.192 0.192 0.190

 e=0.75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.307 0.307 0.298 0.300 0.300 0.293 0.288 0.285 0.281 0.289 0.289 0.286

STANDARD ERROR

Household Income at 

Selected Percentiles

10th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200 290 175 223 17 142 93 92 92 97 93 93

20th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250 262 220 246 186 129 118 118 127 129 129 130

40th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387 466 323 345 377 143 180 174 143 209 152 163

50th (median) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 457 665 281 216 264 353 235 151 160 243 188 246

60th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520 763 510 532 491 472 192 294 306 192 306 226

80th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669 648 728 623 596 181 344 337 343 430 390 390

90th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,084 1,767 764 954 1,011 961 704 641 673 663 651 616

95th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,504 2,099 2,304 1,419 1,555 1,227 971 1,014 979 1,176 1,355 1,149

Household Income Ratios

of Selected Percentiles

90th/10th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.219 0.321 0.167 0.211 0.082 0.130 0.095 0.091 0.089 0.090 0.090 0.088

95th/20th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.117 0.146 0.133 0.114 0.094 0.076 0.063 0.063 0.064 0.069 0.076 0.069

95th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.035 0.055 0.045 0.031 0.030 0.026 0.022 0.023 0.021 0.025 0.028 0.025

80th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.015 0.025 0.014 0.013 0.012 0.010 0.010 0.010 0.009 0.011 0.010 0.011

80th/20th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.060 0.069 0.051 0.056 0.042 0.031 0.030 0.029 0.031 0.032 0.031 0.032

20th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.004 0.005 0.004 0.004 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003

Mean Household Income of Quintiles

Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 201 123 109 122 111 46 46 46 48 47 47

Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202 350 237 191 191 214 40 40 43 41 42 41

Third quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304 487 362 257 270 298 52 53 53 53 53 54

Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462 694 500 399 407 440 84 83 86 87 83 82

Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,655 2,737 1,928 1,671 1,393 1,374 929 909 920 1,109 1,038 1,027

Top 5 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,998 9,171 6,035 5,315 4,434 4,360 2,928 2,846 2,894 3,644 3,335 3,346

Shares of Household Income 

of Quintiles

Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.03 0.05 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02 0.02

Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.05 0.09 0.06 0.05 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06

Third quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.07 0.12 0.08 0.07 0.06 0.06 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10

Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.09 0.17 0.11 0.09 0.08 0.09 0.15 0.16 0.16 0.15 0.15 0.16

Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.20 0.36 0.24 0.20 0.17 0.18 0.33 0.33 0.33 0.34 0.34 0.34

Top 5 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.24 0.46 0.30 0.26 0.23 0.23 0.30 0.30 0.29 0.31 0.31 0.31

Summary Measures

Gini index of income inequality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0021 0.0037 0.0025 0.0020 0.0018 0.0019 0.0028 0.0027 0.0027 0.0028 0.0029 0.0029

Mean logarithmic deviation of income . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0073 0.0124 0.0079 0.0068 0.0067 0.0066 0.0064 0.0063 0.0062 0.0063 0.0063 0.0063

Theil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0054 0.0107 0.0067 0.0059 0.0050 0.0049 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0002 0.0001 0.0001

Atkinson:

 e=0.25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0011 0.0021 0.0013 0.0011 0.0010 0.0010 0.0011 0.0011 0.0011 0.0014 0.0013 0.0013

 e=0.50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0018 0.0033 0.0022 0.0018 0.0016 0.0016 0.0018 0.0017 0.0018 0.0021 0.0020 0.0020

 e=0.75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0025 0.0043 0.0028 0.0023 0.0021 0.0021 0.0024 0.0023 0.0024 0.0027 0.0026 0.0026

See footnotes at end of table.
32 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau

Table A-2.

Selected Measures of Household Income Dispersion: 1967 to 2014—Con.

(Income in 2014 CPI-U-RS adjusted dollars. Beginning with 2010, standard errors were calculated using replicate weights. For further explanation of income inequality 

measures, see Current Population Reports, Series P60-204, The Changing Shape of the Nation’s Income Distribution: 1947–1998. For information on confidentiality 

protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf)

Measures of income

dispersion 2003 2002 2001 20006 19997 1998 1997 1996 19958 19949

MEASURE

Household Income at 

Selected Percentiles

10th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,563 13,976 14,290 14,549 14,701 14,070 13,553 13,388 13,383 12,682

20th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,151 23,578 24,031 24,637 24,349 23,377 22,650 22,190 22,213 21,209

40th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43,768 43,926 44,551 45,370 45,356 44,109 42,948 41,712 41,517 39,809

50th (median) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,763 55,812 56,472 57,730 57,826 56,405 54,427 53,330 52,565 50,968

60th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70,097 69,963 70,877 71,731 71,591 70,116 67,657 66,123 64,792 63,347

80th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,823 110,569 111,665 112,416 112,582 108,792 105,163 102,198 100,459 99,272

90th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152,158 150,176 151,955 153,983 153,144 146,941 143,642 138,313 135,283 134,092

95th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198,398 197,409 201,263 199,655 201,770 191,762 186,130 179,619 174,312 173,487

Household Income Ratios

of Selected Percentiles

90th/10th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.22 10.75 10.63 10.58 10.42 10.44 10.60 10.33 10.11 10.57

95th/20th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.57 8.37 8.38 8.10 8.29 8.20 8.22 8.10 7.85 8.18

95th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.56 3.54 3.56 3.46 3.49 3.40 3.42 3.37 3.32 3.40

80th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.01 1.98 1.98 1.95 1.95 1.93 1.93 1.92 1.91 1.95

80th/20th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.83 4.69 4.65 4.56 4.62 4.65 4.64 4.61 4.52 4.68

20th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.42 0.42 0.43 0.43 0.42 0.41 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.42

Mean Household Income of Quintiles

Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,868 13,147 13,555 13,964 14,088 13,378 13,001 12,915 12,873 12,186

Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,055 33,427 34,058 34,867 34,593 33,781 32,502 31,700 31,465 30,368

Third quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56,110 56,329 57,008 58,064 57,903 56,524 54,680 53,321 52,611 51,160

Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88,816 88,604 89,383 90,263 90,118 87,419 84,692 82,525 80,876 79,610

Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189,333 189,172 195,206 195,598 192,178 184,988 180,562 173,569 168,776 167,364

Top 5 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325,993 330,339 348,319 347,010 334,025 322,434 316,865 302,351 291,283 289,160

Shares of Household Income 

of Quintiles

Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4 3.5 3.5 3.6 3.6 3.6 3.6 3.6 3.7 3.6

Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.7 8.8 8.7 8.9 8.9 9.0 8.9 9.0 9.1 8.9

Third quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.8 14.8 14.6 14.8 14.9 15.0 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.0

Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.4 23.3 23.0 23.0 23.2 23.2 23.2 23.3 23.3 23.4

Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49.8 49.7 50.1 49.8 49.4 49.2 49.4 49.0 48.7 49.1

Top 5 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.4 21.7 22.4 22.1 21.5 21.4 21.7 21.4 21.0 21.2

Summary Measures

Gini index of income inequality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.464 0.462 0.466 0.462 0.458 0.456 0.459 0.455 0.450 0.456

Mean logarithmic deviation of income . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.530 0.514 0.515 0.490 0.476 0.488 0.484 0.464 0.452 0.471

Theil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.397 0.398 0.413 0.404 0.386 0.389 0.396 0.389 0.378 0.387

Atkinson:

 e=0.25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.095 0.095 0.098 0.096 0.092 0.093 0.094 0.093 0.090 0.092

 e=0.50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.187 0.186 0.189 0.185 0.180 0.181 0.183 0.179 0.175 0.180

 e=0.75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.283 0.279 0.282 0.275 0.268 0.271 0.272 0.266 0.261 0.268

STANDARD ERROR

Household Income at 

Selected Percentiles

10th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 93 98 98 99 96 101 94 95 89

20th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 135 133 141 135 142 134 135 124 123

40th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209 205 204 223 164 225 281 272 226 238

50th (median) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242 183 173 181 270 334 252 269 304 232

60th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 292 283 261 216 361 314 346 286 293

80th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411 302 323 330 351 339 466 355 377 323

90th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 652 592 576 667 643 556 594 640 586 593

95th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 917 939 1,011 1,280 1,123 1,112 972 884 1,036 983

Household Income Ratios

of Selected Percentiles

90th/10th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.091 0.083 0.083 0.085 0.083 0.082 0.091 0.087 0.084 0.087

95th/20th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.062 0.062 0.063 0.070 0.065 0.069 0.065 0.063 0.064 0.066

95th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.021 0.022 0.023 0.026 0.024 0.024 0.022 0.022 0.023 0.024

80th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.011 0.009 0.010 0.009 0.010 0.010 0.011 0.011 0.010 0.010

80th/20th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.032 0.030 0.029 0.029 0.029 0.032 0.034 0.032 0.031 0.031

20th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003

Mean Household Income of Quintiles

Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 47 48 49 49 48 47 44 45 44

Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 42 43 43 44 44 43 42 42 41

Third quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 54 55 55 56 56 53 53 51 51

Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 83 84 84 85 82 80 77 77 79

Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 973 1,022 1,152 1,141 1,004 1,047 1,075 1,046 984 988

Top 5 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,123 3,307 3,791 3,748 3,164 4,799 4,996 4,908 4,579 4,608

Shares of Household Income 

of Quintiles

Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.02 0.02 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03

Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.07 0.07 0.07

Third quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11

Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.16 0.16 0.16 0.16 0.16 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17

Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.34 0.34 0.35 0.35 0.35 0.35 0.35 0.35 0.35 0.36

Top 5 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.30 0.31 0.32 0.32 0.31 0.44 0.45 0.45 0.44 0.45

Summary Measures

Gini index of income inequality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0028 0.0029 0.0030 0.0030 0.0041 0.0042 0.0043 0.0043 0.0043 0.0042

Mean logarithmic deviation of income . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0054 0.0052 0.0051 0.0049 0.0059 0.0069 0.0067 0.0064 0.0063 0.0061

Theil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0001 0.0001 0.0002 0.0002 0.0001 0.0002 0.0002 0.0002 0.0002 0.0002

Atkinson:

 e=0.25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0012 0.0012 0.0014 0.0013 0.0013 0.0015 0.0016 0.0016 0.0015 0.0015

 e=0.50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0018 0.0020 0.0022 0.0021 0.0021 0.0023 0.0025 0.0024 0.0024 0.0023

 e=0.75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0024 0.0025 0.0027 0.0026 0.0027 0.0029 0.0030 0.0030 0.0029 0.0028

See footnotes at end of table.
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 33

Table A-2.

Selected Measures of Household Income Dispersion: 1967 to 2014—Con.

(Income in 2014 CPI-U-RS adjusted dollars. Beginning with 2010, standard errors were calculated using replicate weights. For further explanation of income inequality 

measures, see Current Population Reports, Series P60-204, The Changing Shape of the Nation’s Income Distribution: 1947–1998. For information on confidentiality 

protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf)

Measures of income

dispersion 199310 199211 1991 1990 1989 1988 198712 1986 198513

MEASURE

Household Income at 

Selected Percentiles

10th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,401 12,400 12,582 12,854 13,274 12,623 12,435 12,329 12,374

20th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,922 20,832 21,345 21,951 22,300 21,889 21,532 21,120 20,860

40th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39,818 39,912 40,686 41,552 42,402 41,347 40,871 40,396 39,248

50th (median) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50,406 50,652 51,071 52,581 53,290 52,357 51,957 51,314 49,559

60th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62,591 62,662 62,843 63,569 65,170 64,436 63,798 62,695 60,800

80th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97,291 95,906 96,221 96,943 99,018 97,296 96,421 94,771 91,442

90th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131,885 128,217 128,642 130,123 132,653 128,848 127,205 124,384 119,938

95th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168,830 163,714 163,423 166,382 169,148 164,695 161,345 158,919 151,090

Household Income Ratios

of Selected Percentiles

90th/10th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.64 10.34 10.22 10.12 9.99 10.21 10.23 10.09 9.69

95th/20th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.07 7.86 7.66 7.58 7.59 7.52 7.49 7.53 7.24

95th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.35 3.23 3.20 3.16 3.17 3.15 3.11 3.10 3.05

80th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.93 1.89 1.88 1.84 1.86 1.86 1.86 1.85 1.85

80th/20th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.65 4.60 4.51 4.42 4.44 4.45 4.48 4.49 4.38

20th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.42 0.41 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.41 0.41 0.42

Mean Household Income of Quintiles

Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,874 11,997 12,251 12,584 12,894 12,432 12,225 11,901 11,780

Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30,100 30,059 30,769 31,661 32,080 31,380 31,070 30,612 29,853

Third quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50,456 50,643 51,108 52,297 53,326 52,484 51,945 51,226 49,553

Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78,412 77,742 77,909 78,849 80,661 79,337 78,518 77,172 74,538

Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163,367 150,636 149,399 153,016 157,679 151,462 149,320 146,068 139,233

Top 5 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280,392 239,087 233,149 243,662 254,754 238,879 235,255 228,826 214,775

Shares of Household Income 

of Quintiles

Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.6 3.8 3.8 3.8 3.8 3.8 3.8 3.8 3.9

Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.0 9.4 9.6 9.6 9.5 9.6 9.6 9.7 9.8

Third quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.1 15.8 15.9 15.9 15.8 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.2

Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.5 24.2 24.2 24.0 24.0 24.2 24.3 24.3 24.4

Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48.9 46.9 46.5 46.6 46.8 46.3 46.2 46.1 45.6

Top 5 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21.0 18.6 18.1 18.5 18.9 18.3 18.2 18.0 17.6

Summary Measures

Gini index of income inequality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.454 0.433 0.428 0.428 0.431 0.426 0.426 0.425 0.419

Mean logarithmic deviation of income . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.467 0.416 0.411 0.402 0.406 0.401 0.414 0.416 0.403

Theil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.385 0.323 0.313 0.317 0.324 0.314 0.311 0.310 0.300

Atkinson:

 e=0.25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.092 0.080 0.078 0.078 0.080 0.078 0.077 0.077 0.075

 e=0.50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.178 0.160 0.156 0.156 0.158 0.155 0.155 0.155 0.151

 e=0.75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.266 0.242 0.237 0.236 0.239 0.236 0.238 0.237 0.231

STANDARD ERROR

Household Income at 

Selected Percentiles

10th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 88 91 98 98 98 98 98 95

20th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125 125 130 135 139 137 139 140 137

40th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238 246 243 251 266 236 237 239 227

50th (median) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236 240 246 269 293 256 245 266 269

60th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346 316 266 265 293 336 279 259 292

80th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365 317 349 373 307 342 331 368 300

90th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461 423 462 499 800 523 461 567 511

95th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 839 828 836 940 903 1,023 752 664 1,260

Household Income Ratios

of Selected Percentiles

90th/10th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.085 0.081 0.082 0.087 0.095 0.089 0.088 0.093 0.085

95th/20th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.063 0.062 0.061 0.063 0.062 0.066 0.060 0.059 0.077

95th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.022 0.021 0.021 0.022 0.021 0.023 0.020 0.018 0.028

80th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.011 0.010 0.011 0.010 0.009 0.010 0.010 0.011 0.010

80th/20th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.033 0.032 0.032 0.032 0.031 0.032 0.033 0.034 0.032

20th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003

Mean Household Income of Quintiles

Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 43 44 45 46 45 45 46 46

Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 42 43 44 45 44 45 44 43

Third quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 50 50 50 52 51 52 52 50

Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 73 73 74 75 74 73 72 70

Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 988 548 521 576 637 577 566 534 486

Top 5 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,667 1,951 1,853 2,098 2,398 2,167 2,221 1,850 1,662

Shares of Household Income 

of Quintiles

Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03

Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.07 0.07 0.07 0.07 0.07 0.07 0.07 0.08 0.08

Third quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.11 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.13 0.13

Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.17 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.19 0.19 0.19

Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.36 0.35 0.34 0.35 0.35 0.35 0.35 0.35 0.35

Top 5 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.45 0.38 0.37 0.39 0.40 0.38 0.41 0.37 0.37

Summary Measures

Gini index of income inequality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0042 0.0038 0.0038 0.0039 0.0040 0.0041 0.0038 0.0038 0.0037

Mean logarithmic deviation of income . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0061 0.0055 0.0056 0.0053 0.0053 0.0055 0.0055 0.0057 0.0056

Theil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0002 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001

Atkinson:

 e=0.25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0015 0.0007 0.0007 0.0007 0.0008 0.0008 0.0007 0.0007 0.0006

 e=0.50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0024 0.0013 0.0012 0.0013 0.0014 0.0014 0.0013 0.0012 0.0011

 e=0.75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0029 0.0019 0.0018 0.0018 0.0019 0.0020 0.0018 0.0018 0.0017

See footnotes at end of table.
34 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau

Table A-2.

Selected Measures of Household Income Dispersion: 1967 to 2014—Con.

(Income in 2014 CPI-U-RS adjusted dollars. Beginning with 2010, standard errors were calculated using replicate weights. For further explanation of income inequality

measures, see Current Population Reports, Series P60-204, The Changing Shape of the Nation’s Income Distribution: 1947–1998. For information on confidentiality 

protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf)

Measures of income

dispersion 198414 1983 1982 1981 1980 197915 1978 1977 197616

MEASURE

Household Income at 

Selected Percentiles

10th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,365 11,877 11,922 12,139 12,310 12,476 12,719 12,463 12,311

20th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,619 20,218 19,788 20,043 20,457 21,275 21,042 20,406 20,450

40th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,590 37,594 37,634 37,467 38,364 39,511 39,785 38,435 38,099

50th (median) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48,650 47,184 47,516 47,644 48,448 50,030 50,170 48,301 47,997

60th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59,454 57,699 57,502 57,950 58,816 60,789 60,198 58,586 58,038

80th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89,811 87,198 85,747 85,676 86,118 88,140 87,551 85,412 83,501

90th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118,135 114,126 113,080 111,915 111,895 114,093 113,235 108,936 107,071

95th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148,673 143,462 141,543 137,880 138,590 142,423 140,062 135,236 132,420

Household Income Ratios

of Selected Percentiles

90th/10th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.55 9.61 9.49 9.22 9.09 9.15 8.90 8.74 8.70

95th/20th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.21 7.10 7.15 6.88 6.78 6.69 6.66 6.63 6.48

95th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.06 3.04 2.98 2.89 2.86 2.85 2.79 2.80 2.76

80th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.85 1.85 1.80 1.80 1.78 1.76 1.75 1.77 1.74

80th/20th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.36 4.31 4.33 4.28 4.21 4.14 4.16 4.19 4.08

20th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.42 0.43 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.43 0.42 0.42 0.43

Mean Household Income of Quintiles

Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,798 11,416 11,283 11,496 11,791 12,176 12,274 11,869 11,927

Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,387 28,678 28,554 28,635 29,346 30,285 30,141 29,213 29,198

Third quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48,699 47,412 47,264 47,437 48,424 49,931 49,767 48,327 48,017

Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,326 71,147 70,294 70,711 71,341 73,272 72,902 70,807 69,731

Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134,827 130,628 128,925 126,310 127,198 131,497 130,157 126,266 123,410

Top 5 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203,527 197,365 194,807 187,696 190,084 200,547 198,113 193,164 188,038

Shares of Household Income 

of Quintiles

Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.1 4.2 4.2 4.3

Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.9 9.9 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.2 10.2 10.2 10.3

Third quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.3 16.4 16.5 16.7 16.8 16.8 16.8 16.9 17.0

Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.6 24.6 24.5 24.8 24.7 24.6 24.7 24.7 24.7

Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45.2 45.1 45.0 44.3 44.1 44.2 44.1 44.0 43.7

Top 5 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.1 17.0 17.0 16.5 16.5 16.9 16.8 16.8 16.6

Summary Measures

Gini index of income inequality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.415 0.414 0.412 0.406 0.403 0.404 0.402 0.402 0.398

Mean logarithmic deviation of income . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.391 0.397 0.401 0.387 0.375 0.369 0.363 0.364 0.361

Theil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.290 0.288 0.287 0.277 0.274 0.279 0.275 0.276 0.271

Atkinson:

 e=0.25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.073 0.072 0.072 0.070 0.069 0.070 0.069 0.069 0.068

 e=0.50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.147 0.147 0.146 0.141 0.140 0.141 0.139 0.139 0.137

 e=0.75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.225 0.226 0.226 0.220 0.216 0.216 0.213 0.213 0.211

STANDARD ERROR

Household Income at 

Selected Percentiles

10th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 95 95 143 140 139 140 133 133

20th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 127 127 129 135 145 145 142 145

40th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236 205 215 224 233 240 212 220 221

50th (median) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 215 214 250 249 237 203 182 178

60th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272 254 264 291 242 253 276 241 242

80th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319 289 319 255 301 254 325 250 289

90th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407 503 434 419 475 457 375 516 376

95th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 743 686 816 767 735 787 765 663 763

Household Income Ratios

of Selected Percentiles

90th/10th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.079 0.088 0.084 0.114 0.110 0.108 0.102 0.102 0.099

95th/20th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.056 0.056 0.062 0.059 0.057 0.059 0.059 0.056 0.059

95th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.020 0.019 0.021 0.020 0.019 0.020 0.020 0.018 0.020

80th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.010 0.010 0.010 0.009 0.010 0.009 0.010 0.009 0.010

80th/20th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.030 0.031 0.032 0.030 0.031 0.031 0.033 0.032 0.032

20th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.003 0.004

Mean Household Income of Quintiles

Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 46 46 47 47 48 49 50 49

Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 41 42 41 43 44 46 45 45

Third quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 48 47 49 49 52 52 50 51

Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 68 67 65 65 66 67 66 64

Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428 413 415 389 421 469 467 478 474

Top 5 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,357 1,276 1,306 1,228 1,431 1,529 1,511 1,609 1,622

Shares of Household Income 

of Quintiles

Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04

Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.08 0.08 0.08 0.08 0.08 0.08 0.09 0.09 0.09

Third quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.13 0.13 0.13 0.13 0.14 0.14 0.14 0.14 0.15

Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.19 0.19 0.20 0.20 0.20 0.20 0.21 0.21 0.21

Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.35 0.36 0.36 0.35 0.36 0.36 0.37 0.37 0.37

Top 5 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.35 0.36 0.35 0.35 0.36 0.36

Summary Measures

Gini index of income inequality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0037 0.0037 0.0038 0.0038 0.0036 0.0038 0.0039 0.0039 0.0041

Mean logarithmic deviation of income . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0055 0.0056 0.0057 0.0056 0.0051 0.0050 0.0054 0.0054 0.0054

Theil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001

Atkinson:

 e=0.25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0006 0.0006 0.0006 0.0006 0.0006 0.0006 0.0006 0.0006 0.0006

 e=0.50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0011 0.0011 0.0011 0.0011 0.0010 0.0011 0.0011 0.0011 0.0011

 e=0.75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0016 0.0016 0.0017 0.0017 0.0016 0.0017 0.0016 0.0017 0.0017

See footnotes at end of table.
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 35

Table A-2.

Selected Measures of Household Income Dispersion: 1967 to 2014—Con.

(Income in 2014 CPI-U-RS adjusted dollars. Beginning with 2010, standard errors were calculated using replicate weights. For further explanation of income inequality

measures, see Current Population Reports, Series P60-204, The Changing Shape of the Nation’s Income Distribution: 1947–1998. For information on confidentiality 

protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf)

Measures of income

dispersion 197517 197417,18 1973 197219 197120 1970 1969 1968 196721

MEASURE

Household Income at 

Selected Percentiles

10th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,243 12,587 12,503 11,939 11,197 11,024 11,282 10,998 10,102

20th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,006 21,044 20,943 20,498 19,809 20,067 20,411 19,818 18,593

40th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37,547 39,035 40,271 39,477 37,762 38,443 39,166 37,573 36,257

50th (median) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47,213 48,483 50,069 49,078 47,062 47,524 47,896 46,179 44,271

60th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56,736 57,680 59,585 58,344 55,569 55,915 56,642 53,854 51,461

80th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81,463 83,712 85,791 83,508 79,236 79,775 79,360 75,671 73,382

90th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104,430 107,942 110,740 107,296 101,651 101,616 100,696 95,423 93,215

95th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128,552 132,498 137,889 134,398 125,828 126,102 124,463 118,384 117,759

Household Income Ratios

of Selected Percentiles

90th/10th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.53 8.58 8.86 8.99 9.08 9.22 8.93 8.68 9.23

95th/20th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.43 6.30 6.58 6.56 6.35 6.28 6.10 5.97 6.33

95th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.72 2.73 2.75 2.74 2.67 2.65 2.60 2.56 2.66

80th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.73 1.73 1.71 1.70 1.68 1.68 1.66 1.64 1.66

80th/20th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.07 3.98 4.10 4.07 4.00 3.98 3.89 3.82 3.95

20th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.42 0.43 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.43 0.43 0.42

Mean Household Income of Quintiles

Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,640 12,049 12,094 11,555 10,906 10,838 11,030 10,769 9,915

Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,592 29,948 30,407 29,847 28,824 29,361 29,780 28,880 27,473

Third quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46,911 48,268 49,875 48,709 46,731 47,280 47,587 45,802 43,865

Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68,162 69,708 71,747 69,928 66,437 66,644 66,654 63,893 61,372

Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120,345 123,506 128,376 125,541 117,721 117,985 117,156 111,023 110,447

Top 5 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182,628 187,729 197,739 194,583 180,563 181,093 180,328 169,742 174,219

Shares of Household Income 

of Quintiles

Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3 4.3 4.2 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.1 4.2 4.0

Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.4 10.6 10.4 10.4 10.6 10.8 10.9 11.1 10.8

Third quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.0 17.0 17.0 17.0 17.3 17.4 17.5 17.6 17.3

Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24.7 24.6 24.5 24.5 24.5 24.5 24.5 24.5 24.2

Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43.6 43.5 43.9 43.9 43.5 43.3 43.0 42.6 43.6

Top 5 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.5 16.5 16.9 17.0 16.7 16.6 16.6 16.3 17.2

Summary Measures

Gini index of income inequality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.397 0.395 0.400 0.401 0.396 0.394 0.391 0.386 0.397

Mean logarithmic deviation of income . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.361 0.352 0.355 0.370 0.370 0.370 0.357 0.356 0.380

Theil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.270 0.267 0.270 0.279 0.273 0.271 0.268 0.273 0.287

Atkinson:

 e=0.25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.067 0.067 0.068 0.070 0.068 0.068 0.067 0.067 0.071

 e=0.50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.136 0.134 0.136 0.140 0.138 0.138 0.135 0.135 0.143

 e=0.75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.210 0.207 0.210 0.216 0.214 0.214 0.209 0.208 0.220

STANDARD ERROR

Household Income at 

Selected Percentiles

10th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 134 133 132 128 133 136 134 129

20th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 179 177 176 171 178 181 178 173

40th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220 228 244 238 225 231 229 216 205

50th (median) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192 186 191 187 182 174 177 167 161

60th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250 268 290 239 234 249 230 225 235

80th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345 237 275 326 386 206 220 246 290

90th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473 390 400 540 289 327 388 512 689

95th percentile limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 693 874 627 847 506 626 771 532 500

Household Income Ratios

of Selected Percentiles

90th/10th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.097 0.096 0.100 0.109 0.107 0.115 0.113 0.115 0.136

95th/20th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.059 0.068 0.063 0.070 0.060 0.064 0.066 0.060 0.065

95th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.019 0.022 0.018 0.021 0.016 0.017 0.020 0.016 0.016

80th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.010 0.009 0.010 0.010 0.011 0.008 0.008 0.009 0.010

80th/20th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.035 0.036 0.037 0.038 0.040 0.037 0.036 0.036 0.040

20th/50th . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.004 0.004 0.004 0.004 0.004 0.004 0.004 0.004 0.004

Mean Household Income of Quintiles

Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 52 50 52 51 54 53 54 51

Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 47 51 50 48 50 51 50 50

Third quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 47 51 50 48 47 47 45 44

Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 66 67 66 63 63 62 59 58

Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475 480 520 545 517 531 542 508 552

Top 5 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,674 1,632 1,762 1,923 1,872 1,935 1,997 1,869 2,014

Shares of Household Income 

of Quintiles

Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04

Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.09 0.09 0.09 0.09 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.11 0.10

Third quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.16 0.16 0.16 0.17 0.17

Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.21 0.21 0.22 0.22 0.22 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23

Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.38 0.38 0.39 0.39 0.39 0.40 0.40 0.40 0.41

Top 5 percent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.36 0.36 0.38 0.38 0.38 0.39 0.39 0.39 0.41

Summary Measures

Gini index of income inequality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0056 0.0066 0.0040 0.0069 0.0063 0.0078 0.0066 0.0042 0.0044

Mean logarithmic deviation of income . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0059 0.0058 0.0057 0.0060 0.0061 0.0060 0.0058 0.0057 0.0060

Theil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001

Atkinson:

 e=0.25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0007 0.0006 0.0007 0.0007 0.0007 0.0007 0.0008 0.0007 0.0008

 e=0.50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0012 0.0011 0.0012 0.0013 0.0013 0.0013 0.0014 0.0012 0.0014

 e=0.75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0018 0.0017 0.0017 0.0018 0.0019 0.0019 0.0020 0.0018 0.0020

See footnotes on next page.
36 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau

1

 The 2014 CPS ASEC included redesigned questions for income and health insurance coverage . All of the approximately 98,000 addresses were eligible to receive the redesigned set of health insurance coverage questions . The redesigned income questions were implemented to a subsample of these 98,000 addresses using a probability split panel design . Approximately 68,000 addresses were 

eligible to receive a set of income questions similar to those used in the 2013 CPS ASEC and the remaining 30,000 addresses were eligible to receive the redesigned income questions . The source of 

these 2013 estimates is the portion of the CPS ASEC sample which received the redesigned income questions, approximately 30,000 addresses . 2

 The source of these 2013 estimates is the portion of the CPS ASEC sample which received the income questions consistent with the 2013 CPS ASEC, approximately 68,000 addresses .

3

 Implementation of Census 2010-based population controls .

4

 Medians are calculated using $2,500 income intervals . Beginning with 2009 income data, the Census Bureau expanded the upper income intervals used to calculate medians to $250,000 or more . 

Medians falling in the upper open-ended interval are plugged with “$250,000 .” Before 2009, the upper open-ended interval was $100,000 and a plug of “$100,000” was used . 5

 The 2004 data have been revised to reflect a correction to the weights in the 2005 ASEC .

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, and revised editing of responses on race .

9

 Introduction of 1990 census sample design .

10 Data collection method changed from paper and pencil to computer-assisted interviewing . In addition, the 1994 ASEC 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 . 11 Implementation of 1990 census population controls .

12 Implementation of a new CPS ASEC processing system .

13 Recording of amounts for earnings from longest job increased to $299,999 . Full implementation of 1980 census-based sample design . 

14 Implementation of Hispanic population weighting controls and introduction of 1980 census-based sample design .

15 Implementation of 1980 census population controls . Questionnaire expanded to allow the recording of up to 27 possible values from a list of 51 possible sources of income .

16 First year medians were derived using both Pareto and linear interpolation . Before this year, all medians were derived using linear interpolation .

17 Some of these estimates were derived using Pareto interpolation and may differ from published data, which were derived using linear interpolation .

18 Implementation of a new CPS ASEC processing system . Questionnaire expanded to ask 11 income questions . 

19 Full implementation of 1970 census-based sample design .

20 Introduction of 1970 census sample design and population controls .

21 Implementation of a new CPS ASEC processing system . 

Source: U .S . Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1968 to 2015 Annual Social and Economic Supplements . 
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 37 Table A-3. Selected Measures of Equivalence-Adjusted Income Dispersion: 1967 to 2014 (Beginning with 2009, standard errors were calculated using replicate weights. For further explanation of income inequality measures, see Current Population Reports, Series P60-204, The Changing Shape of the Nation’s Income Distribution: 1947–1998. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf) See footnotes at end of table. Measures of income dispersion 2014 20131 20132 2012 2011 20103 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 20044 2003 MEASURES Shares of Equivalence-Adjusted Income of Quintiles Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.6 3.7 3.8 3.8 3.8 3.8 3.9 Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.0 8.8 9.1 9.0 9.0 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.5 Third quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.8 14.7 14.9 14.8 14.8 15.0 15.0 15.1 15.3 14.9 15.1 15.2 15.2 Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.9 22.8 22.9 22.9 22.8 23.1 22.9 22.8 22.9 22.5 22.6 22.7 22.8 Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50.0 50.3 49.6 49.9 50.0 49.2 49.4 48.9 48.5 49.3 49.1 48.7 48.6 Summary Measures Gini index of income inequality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.464 0.467 0.459 0.463 0.463 0.456 0.456 0.450 0.444 0.452 0.450 0.447 0.445 Mean logarithmic deviation of income . . . . . . . . . . . 0.648 0.635 0.620 0.629 0.626 0.617 0.605 0.568 0.548 0.557 0.571 0.559 0.548 Theil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.397 0.409 0.392 0.405 0.404 0.382 0.390 0.377 0.368 0.393 0.386 0.380 0.373 Atkinson: e=0.25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.096 0.098 0.095 0.097 0.097 0.093 0.094 0.091 0.089 0.093 0.092 0.091 0.090 e=0.50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.192 0.194 0.188 0.192 0.191 0.185 0.186 0.180 0.175 0.182 0.181 0.179 0.176 e=0.75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.301 0.301 0.293 0.298 0.297 0.290 0.289 0.278 0.271 0.278 0.280 0.276 0.272 STANDARD ERRORS Shares of Equivalence-Adjusted Income of Quintiles Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.03 0.06 0.04 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.03 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.05 0.09 0.06 0.05 0.04 0.05 0.05 0.09 0.10 0.09 0.09 0.10 0.10 Third quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.07 0.12 0.08 0.07 0.06 0.06 0.07 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.15 Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.09 0.16 0.11 0.10 0.09 0.08 0.09 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.19 0.37 0.25 0.21 0.18 0.18 0.21 0.49 0.48 0.49 0.49 0.49 0.49 Summary Measures Gini index of income inequality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0020 0.0039 0.0026 0.0022 0.0019 0.0019 0.0021 0.0018 0.0018 0.0018 0.0018 0.0018 0.0018 Mean logarithmic deviation of income . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0076 0.0123 0.0083 0.0072 0.0073 0.0080 0.0069 0.0043 0.0042 0.0042 0.0043 0.0042 0.0041 Theil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0054 0.0111 0.0067 0.0062 0.0053 0.0048 0.0053 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 Atkinson: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . e=0.25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0011 0.0021 0.0013 0.0012 0.0010 0.0010 0.0011 0.0007 0.0008 0.0009 0.0009 0.0009 0.0008 e=0.50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0017 0.0034 0.0022 0.0019 0.0016 0.0016 0.0017 0.0012 0.0012 0.0014 0.0013 0.0014 0.0012 e=0.75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0024 0.0044 0.0028 0.0024 0.0022 0.0023 0.0023 0.0015 0.0016 0.0017 0.0017 0.0017 0.0016
38 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau See footnotes at end of table. Table A-3. Selected Measures of Equivalence-Adjusted Income Dispersion: 1967 to 2014—Con. (Beginning with 2009, standard errors were calculated using replicate weights. For further explanation of income inequality measures, see Current Population Reports, Series P60-204, The Changing Shape of the Nation’s Income Distribution: 1947–1998. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf) Measures of income dispersion 2002 2001 20005 19996 1998 1997 1996 19957 19948 19939 199210 1991 1990 MEASURES Shares of Equivalence-Adjusted Income of Quintiles Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.0 4.0 4.1 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.1 4.0 3.9 4.1 4.3 4.4 Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9.6 9.6 9.8 9.7 9.8 9.8 9.8 9.9 9.8 9.8 10.3 10.6 10.6 Third quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.2 15.2 15.2 15.3 15.4 15.4 15.5 15.6 15.6 15.6 16.3 16.5 16.3 Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22.7 22.4 22.3 22.6 22.7 22.6 22.7 22.8 22.8 23.0 23.7 23.7 23.5 Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48.4 48.8 48.6 48.4 48.1 48.3 47.9 47.6 47.8 47.7 45.5 45.0 45.1 Summary Measures Gini index of income inequality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.443 0.446 0.442 0.441 0.439 0.440 0.437 0.433 0.436 0.436 0.413 0.406 0.406 Mean logarithmic deviation of income . . . . . . . . . . . 0.523 0.527 0.501 0.492 0.506 0.500 0.474 0.463 0.474 0.472 0.419 0.402 0.388 Theil 0.373 0.386 0.380 0.366 0.369 0.374 0.370 0.356 0.363 0.363 0.299 0.289 0.293 Atkinson: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . e=0.25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.089 0.091 0.090 0.088 0.088 0.089 0.088 0.085 0.087 0.087 0.074 0.072 0.072 e=0.50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.174 0.177 0.174 0.171 0.172 0.173 0.170 0.166 0.169 0.169 0.149 0.144 0.144 e=0.75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.267 0.270 0.263 0.260 0.262 0.263 0.256 0.251 0.256 0.256 0.230 0.223 0.220 STANDARD ERRORS Shares of Equivalence-Adjusted Income of Quintiles Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.04 Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.11 0.11 Third quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.15 0.16 0.16 0.16 0.16 0.16 0.16 Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.23 0.22 0.22 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.24 0.24 0.24 Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.48 0.49 0.49 0.48 0.48 0.48 0.48 0.48 0.48 0.48 0.45 0.45 0.45 Summary Measures Gini index of income inequality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0019 0.0019 0.0019 0.0026 0.0027 0.0027 0.0028 0.0027 0.0027 0.0027 0.0024 0.0024 0.0025 Mean logarithmic deviation of income . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0039 0.0039 0.0037 0.0046 0.0048 0.0047 0.0045 0.0044 0.0042 0.0041 0.0038 0.0037 0.0035 Theil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 Atkinson: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . e=0.25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0008 0.0009 0.0009 0.0009 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0009 0.0005 0.0004 0.0005 e=0.50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0013 0.0014 0.0014 0.0014 0.0015 0.0016 0.0016 0.0015 0.0015 0.0015 0.0008 0.0008 0.0009 e=0.75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0016 0.0018 0.0017 0.0018 0.0019 0.0020 0.0020 0.0019 0.0019 0.0018 0.0012 0.0012 0.0012
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 39 See footnotes at end of table. Table A-3. Selected Measures of Equivalence-Adjusted Income Dispersion: 1967 to 2014—Con. (Beginning with 2009, standard errors were calculated using replicate weights. For further explanation of income inequality measures, see Current Population Reports, Series P60-204, The Changing Shape of the Nation’s Income Distribution: 1947–1998. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf) Measures of income dispersion 1989 1988 198711 1986 198512 198413 1983 1982 1981 1980 197914 1978 MEASURES Shares of Equivalence-Adjusted Incomes of Quintiles Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4 4.4 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.6 4.6 4.7 5.0 5.2 5.3 5.4 Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.5 10.7 10.8 10.8 10.9 11.0 11.0 11.1 11.4 11.6 11.7 11.8 Third quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.3 16.5 16.7 16.6 16.7 16.8 16.9 17.0 17.2 17.3 17.2 17.3 Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.4 23.7 23.8 23.8 23.7 24.0 24.0 23.9 24.0 24.0 23.8 23.7 Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45.4 44.7 44.4 44.3 44.1 43.6 43.5 43.2 42.4 41.9 41.9 41.8 Summary Measures Gini index of income inequality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.408 0.402 0.399 0.397 0.394 0.389 0.389 0.384 0.373 0.367 0.366 0.363 Mean logarithmic deviation of income . . . . . . . . . . . 0.393 0.380 0.381 0.375 0.369 0.366 0.373 0.370 0.352 0.330 0.322 0.315 Theil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.298 0.285 0.281 0.276 0.269 0.261 0.260 0.255 0.241 0.234 0.234 0.231 Atkinson: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . e=0.25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.073 0.070 0.069 0.068 0.067 0.065 0.065 0.064 0.060 0.058 0.058 0.057 e=0.50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.145 0.141 0.139 0.137 0.135 0.132 0.132 0.129 0.123 0.119 0.118 0.116 e=0.75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.222 0.216 0.215 0.212 0.208 0.205 0.207 0.203 0.194 0.186 0.184 0.180 STANDARD ERRORS Shares of Equivalence-Adjusted Income of Quintiles Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05 Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.11 0.12 0.12 0.12 Third quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.16 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.23 0.24 0.24 0.24 0.24 0.24 0.24 0.24 0.24 0.24 0.24 0.24 Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.45 0.45 0.44 0.44 0.44 0.44 0.44 0.43 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.42 Summary Measures Gini index of income inequality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0025 0.0026 0.0024 0.0024 0.0024 0.0023 0.0023 0.0023 0.0023 0.0022 0.0023 0.0023 Mean logarithmic deviation of income . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0035 0.0036 0.0035 0.0035 0.0035 0.0035 0.0035 0.0036 0.0035 0.0031 0.0030 0.0032 Theil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 Atkinson: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . e=0.25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0005 0.0006 0.0005 0.0004 0.0004 0.0004 0.0004 0.0004 0.0004 0.0003 0.0004 0.0004 e=0.50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0009 0.0010 0.0008 0.0008 0.0007 0.0007 0.0007 0.0007 0.0007 0.0006 0.0007 0.0007 e=0.75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0013 0.0013 0.0012 0.0011 0.0011 0.0011 0.0011 0.0011 0.0011 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010
40 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau Table A-3. Selected Measures of Equivalence-Adjusted Income Dispersion: 1967 to 2014—Con. (Beginning with 2009, standard errors were calculated using replicate weights. For further explanation of income inequality measures, see Current Population Reports, Series P60-204, The Changing Shape of the Nation’s Income Distribution: 1947–1998. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf) Measures of income dispersion 1977 197615 197516 197416, 17 1973 197218 197119 1970 1969 1968 196720 MEASURES Shares of Equivalence-Adjusted Incomes of Quintiles Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5 5.6 5.6 5.8 5.6 5.6 5.7 5.7 5.8 5.8 5.6 Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.7 11.8 11.9 12.1 12.0 11.9 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.0 Third quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17.3 17.4 17.3 17.3 17.2 17.2 17.2 17.3 17.3 17.4 17.1 Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23.7 23.8 23.6 23.6 23.5 23.4 23.4 23.4 23.4 23.4 23.2 Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41.7 41.5 41.6 41.2 41.7 41.9 41.7 41.5 41.3 41.1 42.1 Summary Measures Gini index of income inequality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.362 0.359 0.359 0.354 0.360 0.362 0.359 0.357 0.353 0.351 0.362 Mean logarithmic deviation of income . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.315 0.311 0.306 0.295 0.298 0.302 0.300 0.299 0.283 0.285 0.303 Theil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.231 0.227 0.227 0.221 0.230 0.233 0.229 0.228 0.224 0.220 0.238 Atkinson: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . e=0.25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.057 0.056 0.056 0.055 0.057 0.057 0.057 0.056 0.055 0.054 0.058 e=0.50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.116 0.113 0.114 0.110 0.114 0.115 0.113 0.113 0.110 0.109 0.116 e=0.75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.180 0.177 0.176 0.171 0.176 0.177 0.175 0.175 0.169 0.169 0.179 STANDARD ERRORS Shares of Equivalence-Adjusted Income of Quintiles Lowest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.05 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06 0.06 Second quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.12 0.12 Third quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 0.17 Fourth quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.24 0.24 0.24 0.24 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 0.23 Highest quintile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.42 0.41 0.42 0.41 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.42 0.41 0.41 0.42 Summary Measures Gini index of income inequality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0023 0.0024 0.0024 0.0026 0.0027 0.0029 0.0028 0.0035 0.0062 0.0070 0.0025 Mean logarithmic deviation of income . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0032 0.0032 0.0034 0.0033 0.0032 0.0033 0.0032 0.0031 0.0030 0.0030 0.0031 Theil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 Atkinson: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . e=0.25 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0004 0.0004 0.0004 0.0004 0.0004 0.0004 0.0004 0.0004 0.0004 0.0004 0.0005 e=0.50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0007 0.0007 0.0007 0.0007 0.0007 0.0007 0.0007 0.0007 0.0008 0.0007 0.0008 e=0.75 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0.0011 0.0010 0.0011 0.0010 0.0011 0.0011 0.0011 0.0011 0.0011 0.0010 0.0011

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eligibCPS ASEC sample which receivsecur$24,999;
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 41

Table A-4.

Number and Real Median Earnings of Total Workers and Full-Time, Year-Round Workers by Sex 

and Female-to-Male Earnings Ratio: 1960 to 2014

(People 15 years and older beginning in 1980 and people 14 years and older as of the following year for previous years. Before 

1989, earnings are for civilian workers only. Earnings in 2014 CPI-U-RS adjusted dollars. Beginning with 2010, standard errors 

were calculated using replicate weights. Before 2010, standard errors were calculated using the generalized variance function. 

See Appendix C for more information. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, 

see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf) 

Year

Total workers Full-time, year-round workers

Male Female Male Female

Femaletomale

earnings

ratio

Number of 

workers

(thousands)

Median

earnings

(dollars)

Number of

workers

(thousands)

Median

earnings

(dollars)

Number of

workers

(thousands)

Median 

earnings 

(dollars)

Number of 

workers

(thousands)

Median 

earnings 

(dollars)

Total

With 

earnings Value

Standard 

error Total

With 

earnings Value

Standard 

error Total

With 

earnings Value

Standard 

error Total

With 

earnings Value

Standard 

error

2014....... 84,539 84,494 40,638 130 75,639 75,572 28,394 288 62,466 62,455 50,383 132 46,246 46,226 39,621 436 0.786 

20131 . . . . . . 83,916 83,855 40,887 308 74,892 74,821 27,838 287 61,240 61,240 50,834 577 44,629 44,629 39,427 707 0.776

20132 . . . . . . 83,605 83,555 40,556 444 74,598 74,545 28,190 370 60,781 60,769 50,852 250 45,081 45,068 39,798 368 0.783 

2012....... 83,070 83,003 39,096 427 74,252 74,188 27,719 141 59,028 59,009 50,936 482 44,059 44,042 38,967 372 0.765 

2011....... 81,418 81,366 39,308 175 73,178 73,094 27,948 139 58,014 57,993 50,740 499 43,702 43,683 39,073 162 0.770 

20103 . . . . . . 80,893 80,856 39,942 173 72,789 72,716 28,778 142 56,294 56,283 52,068 531 43,184 43,179 40,055 159 0.769 

20094 . . . . . . 81,979 81,934 40,089 130 73,063 72,972 28,722 103 56,072 56,053 52,001 162 43,253 43,217 40,030 116 0.770 

2008....... 84,088 84,039 40,210 118 74,600 74,538 28,204 107 59,875 59,861 50,985 159 44,163 44,156 39,305 117 0.771 

2007....... 84,532 84,482 41,831 121 74,382 74,295 29,548 104 63,000 62,984 51,511 171 45,640 45,613 40,080 116 0.778 

2006....... 83,980 83,928 42,129 126 73,761 73,683 28,728 180 63,070 63,055 49,623 103 44,682 44,663 38,179 217 0.769 

2005....... 82,987 82,934 41,640 341 72,544 72,476 27,972 173 61,515 61,500 50,171 109 43,369 43,351 38,620 98 0.770 

20045 . . . . . . 81,503 81,448 40,712 202 72,016 71,930 27,894 99 60,103 60,088 51,131 113 42,414 42,380 39,154 99 0.766 

2003....... 80,554 80,508 41,252 102 71,446 71,372 28,323 104 58,784 58,772 52,348 116 41,922 41,908 39,548 107 0.755 

2002....... 80,548 80,500 41,645 108 71,500 71,411 28,199 99 58,774 58,761 51,886 321 41,900 41,876 39,745 105 0.766 

2001....... 80,300 80,209 41,939 106 71,308 71,232 27,881 106 58,728 58,712 51,180 345 41,651 41,639 39,066 221 0.763 

20006 . . . . . . 80,572 80,494 42,548 107 71,758 71,657 27,861 106 59,619 59,602 51,210 139 41,744 41,719 37,752 140 0.737 

19997 . . . . . . 79,360 79,322 42,752 206 71,153 71,053 26,209 230 58,318 58,299 51,724 193 40,890 40,871 37,404 161 0.723 

1998....... 77,323 77,295 41,740 338 68,950 68,846 25,716 234 56,957 56,951 51,306 193 38,819 38,785 37,541 171 0.732 

1997....... 76,731 76,694 39,492 179 67,851 67,736 24,593 159 54,933 54,909 49,542 472 37,715 37,683 36,741 228 0.742 

1996....... 76,165 76,121 38,756 185 66,744 66,661 24,090 164 53,801 53,787 48,313 173 36,457 36,430 35,637 250 0.738 

19958 . . . . . . 74,681 74,619 38,621 244 65,657 65,557 23,653 157 52,675 52,667 48,621 178 35,502 35,482 34,729 211 0.714 

19949 . . . . . . 74,326 74,264 37,398 292 64,803 64,706 22,643 207 51,597 51,580 48,777 196 34,182 34,155 35,104 174 0.720 

199310 . . . . . 73,287 73,198 36,221 211 63,808 63,660 22,427 219 49,838 49,818 49,074 189 33,552 33,524 35,098 155 0.715 

199211 . . . . . 73,142 73,120 36,224 190 62,535 62,408 22,371 222 48,554 48,551 49,941 189 33,296 33,241 35,351 169 0.708 

1991....... 72,064 72,040 37,064 187 61,959 61,796 21,848 212 47,987 47,888 49,891 375 32,491 32,436 34,853 166 0.699 

1990....... 72,380 72,348 37,824 179 61,946 61,732 21,529 141 49,181 49,171 48,643 364 31,758 31,682 34,836 223 0.716 

1989....... 72,093 72,045 39,420 192 61,586 61,338 21,643 144 49,698 49,678 50,401 207 31,428 31,340 34,612 232 0.687 

1988....... 70,496 70,467 39,651 217 60,873 60,658 21,345 152 48,303 48,285 51,277 225 31,334 31,237 33,868 242 0.660 

198712 . . . . . 69,624 69,545 39,522 289 59,557 59,359 21,179 140 47,048 47,013 51,743 215 29,982 29,912 33,725 158 0.652 

1986....... 68,783 68,728 38,722 287 57,932 57,686 20,649 171 45,912 45,912 52,069 223 28,493 28,420 33,465 175 0.643 

198513 . . . . . 67,852 67,809 37,318 283 56,592 56,296 19,579 197 44,952 44,943 50,785 296 27,470 27,383 32,794 172 0.646 

198414 . . . . . 66,513 66,454 36,964 206 55,596 55,226 18,834 182 43,836 43,808 50,407 258 26,587 26,466 32,088 189 0.637 

1983....... 65,216 65,138 36,345 199 53,413 53,108 18,611 136 41,548 41,528 49,481 226 25,288 25,166 31,467 192 0.636 

1982....... 64,827 64,730 36,224 205 52,299 51,820 18,111 132 40,135 40,105 49,665 210 23,845 23,702 30,666 207 0.617 

1981....... 65,362 65,233 37,631 215 52,504 51,940 18,045 130 41,811 41,773 50,621 177 23,488 23,329 29,985 125 0.592 

1980....... 64,861 64,730 38,340 265 51,988 51,448 18,126 148 41,923 41,881 50,930 257 23,025 22,859 30,640 134 0.602 

197915 . . . . . 64,769 63,422 39,399 265 51,462 49,839 18,187 155 42,469 42,437 51,771 204 22,248 22,082 30,888 158 0.597 

1978....... 63,101 62,903 40,420 197 49,214 48,398 17,487 160 41,078 41,036 52,403 180 21,131 20,914 31,149 173 0.594 

1977....... 61,959 61,704 39,290 203 47,333 46,194 16,639 146 39,325 39,263 52,067 246 19,544 19,238 30,679 139 0.589 

197616 . . . . . 60,703 60,450 38,985 178 45,659 44,565 16,258 151 38,214 38,184 50,921 201 18,372 18,073 30,651 151 0.602 

197517 . . . . . 59,509 59,268 38,718 208 43,725 42,926 15,821 168 37,316 37,267 51,061 200 17,738 17,452 30,033 152 0.588 

197417, 18 . . . . 60,102 59,752 39,505 N 43,694 42,650 15,432 N N 37,916 51,382 221 N 16,945 30,189 147 0.588 

1973....... 59,816 59,438 41,364 N 42,835 41,583 15,570 N 39,643 39,581 53,294 N 17,547 17,195 30,182 N 0.566 

197219 . . . . . 58,194 57,774 40,455 N 40,723 39,470 16,109 N 38,234 38,184 51,649 N 16,976 16,675 29,884 N 0.579 

197120 . . . . . 57,303 56,886 38,524 N 39,910 38,485 15,570 N 36,868 36,819 49,010 N 16,353 16,002 29,164 N 0.595 

1970....... 56,265 55,821 38,927 N 39,682 38,273 14,859 N 36,193 36,132 48,801 N 15,805 15,476 28,972 N 0.594 

1969....... 55,700 55,273 39,400 N 39,060 37,737 14,643 N 37,055 37,008 46,984 N 15,678 15,374 28,424 N 0.605 

1968....... 55,095 54,026 38,431 N 38,279 35,695 14,986 N 37,099 37,068 45,721 N 15,336 15,013 26,589 N 0.582 

196721 . . . . . 54,412 53,222 37,322 N 36,971 34,391 14,575 N 36,695 36,645 44,526 N 15,141 14,846 25,729 N 0.578 

196622 . . . . . 53,016 N 37,740 N 35,295 N 15,114 N N N 43,833 N N N 25,228 N 0.576 

196523 . . . . . N N 35,530 N N N 15,247 N N N 41,999 N N N 25,168 N 0.599 

1964....... 51,978 N 35,187 N 33,146 N 14,286 N N N 41,409 N N N 24,493 N 0.591 

1963....... 51,039 N 37,432 N 32,188 N 13,756 N N N 40,464 N N N 23,852 N 0.589 

196224 . . . . . 50,639 N 33,710 N 31,418 N 13,459 N N N 39,472 N N N 23,406 N 0.593 

196125 . . . . . 49,854 N 32,674 N 30,433 N 12,963 N N N 38,764 N N N 22,967 N 0.592 

1960....... 50,033 N 31,491 N 30,585 N 12,799 N N N 37,565 N N N 22,792 N 0.607 

See footnotes on next page.
42 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau

N Not available .

1

 The 2014 CPS ASEC included redesigned questions for income and health insurance coverage . All of the approximately 98,000 addresses were eligible to receive the redesigned set of health 

insurance coverage questions . The redesigned income questions were implemented to a subsample of the 98,000 addresses using a probability split panel design . Approximately 68,000 addresses were 

eligible to receive a set of income questions similar to those used in the 2013 CPS ASEC and the remaining 30,000 addresses were eligible to receive the redesigned income questions . The source of 

these 2013 estimates is the portion of the CPS ASEC sample which received the redesigned income questions, approximately 30,000 addresses . 2 The source of these 2013 estimates is the portion of the CPS ASEC sample which received the income questions consistent with the 2013 CPS ASEC, approximately 68,000 addresses .

3 Implementation of Census 2010-based population controls .

4

 Medians are calculated using $2,500 income intervals . Beginning with 2009 income data, the Census Bureau expanded the upper income intervals used to calculate medians to $250,000 or more . 

Medians falling in the upper open-ended interval are plugged with “$250,000 .” Before 2009, the upper open-ended interval was $100,000 and a plug of “$100,000” was used . 5

 The 2004 data have been revised to reflect a correction to the weights in the 2005 ASEC .

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, and revised editing of responses on race .

9

 Introduction of 1990 census sample design .

10 Data collection method changed from paper and pencil to computer-assisted interviewing . In addition, the 1994 ASEC 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 . 11 Implementation of 1990 census population controls .

12 Implementation of a new CPS ASEC processing system .

13 Recording of amounts for earnings from longest job increased to $299,999 . Full implementation of 1980 census-based sample design .

14 Implementation of Hispanic population weighting controls and introduction of 1980 census-based sample design .

15 Implementation of 1980 census population controls . Questionnaire expanded to allow the recording of up to 27 possible values from a list of 51 possible sources of income .

16 First year medians were derived using both Pareto and linear interpolation . Before this year, all medians were derived using linear interpolation .

17 Some of these estimates were derived using Pareto interpolation and may differ from published data, which were derived using linear interpolation .

18 Implementation of a new CPS ASEC processing system . Questionnaire expanded to ask 11 income questions .

19 Full implementation of 1970 census-based sample design .

20 Introduction of 1970 census sample design and population controls .

21 Implementation of a new CPS ASEC processing system .

22 Questionnaire expanded to ask eight income questions .

23 Implementation of new procedures to impute missing data only .

24 Full implementation of 1960 census-based sample design and population controls .

25 Introduction of 1960 census-based sample design . Implementation of first hotdeck procedure to impute missing income entries .

Source: U .S . Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1961 through 2015 Annual Social and Economic Supplements .
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 43

Since their total family income, 

$30,000, was higher than their 

threshold ($28,960), Family A would 

not be considered “in poverty.” 

While the thresholds, in some sense, 

represent the needs of families, they 

should be interpreted as a statistical 

yardstick rather than as a complete 

description of what people and families need to live. Many government 

assistance programs use different 

income eligibility cutoffs. While 

official poverty rates and the number 

of people or families in poverty are 

important, other poverty indicators 

are considered in the section “Depth 

of Poverty Measures” and other 

approaches to setting thresholds 

and defining resources are discussed 

in the section “Alternative Poverty 

Measures.”

For a history of the official poverty 

measure, see “Poverty: The History of 

a Measure” available at <www

.census.gov/library/infographics

/poverty_measure-history.html> or 

“The Development of the Orshansky 

Poverty Thresholds and Their 

Subsequent History as the Official U.S. 

Poverty Measure” by Gordon M. Fisher, 

APPENDIX B. ESTIMATES OF POVERTY

How Poverty Is Calculated

Following the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Statistical Policy Directive 14, the U.S. Census Bureau uses a set of 

dollar value thresholds that vary by family size and composition to determine who is in poverty (see the matrix below).

If a family’s total money income is 

less than the applicable threshold, 

then that family and every individual in it are considered in poverty. 

The official poverty thresholds are 

updated annually for inflation using 

the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U). The 

official poverty definition uses money 

income before taxes and tax credits 

and excludes capital gains and noncash benefits (such as Supplemental 

Nutrition Assistance Program benefits 

and housing assistance). The thresholds do not vary geographically.

Example: Suppose Family A consists 

of five people: two children, their 

mother, their father, and their greataunt. Family A’s poverty threshold in 

2014 was $28,960. Each member of 

Family A had the following income in 

2014:

available at <www.census.gov/hhes

/povmeas/publications/orshansky

.html>. 

Weighted average thresholds: Since 

some data users want a summary of 

the 48 thresholds to get a general 

sense of the “poverty line,” the following table provides the weighted 

average thresholds for 2014. The 

weighted average thresholds are 

based on the relative number of families of each size and composition and 

are not used in computing poverty 

estimates.

Poverty Thresholds for 2014 by Size of Family and Number of Related Children Under 18 Years

(Dollars)

Size of family unit

Related children under 18 years

 None One Two Three Four Five Six Seven

 Eight or 

more

One person (unrelated individual):

Under age 65 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,316

Aged 65 and older . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,354

Two people:

Householder under age 65 . . . . . . . . 15,853 16,317

Householder aged 65 and older . . . . . 14,309 16,256

Three people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,518 19,055 19,073

Four people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,418 24,817 24,008 24,091

Five people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,447 29,875 28,960 28,252 27,820

Six people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,869 34,004 33,303 32,631 31,633 31,041

Seven people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,971 39,214 38,375 37,791 36,701 35,431 34,036

Eight people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43,586 43,970 43,179 42,485 41,501 40,252 38,953 38,622

Nine people or more . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52,430 52,685 51,984 51,396 50,430 49,101 47,899 47,601 45,768

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Weighted Average Poverty 

Thresholds in 2014 by Size of 

Family

(Dollars) 

One person 12,071 

Two people 15,379 

Three people 18,850 

Four people 24,230 

Five people 28,695 

Six people 32,473 

Seven people 36,927 

Eight people 40,968 

Nine people or more 49,021 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

Mother $11,000

Father 9,000

Great-aunt 10,000

First child 0

Second child 0

Total: $30,000
44 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau

Race, Hispanic origin, 

and year

All people People in families Unrelated individuals

Total

Below poverty All families

Families with female

householder, no

husband present

Total

Below poverty

Number Percent Total

Below poverty

Total

Below poverty

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

ALL RACES

2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315,804 46,657 14.8 256,308 32,615 12.7 48,019 15,905 33.1 57,937 13,374 23.1

20131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313,096 46,269 14.8 256,070 32,786 12.8 49,951 17,170 34.4 55,400 12,707 22.9

20132 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312,965 45,318 14.5 254,988 31,530 12.4 47,007 15,606 33.2 56,564 13,181 23.3

2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 310,648 46,496 15.0 252,863 33,198 13.1 47,085 15,957 33.9 56,185 12,558 22.4

2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308,456 46,247 15.0 252,316 33,126 13.1 48,103 16,451 34.2 54,517 12,416 22.8

20103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306,130 46,343 15.1 250,200 33,120 13.2 46,454 15,911 34.3 54,250 12,449 22.9

2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303,820 43,569 14.3 249,384 31,197 12.5 45,315 14,746 32.5 53,079 11,678 22.0

2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301,041 39,829 13.2 248,301 28,564 11.5 44,027 13,812 31.4 51,534 10,710 20.8

2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298,699 37,276 12.5 245,443 26,509 10.8 43,961 13,478 30.7 51,740 10,189 19.7

2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296,450 36,460 12.3 245,199 25,915 10.6 43,223 13,199 30.5 49,884 9,977 20.0

2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293,135 36,950 12.6 242,389 26,068 10.8 42,244 13,153 31.1 49,526 10,425 21.1

20044 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290,617 37,040 12.7 240,754 26,544 11.0 42,053 12,832 30.5 48,609 9,926 20.4

2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287,699 35,861 12.5 238,903 25,684 10.8 41,311 12,413 30.0 47,594 9,713 20.4

2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 285,317 34,570 12.1 236,921 24,534 10.4 40,529 11,657 28.8 47,156 9,618 20.4

2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281,475 32,907 11.7 233,911 23,215 9.9 39,261 11,223 28.6 46,392 9,226 19.9

20005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278,944 31,581 11.3 231,909 22,347 9.6 38,375 10,926 28.5 45,624 8,653 19.0

19996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 276,208 32,791 11.9 230,789 23,830 10.3 38,580 11,764 30.5 43,977 8,400 19.1

1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271,059 34,476 12.7 227,229 25,370 11.2 39,000 12,907 33.1 42,539 8,478 19.9

1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268,480 35,574 13.3 225,369 26,217 11.6 38,412 13,494 35.1 41,672 8,687 20.8

1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 266,218 36,529 13.7 223,955 27,376 12.2 38,584 13,796 35.8 40,727 8,452 20.8

1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263,733 36,425 13.8 222,792 27,501 12.3 38,908 14,205 36.5 39,484 8,247 20.9

1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261,616 38,059 14.5 221,430 28,985 13.1 37,253 14,380 38.6 38,538 8,287 21.5

1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259,278 39,265 15.1 219,489 29,927 13.6 37,861 14,636 38.7 38,038 8,388 22.1

19927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256,549 38,014 14.8 217,936 28,961 13.3 36,446 14,205 39.0 36,842 8,075 21.9

19918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251,192 35,708 14.2 212,723 27,143 12.8 34,795 13,824 39.7 36,845 7,773 21.1

1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248,644 33,585 13.5 210,967 25,232 12.0 33,795 12,578 37.2 36,056 7,446 20.7

1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245,992 31,528 12.8 209,515 24,066 11.5 32,525 11,668 35.9 35,185 6,760 19.2

19889 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243,530 31,745 13.0 208,056 24,048 11.6 32,164 11,972 37.2 34,340 7,070 20.6

19879 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240,982 32,221 13.4 206,877 24,725 12.0 31,893 12,148 38.1 32,992 6,857 20.8

1986 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238,554 32,370 13.6 205,459 24,754 12.0 31,152 11,944 38.3 31,679 6,846 21.6

1985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236,594 33,064 14.0 203,963 25,729 12.6 30,878 11,600 37.6 31,351 6,725 21.5

1984 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233,816 33,700 14.4 202,288 26,458 13.1 30,844 11,831 38.4 30,268 6,609 21.8

1983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231,700 35,303 15.2 201,338 27,933 13.9 30,049 12,072 40.2 29,158 6,740 23.1

1982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229,412 34,398 15.0 200,385 27,349 13.6 28,834 11,701 40.6 27,908 6,458 23.1

1981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227,157 31,822 14.0 198,541 24,850 12.5 28,587 11,051 38.7 27,714 6,490 23.4

1980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225,027 29,272 13.0 196,963 22,601 11.5 27,565 10,120 36.7 27,133 6,227 22.9

1979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222,903 26,072 11.7 195,860 19,964 10.2 26,927 9,400 34.9 26,170 5,743 21.9

1978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215,656 24,497 11.4 191,071 19,062 10.0 26,032 9,269 35.6 24,585 5,435 22.1

1977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213,867 24,720 11.6 190,757 19,505 10.2 25,404 9,205 36.2 23,110 5,216 22.6

1976 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212,303 24,975 11.8 190,844 19,632 10.3 24,204 9,029 37.3 21,459 5,344 24.9

1975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210,864 25,877 12.3 190,630 20,789 10.9 23,580 8,846 37.5 20,234 5,088 25.1

1974 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209,362 23,370 11.2 190,436 18,817 9.9 23,165 8,462 36.5 18,926 4,553 24.1

1973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207,621 22,973 11.1 189,361 18,299 9.7 21,823 8,178 37.5 18,260 4,674 25.6

1972 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206,004 24,460 11.9 189,193 19,577 10.3 21,264 8,114 38.2 16,811 4,883 29.0

1971 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204,554 25,559 12.5 188,242 20,405 10.8 20,153 7,797 38.7 16,311 5,154 31.6

1970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202,183 25,420 12.6 186,692 20,330 10.9 19,673 7,503 38.1 15,491 5,090 32.9

1969 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199,517 24,147 12.1 184,891 19,175 10.4 17,995 6,879 38.2 14,626 4,972 34.0

1968 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197,628 25,389 12.8 183,825 20,695 11.3 18,048 6,990 38.7 13,803 4,694 34.0

1967 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195,672 27,769 14.2 182,558 22,771 12.5 17,788 6,898 38.8 13,114 4,998 38.1

1966 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193,388 28,510 14.7 181,117 23,809 13.1 17,240 6,861 39.8 12,271 4,701 38.3

1965 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191,413 33,185 17.3 179,281 28,358 15.8 16,371 7,524 46.0 12,132 4,827 39.8

1964 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189,710 36,055 19.0 177,653 30,912 17.4 N 7,297 44.4 12,057 5,143 42.7

1963 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187,258 36,436 19.5 176,076 31,498 17.9 N 7,646 47.7 11,182 4,938 44.2

1962 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184,276 38,625 21.0 173,263 33,623 19.4 N 7,781 50.3 11,013 5,002 45.4

1961 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181,277 39,628 21.9 170,131 34,509 20.3 N 7,252 48.1 11,146 5,119 45.9

1960 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179,503 39,851 22.2 168,615 34,925 20.7 N 7,247 48.9 10,888 4,926 45.2

1959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176,557 39,490 22.4 165,858 34,562 20.8 N 7,014 49.4 10,699 4,928 46.1

Table B-1.

Poverty Status of People by Family Relationship, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1959 to 2014

(Numbers in thousands. People as of March of the following year. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, 

nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf)

See footnotes at end of table.
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 45

Race, Hispanic origin, 

and year

All people People in families Unrelated individuals

Total

Below poverty All families

Families with female

householder, no

husband present

Total

Below poverty

Number Percent Total

Below poverty

Total

Below poverty

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

WHITE ALONE10

2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244,253 31,089 12.7 197,607 21,072 10.7 29,134 8,680 29.8 45,409 9,476 20.9

20131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243,346 31,287 12.9 198,041 21,486 10.8 30,428 9,796 32.2 43,924 9,132 20.8

20132 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243,085 29,936 12.3 197,001 19,944 10.1 28,795 8,404 29.2 44,998 9,544 21.2

2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242,147 30,816 12.7 196,378 21,328 10.9 28,707 8,691 30.3 44,509 8,940 20.1

2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241,334 30,849 12.8 196,709 21,456 10.9 29,636 8,999 30.4 43,295 8,809 20.3

20103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239,982 31,083 13.0 195,441 21,543 11.0 28,032 8,721 31.1 43,324 8,971 20.7

2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242,047 29,830 12.3 197,938 20,701 10.5 28,163 8,283 29.4 43,010 8,580 19.9

2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240,548 26,990 11.2 197,763 18,558 9.4 27,010 7,340 27.2 41,810 7,982 19.1

2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239,133 25,120 10.5 195,944 17,141 8.7 27,159 7,188 26.5 41,931 7,505 17.9

2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237,619 24,416 10.3 196,061 16,644 8.5 27,057 7,160 26.5 40,461 7,334 18.1

2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235,430 24,872 10.6 194,277 16,782 8.6 25,943 7,021 27.1 40,164 7,718 19.2

20044 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233,741 25,327 10.8 193,024 17,445 9.0 26,139 6,892 26.4 39,712 7,416 18.7

2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 231,866 24,272 10.5 192,074 16,740 8.7 25,536 6,530 25.6 38,913 7,225 18.6

2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230,376 23,466 10.2 190,823 16,043 8.4 24,903 5,992 24.1 38,575 7,105 18.4

WHITE11

2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229,675 22,739 9.9 190,413 15,369 8.1 24,619 5,972 24.3 38,294 6,996 18.3

20005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227,846 21,645 9.5 188,966 14,692 7.8 24,166 5,609 23.2 37,699 6,454 17.1

19996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225,361 22,169 9.8 187,833 15,353 8.2 23,913 5,947 24.9 36,441 6,411 17.6

1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222,837 23,454 10.5 186,184 16,549 8.9 24,211 6,674 27.6 35,563 6,386 18.0

1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221,200 24,396 11.0 185,147 17,258 9.3 23,773 7,296 30.7 34,858 6,593 18.9

1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219,656 24,650 11.2 184,119 17,621 9.6 23,744 7,073 29.8 34,247 6,463 18.9

1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218,028 24,423 11.2 183,450 17,593 9.6 23,732 7,047 29.7 33,399 6,336 19.0

1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216,460 25,379 11.7 182,546 18,474 10.1 22,713 7,228 31.8 32,569 6,292 19.3

1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214,899 26,226 12.2 181,330 18,968 10.5 23,224 7,199 31.0 32,112 6,443 20.1

19927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213,060 25,259 11.9 180,409 18,294 10.1 22,453 6,907 30.8 31,170 6,147 19.7

19918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210,133 23,747 11.3 177,619 17,268 9.7 21,608 6,806 31.5 31,207 5,872 18.8

1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208,611 22,326 10.7 176,504 15,916 9.0 20,845 6,210 29.8 30,833 5,739 18.6

1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206,853 20,785 10.0 175,857 15,179 8.6 20,362 5,723 28.1 29,993 5,063 16.9

19889 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205,235 20,715 10.1 175,111 15,001 8.6 20,396 5,950 29.2 29,315 5,314 18.1

19879 203,605 21,195 10.4 174,488 15,593 8.9 20,244 5,989 29.6 28,290 5,174 18.3

1986 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 202,282 22,183 11.0 174,024 16,393 9.4 20,163 6,171 30.6 27,143 5,198 19.2

1985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200,918 22,860 11.4 172,863 17,125 9.9 20,105 5,990 29.8 27,067 5,299 19.6

1984 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198,941 22,955 11.5 171,839 17,299 10.1 19,727 5,866 29.7 26,094 5,181 19.9

1983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197,496 23,984 12.1 171,407 18,377 10.7 19,256 6,017 31.2 25,206 5,189 20.6

1982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195,919 23,517 12.0 170,748 18,015 10.6 18,374 5,686 30.9 24,300 5,041 20.7

1981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194,504 21,553 11.1 169,868 16,127 9.5 18,795 5,600 29.8 23,913 5,061 21.2

1980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192,912 19,699 10.2 168,756 14,587 8.6 17,642 4,940 28.0 23,370 4,760 20.4

1979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191,742 17,214 9.0 168,461 12,495 7.4 17,349 4,375 25.2 22,587 4,452 19.7

1978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186,450 16,259 8.7 165,193 12,050 7.3 16,877 4,371 25.9 21,257 4,209 19.8

1977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185,254 16,416 8.9 165,385 12,364 7.5 16,721 4,474 26.8 19,869 4,051 20.4

1976 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184,165 16,713 9.1 165,571 12,500 7.5 15,941 4,463 28.0 18,594 4,213 22.7

1975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183,164 17,770 9.7 165,661 13,799 8.3 15,577 4,577 29.4 17,503 3,972 22.7

1974 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182,376 15,736 8.6 166,081 12,181 7.3 15,433 4,278 27.7 16,295 3,555 21.8

1973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181,185 15,142 8.4 165,424 11,412 6.9 14,303 4,003 28.0 15,761 3,730 23.7

1972 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180,125 16,203 9.0 165,630 12,268 7.4 13,739 3,770 27.4 14,495 3,935 27.1

1971 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179,398 17,780 9.9 165,184 13,566 8.2 13,502 4,099 30.4 14,214 4,214 29.6

1970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177,376 17,484 9.9 163,875 13,323 8.1 13,226 3,761 28.4 13,500 4,161 30.8

1969 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175,349 16,659 9.5 162,779 12,623 7.8 12,285 3,577 29.1 12,570 4,036 32.1

1968 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173,732 17,395 10.0 161,777 13,546 8.4 12,190 3,551 29.1 11,955 3,849 32.2

1967 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172,038 18,983 11.0 160,720 14,851 9.2 12,131 3,453 28.5 11,318 4,132 36.5

1966 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170,247 19,290 11.3 159,561 15,430 9.7 12,261 3,646 29.7 10,686 3,860 36.1

1965 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168,732 22,496 13.3 158,255 18,508 11.7 11,573 4,092 35.4 10,477 3,988 38.1

1964 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167,313 24,957 14.9 156,898 20,716 13.2 N 3,911 33.4 10,415 4,241 40.7

1963 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165,309 25,238 15.3 155,584 21,149 13.6 N 4,051 35.6 9,725 4,089 42.0

1962 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162,842 26,672 16.4 153,348 22,613 14.7 N 4,089 37.9 9,494 4,059 42.7

1961 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160,306 27,890 17.4 150,717 23,747 15.8 N 4,062 37.6 9,589 4,143 43.2

1960 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158,863 28,309 17.8 149,458 24,262 16.2 N 4,296 39.0 9,405 4,047 43.0

1959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156,956 28,484 18.1 147,802 24,443 16.5 N 4,232 40.2 9,154 4,041 44.1

Table B-1.

Poverty Status of People by Family Relationship, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1959 to 2014—Con.

(Numbers in thousands. People as of March of the following year. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, 

nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf)

See footnotes at end of table.
46 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau

Race, Hispanic origin, 

and year

All people People in families Unrelated individuals

Total

Below poverty All families

Families with female

householder, no

husband present

Total

Below poverty

Number Percent Total

Below poverty

Total

Below poverty

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

WHITE ALONE, NOT HISPANIC10

2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195,208 19,652 10.1 154,734 11,566 7.5 19,015 4,630 24.4 39,603 7,779 19.6

20131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195,118 19,552 10.0 155,965 11,688 7.5 19,141 5,123 26.8 38,256 7,492 19.6

20132 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195,167 18,796 9.6 155,119 10,710 6.9 18,889 4,325 22.9 39,245 7,758 19.8

2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195,112 18,940 9.7 155,395 11,387 7.3 19,180 4,655 24.3 38,822 7,202 18.6

2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194,960 19,171 9.8 155,982 11,562 7.4 19,909 4,746 23.8 38,003 7,222 19.0

20103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194,783 19,251 9.9 155,723 11,509 7.4 18,914 4,689 24.8 38,211 7,351 19.2

2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197,164 18,530 9.4 158,646 11,211 7.1 19,033 4,532 23.8 37,757 6,946 18.4

2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196,940 17,024 8.6 159,344 10,138 6.4 18,799 4,046 21.5 36,848 6,539 17.7

2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196,583 16,032 8.2 158,703 9,553 6.0 19,179 4,099 21.4 36,909 6,155 16.7

2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196,049 16,013 8.2 159,572 9,676 6.1 19,349 4,353 22.5 35,642 6,021 16.9

2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195,553 16,227 8.3 159,204 9,604 6.0 18,899 4,278 22.6 35,626 6,393 17.9

20044 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195,098 16,908 8.7 159,221 10,323 6.5 19,009 4,116 21.7 35,141 6,237 17.7

2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194,595 15,902 8.2 159,215 9,658 6.1 18,792 3,959 21.1 34,683 6,015 17.3

2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194,144 15,567 8.0 158,764 9,389 5.9 18,664 3,733 20.0 34,614 5,947 17.2

WHITE, NOT HISPANIC11

2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194,538 15,271 7.8 159,178 9,122 5.7 18,365 3,661 19.9 34,603 5,882 17.0

20005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193,691 14,366 7.4 158,838 8,664 5.5 18,196 3,412 18.8 33,943 5,356 15.8

19996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192,565 14,735 7.7 158,550 9,013 5.7 17,892 3,545 19.8 33,189 5,412 16.3

1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192,754 15,799 8.2 159,301 10,061 6.3 18,547 4,074 22.0 32,573 5,352 16.4

1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191,859 16,491 8.6 158,796 10,401 6.5 18,474 4,604 24.9 32,049 5,632 17.6

1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191,459 16,462 8.6 159,044 10,553 6.6 18,597 4,339 23.3 31,410 5,455 17.4

1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190,951 16,267 8.5 159,402 10,599 6.6 18,340 4,183 22.8 30,586 5,303 17.3

1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192,543 18,110 9.4 161,254 12,118 7.5 18,186 4,743 26.1 30,157 5,500 18.2

1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190,843 18,882 9.9 160,062 12,756 8.0 18,508 4,724 25.5 29,681 5,570 18.8

19927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189,001 18,202 9.6 159,102 12,277 7.7 18,016 4,640 25.8 28,775 5,350 18.6

19918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 189,116 17,741 9.4 158,850 11,998 7.6 17,609 4,710 26.7 29,215 5,261 18.0

1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188,129 16,622 8.8 158,394 11,086 7.0 17,160 4,284 25.0 28,688 5,002 17.4

1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186,979 15,599 8.3 158,127 10,723 6.8 16,827 3,922 23.3 28,055 4,466 15.9

19889 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185,961 15,565 8.4 157,687 10,467 6.6 16,828 3,988 23.7 27,552 4,746 17.2

19879 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184,936 16,029 8.7 157,785 11,051 7.0 16,787 4,075 24.3 26,439 4,613 17.4

1986 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184,119 17,244 9.4 157,665 12,078 7.7 16,739 4,350 26.0 25,525 4,668 18.3

1985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183,455 17,839 9.7 157,106 12,706 8.1 16,749 4,136 24.7 25,544 4,789 18.7

1984 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182,469 18,300 10.0 156,930 13,234 8.4 16,742 4,193 25.0 24,671 4,659 18.9

1983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181,393 19,538 10.8 156,719 14,437 9.2 16,369 4,448 27.2 23,894 4,746 19.9

1982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181,903 19,362 10.6 157,818 14,271 9.0 15,830 4,161 26.3 23,329 4,701 20.2

1981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180,909 17,987 9.9 157,330 12,903 8.2 16,323 4,222 25.9 22,950 4,769 20.8

1980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179,798 16,365 9.1 156,633 11,568 7.4 15,358 3,699 24.1 22,455 4,474 19.9

1979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178,814 14,419 8.1 156,567 10,009 6.4 15,410 3,371 21.9 21,638 4,179 19.3

1978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 174,731 13,755 7.9 154,321 9,798 6.3 15,132 3,390 22.4 20,410 3,957 19.4

1977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173,563 13,802 8.0 154,449 9,977 6.5 14,888 3,429 23.0 19,114 3,825 20.0

1976 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173,235 14,025 8.1 155,324 10,066 6.5 14,261 3,516 24.7 17,912 3,959 22.1

1975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172,417 14,883 8.6 155,539 11,137 7.2 13,809 3,570 25.9 16,879 3,746 22.2

1974 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171,463 13,217 7.7 155,764 9,854 6.3 13,763 3,379 24.6 15,699 3,364 21.4

1973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170,488 12,864 7.5 155,330 9,262 6.0 12,731 3,185 25.0 15,158 3,602 23.8

BLACK ALONE

OR IN COMBINATION

2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,566 11,581 26.0 35,545 8,711 24.5 15,304 6,179 40.4 8,836 2,793 31.6

20131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,154 11,162 25.3 35,958 8,533 23.7 16,188 6,277 38.8 8,045 2,588 32.2

20132 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,112 11,959 27.1 35,657 9,174 25.7 14,906 6,319 42.4 8,199 2,657 32.4

2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43,583 11,809 27.1 35,205 9,016 25.6 15,113 6,220 41.2 8,179 2,663 32.6

2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42,648 11,730 27.5 34,495 9,012 26.1 15,282 6,500 42.5 7,986 2,635 33.0

20103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42,385 11,597 27.4 34,347 8,891 25.9 15,362 6,269 40.8 7,730 2,587 33.5

2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,876 10,575 25.9 33,330 8,184 24.6 14,463 5,755 39.8 7,368 2,285 31.0

2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,097 9,882 24.6 32,818 7,768 23.7 14,332 5,782 40.3 7,123 2,042 28.7

2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39,564 9,668 24.4 32,427 7,668 23.6 14,396 5,702 39.6 7,036 1,968 28.0

2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39,013 9,447 24.2 32,130 7,411 23.1 13,848 5,422 39.2 6,715 1,935 28.8

2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,551 9,517 24.7 31,663 7,459 23.6 14,080 5,524 39.2 6,754 2,003 29.7

20044 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,037 9,411 24.7 31,468 7,495 23.8 13,830 5,484 39.7 6,418 1,840 28.7

2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37,503 9,108 24.3 31,059 7,162 23.1 13,664 5,312 38.9 6,194 1,814 29.3

2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37,207 8,884 23.9 31,008 6,985 22.5 13,551 5,145 38.0 6,034 1,851 30.7

Table B-1.

Poverty Status of People by Family Relationship, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1959 to 2014—Con. (Numbers in thousands. People as of March of the following year. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, 

nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf)

See footnotes at end of table.
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 47

Race, Hispanic origin, 

and year

All people People in families Unrelated individuals

Total

Below poverty All families

Families with female

householder, no

husband present

Total

Below poverty

Number Percent Total

Below poverty

Total

Below poverty

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

BLACK ALONE12

2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41,112 10,755 26.2 32,546 8,013 24.6 14,091 5,670 40.2 8,419 2,685 31.9

20131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,498 10,186 25.2 32,658 7,665 23.5 14,838 5,759 38.8 7,717 2,483 32.2

20132 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,615 11,041 27.2 32,564 8,390 25.8 13,816 5,871 42.5 7,842 2,536 32.3

2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,125 10,911 27.2 32,122 8,251 25.7 13,931 5,735 41.2 7,841 2,549 32.5

2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39,609 10,929 27.6 31,800 8,334 26.2 14,145 5,980 42.3 7,659 2,524 33.0

20103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39,283 10,746 27.4 31,596 8,181 25.9 14,236 5,831 41.0 7,419 2,479 33.4

2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,556 9,944 25.8 31,306 7,642 24.4 13,680 5,427 39.7 7,102 2,209 31.1

2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37,966 9,379 24.7 30,986 7,339 23.7 13,648 5,533 40.5 6,835 1,970 28.8

2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37,665 9,237 24.5 30,778 7,312 23.8 13,741 5,459 39.7 6,807 1,898 27.9

2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37,306 9,048 24.3 30,621 7,072 23.1 13,244 5,180 39.1 6,545 1,897 29.0

2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36,802 9,168 24.9 30,154 7,164 23.8 13,481 5,303 39.3 6,521 1,949 29.9

20044 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36,426 9,014 24.7 30,065 7,153 23.8 13,244 5,247 39.6 6,217 1,792 28.8

2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,989 8,781 24.4 29,727 6,870 23.1 13,118 5,115 39.0 6,034 1,781 29.5

2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,678 8,602 24.1 29,671 6,761 22.8 13,030 4,980 38.2 5,858 1,800 30.7

BLACK11

2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,871 8,136 22.7 29,869 6,389 21.4 12,550 4,694 37.4 5,873 1,692 28.8

20005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,425 7,982 22.5 29,378 6,221 21.2 12,383 4,774 38.6 5,885 1,702 28.9

19996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,756 8,441 23.6 29,819 6,758 22.7 12,823 5,232 40.8 5,668 1,562 27.5

1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34,877 9,091 26.1 29,333 7,259 24.7 13,156 5,629 42.8 5,390 1,752 32.5

1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34,458 9,116 26.5 28,962 7,386 25.5 13,218 5,654 42.8 5,316 1,645 31.0

1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34,110 9,694 28.4 28,933 7,993 27.6 13,193 6,123 46.4 4,989 1,606 32.2

1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,740 9,872 29.3 28,777 8,189 28.5 13,604 6,553 48.2 4,756 1,551 32.6

1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33,353 10,196 30.6 28,499 8,447 29.6 12,926 6,489 50.2 4,649 1,617 34.8

1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32,910 10,877 33.1 28,106 9,242 32.9 13,132 6,955 53.0 4,608 1,541 33.4

19927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32,411 10,827 33.4 27,790 9,134 32.9 12,591 6,799 54.0 4,410 1,569 35.6

19918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31,313 10,242 32.7 26,565 8,504 32.0 11,960 6,557 54.8 4,505 1,590 35.3

1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30,806 9,837 31.9 26,296 8,160 31.0 11,866 6,005 50.6 4,244 1,491 35.1

1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30,332 9,302 30.7 25,931 7,704 29.7 11,190 5,530 49.4 4,180 1,471 35.2

19889 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,849 9,356 31.3 25,484 7,650 30.0 10,794 5,601 51.9 4,095 1,509 36.8

19879 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,362 9,520 32.4 25,128 7,848 31.2 10,701 5,789 54.1 3,977 1,471 37.0

1986 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,871 8,983 31.1 24,910 7,410 29.7 10,175 5,473 53.8 3,714 1,431 38.5

1985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,485 8,926 31.3 24,620 7,504 30.5 10,041 5,342 53.2 3,641 1,264 34.7

1984 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,087 9,490 33.8 24,387 8,104 33.2 10,384 5,666 54.6 3,501 1,255 35.8

1983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27,678 9,882 35.7 24,138 8,376 34.7 10,059 5,736 57.0 3,287 1,338 40.7

1982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27,216 9,697 35.6 23,948 8,355 34.9 9,699 5,698 58.8 3,051 1,229 40.3

1981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26,834 9,173 34.2 23,423 7,780 33.2 9,214 5,222 56.7 3,277 1,296 39.6

1980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26,408 8,579 32.5 23,084 7,190 31.1 9,338 4,984 53.4 3,208 1,314 41.0

1979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,944 8,050 31.0 22,666 6,800 30.0 9,065 4,816 53.1 3,127 1,168 37.3

1978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,956 7,625 30.6 22,027 6,493 29.5 8,689 4,712 54.2 2,929 1,132 38.6

1977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,710 7,726 31.3 21,850 6,667 30.5 8,315 4,595 55.3 2,860 1,059 37.0

1976 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,399 7,595 31.1 21,840 6,576 30.1 7,926 4,415 55.7 2,559 1,019 39.8

1975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,089 7,545 31.3 21,687 6,533 30.1 7,679 4,168 54.3 2,402 1,011 42.1

1974 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,699 7,182 30.3 21,341 6,255 29.3 7,483 4,116 55.0 2,359 927 39.3

1973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,512 7,388 31.4 21,328 6,560 30.8 7,188 4,064 56.5 2,183 828 37.9

1972 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,144 7,710 33.3 21,116 6,841 32.4 7,125 4,139 58.1 2,028 870 42.9

1971 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,784 7,396 32.5 20,900 6,530 31.2 6,398 3,587 56.1 1,884 866 46.0

1970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,515 7,548 33.5 20,724 6,683 32.2 6,225 3,656 58.7 1,791 865 48.3

1969 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,011 7,095 32.2 20,192 6,245 30.9 5,537 3,225 58.2 1,819 850 46.7

1968 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,944 7,616 34.7 N 6,839 33.7 N 3,312 58.9 N 777 46.3

1967 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,590 8,486 39.3 N 7,677 38.4 N 3,362 61.6 N 809 49.3

1966 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,206 8,867 41.8 N 8,090 40.9 N 3,160 65.3 N 777 54.4

1959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,013 9,927 55.1 N 9,112 54.9 N 2,416 70.6 1,430 815 57.0

Table B-1.

Poverty Status of People by Family Relationship, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1959 to 2014—Con.

(Numbers in thousands. People as of March of the following year. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, 

nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf)

See footnotes at end of table.
48 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau

Table B-1.

Poverty Status of People by Family Relationship, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1959 to 2014—Con.

(Numbers in thousands. People as of March of the following year. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, 

nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf)

Race, Hispanic origin, 

and year

All people People in families Unrelated individuals

Total

Below poverty All families

Families with female

householder, no

husband present

Total

Below poverty

Number Percent Total

Below poverty

Total

Below poverty

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

ASIAN ALONE 

OR IN COMBINATION

2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,685 2,268 11.5 16,964 1,479 8.7 1,994 355 17.8 2,621 754 28.8

20131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,182 2,398 12.5 16,800 1,680 10.0 1,873 525 28.1 2,339 700 29.9

20132 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,023 1,974 10.4 16,642 1,305 7.8 1,923 323 16.8 2,333 660 28.3

2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,173 2,072 11.4 15,751 1,467 9.3 1,756 374 21.3 2,334 580 24.8

2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,813 2,189 12.3 15,591 1,550 9.9 1,847 411 22.2 2,133 614 28.8

20103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,237 2,064 12.0 14,950 1,463 9.8 1,804 386 21.4 2,208 578 26.2

2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,272 1,901 12.4 13,403 1,361 10.2 1,539 290 18.9 1,826 527 28.8

2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,543 1,686 11.6 12,817 1,270 9.9 1,471 228 15.5 1,707 410 24.0

2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,430 1,467 10.2 12,527 1,012 8.1 1,421 250 17.6 1,837 426 23.2

2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,331 1,447 10.1 12,463 984 7.9 1,210 220 18.1 1,801 449 24.9

2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,731 1,501 10.9 11,931 1,039 8.7 1,223 220 18.0 1,771 457 25.8

20044 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,291 1,295 9.7 11,661 876 7.5 1,190 170 14.3 1,599 417 26.1

2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,891 1,527 11.8 11,266 1,116 9.9 1,184 294 24.8 1,590 402 25.3

2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,487 1,243 10.0 10,742 816 7.6 1,146 175 15.3 1,708 417 24.4

ASIAN ALONE13

2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,790 2,137 12.0 15,261 1,391 9.1 1,725 315 18.2 2,431 713 29.3

20131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,257 2,255 13.1 15,057 1,589 10.6 1,574 442 28.1 2,180 661 30.3

20132 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,063 1,785 10.5 14,895 1,154 7.7 1,657 228 13.7 2,128 623 29.3

2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,417 1,921 11.7 14,190 1,357 9.6 1,515 309 20.4 2,156 547 25.4

2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,086 1,973 12.3 14,100 1,389 9.9 1,570 327 20.8 1,921 571 29.7

20103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,611 1,899 12.2 13,515 1,341 9.9 1,471 327 22.2 2,040 547 26.8

2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,005 1,746 12.5 12,296 1,244 10.1 1,353 250 18.5 1,673 491 29.3

2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,310 1,576 11.8 11,719 1,192 10.2 1,308 209 16.0 1,574 378 24.0

2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,257 1,349 10.2 11,471 930 8.1 1,256 217 17.3 1,720 391 22.7

2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,177 1,353 10.3 11,428 912 8.0 1,057 187 17.7 1,683 428 25.4

2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,580 1,402 11.1 10,911 970 8.9 1,059 189 17.8 1,645 427 26.0

20044 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,231 1,201 9.8 10,734 812 7.6 1,024 135 13.2 1,472 388 26.3

2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,856 1,401 11.8 10,333 1,017 9.8 1,028 242 23.6 1,494 375 25.1

2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,541 1,161 10.1 9,899 763 7.7 1,019 155 15.2 1,613 390 24.2

ASIAN AND PACIFIC

ISLANDER11

2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,465 1,275 10.2 10,745 873 8.1 1,333 198 14.8 1,682 393 23.4

20005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,672 1,258 9.9 11,044 895 8.1 1,231 289 23.4 1,588 350 22.0

19996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,955 1,285 10.7 10,507 1,010 9.6 1,201 275 22.9 1,415 270 19.1

1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,873 1,360 12.5 9,576 1,087 11.4 1,123 373 33.2 1,266 257 20.3

1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,482 1,468 14.0 9,312 1,116 12.0 932 313 33.6 1,134 327 28.9

1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,054 1,454 14.5 8,900 1,172 13.2 1,018 300 29.5 1,120 255 22.8

1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,644 1,411 14.6 8,582 1,112 13.0 919 266 28.9 1,013 260 25.6

1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,654 974 14.6 5,915 776 13.1 582 137 23.6 696 179 25.7

1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,434 1,134 15.3 6,609 898 13.6 725 126 17.4 791 228 28.8

19927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,779 985 12.7 6,922 787 11.4 729 183 25.0 828 193 23.3

19918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,192 996 13.8 6,367 773 12.1 721 177 24.6 785 209 26.6

1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,014 858 12.2 6,300 712 11.3 638 132 20.7 668 124 18.5

1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,673 939 14.1 5,917 779 13.2 614 212 34.6 712 144 20.2

19889 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,447 1,117 17.3 5,767 942 16.3 650 263 40.5 651 160 24.5

19879 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,322 1,021 16.1 5,785 875 15.1 584 187 32.0 516 138 26.8

See footnotes at end of table.
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 49

Race, Hispanic origin, 

and year

All people People in families Unrelated individuals

Total

Below poverty All families

Families with female

householder, no

husband present

Total

Below poverty

Number Percent Total

Below poverty

Total

Below poverty

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

HISPANIC (ANY RACE)

2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,504 13,104 23.6 48,296 10,853 22.5 11,919 4,817 40.4 6,776 1,981 29.2

20131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54,181 13,356 24.7 47,266 11,128 23.5 13,060 5,406 41.4 6,414 1,915 29.9

20132 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54,145 12,744 23.5 47,254 10,536 22.3 11,679 4,860 41.6 6,545 2,063 31.5

2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53,105 13,616 25.6 46,183 11,358 24.6 11,255 4,816 42.8 6,502 2,018 31.0

2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52,279 13,244 25.3 45,781 11,143 24.3 11,368 4,996 44.0 6,096 1,882 30.9

20103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50,971 13,522 26.5 44,612 11,384 25.5 10,719 4,748 44.3 5,846 1,863 31.9

2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48,811 12,350 25.3 42,717 10,345 24.2 10,283 4,176 40.6 5,718 1,801 31.5

2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47,398 10,987 23.2 41,732 9,303 22.3 9,265 3,751 40.5 5,417 1,577 29.1

2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45,933 9,890 21.5 40,125 8,248 20.6 8,917 3,527 39.6 5,508 1,490 27.1

2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,784 9,243 20.6 39,177 7,650 19.5 8,652 3,189 36.9 5,317 1,468 27.6

2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43,020 9,368 21.8 37,759 7,767 20.6 7,868 3,069 39.0 4,971 1,451 29.2

20044 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41,690 9,122 21.9 36,438 7,705 21.1 7,825 3,072 39.3 4,971 1,293 26.0

2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,300 9,051 22.5 35,469 7,637 21.5 7,452 2,861 38.4 4,620 1,325 28.7

2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39,216 8,555 21.8 34,598 7,184 20.8 7,013 2,554 36.4 4,364 1,255 28.8

2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37,312 7,997 21.4 33,110 6,674 20.2 6,830 2,585 37.8 3,981 1,211 30.4

20005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,955 7,747 21.5 31,700 6,430 20.3 6,469 2,444 37.8 3,978 1,163 29.2

19996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34,632 7,876 22.7 30,872 6,702 21.7 6,527 2,642 40.5 3,481 1,068 30.7

1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31,515 8,070 25.6 28,055 6,814 24.3 6,074 2,837 46.7 3,218 1,097 34.1

1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30,637 8,308 27.1 27,467 7,198 26.2 5,718 2,911 50.9 2,976 1,017 34.2

1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,614 8,697 29.4 26,340 7,515 28.5 5,641 3,020 53.5 2,985 1,066 35.7

1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,344 8,574 30.3 25,165 7,341 29.2 5,785 3,053 52.8 2,947 1,092 37.0

1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27,442 8,416 30.7 24,390 7,357 30.2 5,328 2,920 54.8 2,798 926 33.1

1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26,559 8,126 30.6 23,439 6,876 29.3 5,333 2,837 53.2 2,717 972 35.8

19927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25,646 7,592 29.6 22,695 6,455 28.4 4,806 2,474 51.5 2,577 881 34.2

19918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,070 6,339 28.7 19,658 5,541 28.2 4,326 2,282 52.7 2,146 667 31.1

1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,405 6,006 28.1 18,912 5,091 26.9 3,993 2,115 53.0 2,254 774 34.3

1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,746 5,430 26.2 18,488 4,659 25.2 3,763 1,902 50.6 2,045 634 31.0

19889 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,064 5,357 26.7 18,102 4,700 26.0 3,734 2,052 55.0 1,864 597 32.0

19879 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,395 5,422 28.0 17,342 4,761 27.5 3,678 2,045 55.6 1,933 598 31.0

1986 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,758 5,117 27.3 16,880 4,469 26.5 3,631 1,921 52.9 1,685 553 32.8

1985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,075 5,236 29.0 16,276 4,605 28.3 3,561 1,983 55.7 1,602 532 33.2

1984 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,916 4,806 28.4 15,293 4,192 27.4 3,139 1,764 56.2 1,481 545 36.8

1983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,544 4,633 28.0 15,075 4,113 27.3 3,032 1,670 55.1 1,364 457 33.5

1982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,385 4,301 29.9 13,242 3,865 29.2 2,664 1,601 60.1 1,018 358 35.1

1981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,021 3,713 26.5 12,922 3,349 25.9 2,622 1,465 55.9 1,005 313 31.1

1980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,600 3,491 25.7 12,547 3,143 25.1 2,421 1,319 54.5 970 312 32.2

1979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,371 2,921 21.8 12,291 2,599 21.1 2,058 1,053 51.2 991 286 28.8

1978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,079 2,607 21.6 11,193 2,343 20.9 1,817 1,024 56.4 886 264 29.8

1977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,046 2,700 22.4 11,249 2,463 21.9 1,901 1,077 56.7 797 237 29.8

1976 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,269 2,783 24.7 10,552 2,516 23.8 1,766 1,000 56.6 716 266 37.2

1975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,117 2,991 26.9 10,472 2,755 26.3 1,842 1,053 57.2 645 236 36.6

1974 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,201 2,575 23.0 10,584 2,374 22.4 1,723 915 53.1 617 201 32.6

1973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,795 2,366 21.9 10,269 2,209 21.5 1,534 881 57.4 526 157 29.9

1972 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,588 2,414 22.8 10,099 2,252 22.3 1,370 733 53.5 488 162 33.2

N Not available. 1

 The 2014 CPS ASEC included redesigned questions for income and health insurance 

coverage. All of the approximately 98,000 addresses were eligible to receive the redesigned 

set of health insurance coverage questions. The redesigned income questions were 

implemented to a subsample of these 98,000 addresses using a probability split panel 

design. Approximately 68,000 addresses were eligible to receive a set of income questions 

similar to those used in the 2013 CPS ASEC and the remaining 30,000 addresses were 

eligible to receive the redesigned income questions. The source of these 2013 estimates 

is the portion of the CPS ASEC sample which received the redesigned income questions, 

approximately 30,000 addresses. 2

 The source of these 2013 estimates is the portion of the CPS ASEC sample which 

received the income questions consistent with the 2013 CPS ASEC, approximately 68,000 

addresses.

.

3

 Implementation of Census 2010-based population controls. 4

 For 2004, figures are revised to reflect a correction to the weights in the 2005 ASEC. 5

 Implementation of Census 2000-based population controls and a 28,000 household 

sample expansion. 6

 For 1999, figures are based on Census 2000 population controls. 7

 For 1992, figures are based on 1990 census population controls. 8

 For 1991, figures are revised to correct for nine omitted weights from the original 

March 1992 CPS file.

9

 For 1988 and 1987, figures are based on new processing procedures and are also 

revised to reflect corrections to the files after publication of the 1988 advance report Money 

Income and Poverty Status in the United States: 1988, P-60, No. 166. 10 The 2003 CPS allowed 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 2010 through American 

FactFinder. About 2.9 percent of people reported more than one race in Census 2010. 11 For 2001 and earlier years, the CPS allowed respondents to report only one race 

group. The reference race groups for 2001 and earlier poverty data are White, non-Hispanic 

White, Black, and Asian and Pacific Islander. 12 Black alone refers to people who reported Black and did not report any other race. 13 Asian alone refers to people who reported Asian and did not report any other race.

Note: Prior to 1979, people in unrelated subfamilies were included in people in families.

Beginning in 1979, people in unrelated subfamilies are included in all people but are 

excluded from people in families.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1960 to 2015 Annual Social 

and Economic Supplements.

Table B-1.

Poverty Status of People by Family Relationship, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1959 to 2014—Con.

(Numbers in thousands. People as of March of the following year. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, 

nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf)
50 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau

Race, Hispanic 

origin, and year

Under 18 years 18 to 64 years 65 years and older

All people Related children in families

Total

Below poverty

Total

Below poverty

Total

Below poverty

Total

Below poverty

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

ALL RACES

2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,556 15,540 21.1 72,383 14,987 20.7 196,254 26,527 13.5 45,994 4,590 10.0

20131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,439 15,801 21.5 72,246 15,116 20.9 194,694 25,899 13.3 44,963 4,569 10.2

20132 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,625 14,659 19.9 72,573 14,142 19.5 194,833 26,429 13.6 44,508 4,231 9.5

2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,719 16,073 21.8 72,545 15,437 21.3 193,642 26,497 13.7 43,287 3,926 9.1

2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,737 16,134 21.9 72,568 15,539 21.4 193,213 26,492 13.7 41,507 3,620 8.7

20103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,873 16,286 22.0 72,581 15,598 21.5 192,481 26,499 13.8 39,777 3,558 8.9

2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74,579 15,451 20.7 73,410 14,774 20.1 190,627 24,684 12.9 38,613 3,433 8.9

2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74,068 14,068 19.0 72,980 13,507 18.5 189,185 22,105 11.7 37,788 3,656 9.7

2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,996 13,324 18.0 72,792 12,802 17.6 187,913 20,396 10.9 36,790 3,556 9.7

2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,727 12,827 17.4 72,609 12,299 16.9 186,688 20,239 10.8 36,035 3,394 9.4

2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,285 12,896 17.6 72,095 12,335 17.1 184,345 20,450 11.1 35,505 3,603 10.1

20044 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,241 13,041 17.8 72,133 12,473 17.3 182,166 20,545 11.3 35,209 3,453 9.8

2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72,999 12,866 17.6 71,907 12,340 17.2 180,041 19,443 10.8 34,659 3,552 10.2

2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72,696 12,133 16.7 71,619 11,646 16.3 178,388 18,861 10.6 34,234 3,576 10.4

2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72,021 11,733 16.3 70,950 11,175 15.8 175,685 17,760 10.1 33,769 3,414 10.1

20005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71,741 11,587 16.2 70,538 11,005 15.6 173,638 16,671 9.6 33,566 3,323 9.9

19996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71,685 12,280 17.1 70,424 11,678 16.6 171,146 17,289 10.1 33,377 3,222 9.7

1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71,338 13,467 18.9 70,253 12,845 18.3 167,327 17,623 10.5 32,394 3,386 10.5

1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71,069 14,113 19.9 69,844 13,422 19.2 165,329 18,085 10.9 32,082 3,376 10.5

1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70,650 14,463 20.5 69,411 13,764 19.8 163,691 18,638 11.4 31,877 3,428 10.8

1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70,566 14,665 20.8 69,425 13,999 20.2 161,508 18,442 11.4 31,658 3,318 10.5

1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70,020 15,289 21.8 68,819 14,610 21.2 160,329 19,107 11.9 31,267 3,663 11.7

1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69,292 15,727 22.7 68,040 14,961 22.0 159,208 19,781 12.4 30,779 3,755 12.2

19927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68,440 15,294 22.3 67,256 14,521 21.6 157,680 18,793 11.9 30,430 3,928 12.9

19918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65,918 14,341 21.8 64,800 13,658 21.1 154,684 17,586 11.4 30,590 3,781 12.4

1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65,049 13,431 20.6 63,908 12,715 19.9 153,502 16,496 10.7 30,093 3,658 12.2

1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64,144 12,590 19.6 63,225 12,001 19.0 152,282 15,575 10.2 29,566 3,363 11.4

19889 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63,747 12,455 19.5 62,906 11,935 19.0 150,761 15,809 10.5 29,022 3,481 12.0

19879 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63,294 12,843 20.3 62,423 12,275 19.7 149,201 15,815 10.6 28,487 3,563 12.5

1986 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62,948 12,876 20.5 62,009 12,257 19.8 147,631 16,017 10.8 27,975 3,477 12.4

1985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62,876 13,010 20.7 62,019 12,483 20.1 146,396 16,598 11.3 27,322 3,456 12.6

1984 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62,447 13,420 21.5 61,681 12,929 21.0 144,551 16,952 11.7 26,818 3,330 12.4

1983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62,334 13,911 22.3 61,578 13,427 21.8 143,052 17,767 12.4 26,313 3,625 13.8

1982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62,345 13,647 21.9 61,565 13,139 21.3 141,328 17,000 12.0 25,738 3,751 14.6

1981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62,449 12,505 20.0 61,756 12,068 19.5 139,477 15,464 11.1 25,231 3,853 15.3

1980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62,914 11,543 18.3 62,168 11,114 17.9 137,428 13,858 10.1 24,686 3,871 15.7

1979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63,375 10,377 16.4 62,646 9,993 16.0 135,333 12,014 8.9 24,194 3,682 15.2

1978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62,311 9,931 15.9 61,987 9,722 15.7 130,169 11,332 8.7 23,175 3,233 14.0

1977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63,137 10,288 16.2 62,823 10,028 16.0 128,262 11,316 8.8 22,468 3,177 14.1

1976 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64,028 10,273 16.0 63,729 10,081 15.8 126,175 11,389 9.0 22,100 3,313 15.0

1975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65,079 11,104 17.1 64,750 10,882 16.8 124,122 11,456 9.2 21,662 3,317 15.3

1974 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66,134 10,156 15.4 65,802 9,967 15.1 122,101 10,132 8.3 21,127 3,085 14.6

1973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66,959 9,642 14.4 66,626 9,453 14.2 120,060 9,977 8.3 20,602 3,354 16.3

1972 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67,930 10,284 15.1 67,592 10,082 14.9 117,957 10,438 8.8 20,117 3,738 18.6

1971 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68,816 10,551 15.3 68,474 10,344 15.1 115,911 10,735 9.3 19,827 4,273 21.6

1970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69,159 10,440 15.1 68,815 10,235 14.9 113,554 10,187 9.0 19,470 4,793 24.6

1969 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69,090 9,691 14.0 68,746 9,501 13.8 111,528 9,669 8.7 18,899 4,787 25.3

1968 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70,385 10,954 15.6 70,035 10,739 15.3 108,684 9,803 9.0 18,559 4,632 25.0

1967 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70,408 11,656 16.6 70,058 11,427 16.3 107,024 10,725 10.0 18,240 5,388 29.5

1966 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70,218 12,389 17.6 69,869 12,146 17.4 105,241 11,007 10.5 17,929 5,114 28.5

1965 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69,986 14,676 21.0 69,638 14,388 20.7 N N N N N N

1964 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69,711 16,051 23.0 69,364 15,736 22.7 N N N N N N

1963 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69,181 16,005 23.1 68,837 15,691 22.8 N N N N N N

1962 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67,722 16,963 25.0 67,385 16,630 24.7 N N N N N N

1961 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66,121 16,909 25.6 65,792 16,577 25.2 N N N N N N

1960 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65,601 17,634 26.9 65,275 17,288 26.5 N N N N N N

1959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64,315 17,552 27.3 63,995 17,208 26.9 96,685 16,457 17.0 15,557 5,481 35.2

Table B-2.

Poverty Status of People by Age, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1959 to 2014

(Numbers in thousands. People as of March of the following year. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, 

nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf)

See footnotes at end of table.
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 51

Race, Hispanic 

origin, and year

Under 18 years 18 to 64 years 65 years and older

All people Related children in families

Total

Below poverty

Total

Below poverty

Total

Below poverty

Total

Below poverty

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

WHITE ALONE10

2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53,637 9,602 17.9 52,732 9,172 17.4 151,562 18,086 11.9 39,054 3,400 8.7

20131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53,638 10,296 19.2 52,657 9,702 18.4 151,234 17,629 11.7 38,475 3,362 8.7

20132 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53,846 8,808 16.4 53,074 8,428 15.9 151,334 17,931 11.8 37,905 3,197 8.4

2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54,066 9,979 18.5 53,201 9,547 17.9 151,042 17,946 11.9 37,039 2,891 7.8

2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54,186 10,103 18.6 53,268 9,643 18.1 151,416 18,007 11.9 35,732 2,739 7.7

20103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54,490 10,092 18.5 53,573 9,590 17.9 151,218 18,353 12.1 34,274 2,638 7.7

2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56,266 9,938 17.7 55,397 9,440 17.0 152,367 17,391 11.4 33,414 2,501 7.5

2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56,153 8,863 15.8 55,339 8,441 15.3 151,681 15,356 10.1 32,714 2,771 8.5

2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56,419 8,395 14.9 55,483 8,002 14.4 150,875 14,135 9.4 31,839 2,590 8.1

2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56,205 7,908 14.1 55,330 7,522 13.6 150,143 14,035 9.3 31,270 2,473 7.9

2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56,075 8,085 14.4 55,152 7,652 13.9 148,450 14,086 9.5 30,905 2,700 8.7

20044 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56,053 8,308 14.8 55,212 7,876 14.3 146,974 14,486 9.9 30,714 2,534 8.3

2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,779 7,985 14.3 54,989 7,624 13.9 145,783 13,622 9.3 30,303 2,666 8.8

2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,703 7,549 13.6 54,900 7,203 13.1 144,694 13,178 9.1 29,980 2,739 9.1

WHITE11

2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56,089 7,527 13.4 55,238 7,086 12.8 143,796 12,555 8.7 29,790 2,656 8.9

20005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,980 7,307 13.1 55,021 6,834 12.4 142,164 11,754 8.3 29,703 2,584 8.7

19996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,833 7,639 13.7 54,873 7,194 13.1 139,974 12,085 8.6 29,553 2,446 8.3

1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56,016 8,443 15.1 55,126 7,935 14.4 138,061 12,456 9.0 28,759 2,555 8.9

1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,863 8,990 16.1 54,870 8,441 15.4 136,784 12,838 9.4 28,553 2,569 9.0

1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,606 9,044 16.3 54,599 8,488 15.5 135,586 12,940 9.5 28,464 2,667 9.4

1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,444 8,981 16.2 54,532 8,474 15.5 134,149 12,869 9.6 28,436 2,572 9.0

1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,186 9,346 16.9 54,221 8,826 16.3 133,289 13,187 9.9 27,985 2,846 10.2

1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54,639 9,752 17.8 53,614 9,123 17.0 132,680 13,535 10.2 27,580 2,939 10.7

19927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54,110 9,399 17.4 53,110 8,752 16.5 131,694 12,871 9.8 27,256 2,989 11.0

19918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52,523 8,848 16.8 51,627 8,316 16.1 130,312 12,097 9.3 27,297 2,802 10.3

1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51,929 8,232 15.9 51,028 7,696 15.1 129,784 11,387 8.8 26,898 2,707 10.1

1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51,400 7,599 14.8 50,704 7,164 14.1 128,974 10,647 8.3 26,479 2,539 9.6

19889 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51,203 7,435 14.5 50,590 7,095 14.0 128,031 10,687 8.3 26,001 2,593 10.0

19879 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51,012 7,788 15.3 50,360 7,398 14.7 126,991 10,703 8.4 25,602 2,704 10.6

1986 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51,111 8,209 16.1 50,356 7,714 15.3 125,998 11,285 9.0 25,173 2,689 10.7

1985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51,031 8,253 16.2 50,358 7,838 15.6 125,258 11,909 9.5 24,629 2,698 11.0

1984 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50,814 8,472 16.7 50,192 8,086 16.1 123,922 11,904 9.6 24,206 2,579 10.7

1983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50,726 8,862 17.5 50,183 8,534 17.0 123,014 12,347 10.0 23,754 2,776 11.7

1982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50,920 8,678 17.0 50,305 8,282 16.5 121,766 11,971 9.8 23,234 2,870 12.4

1981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51,140 7,785 15.2 50,553 7,429 14.7 120,574 10,790 8.9 22,791 2,978 13.1

1980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51,653 7,181 13.9 51,002 6,817 13.4 118,935 9,478 8.0 22,325 3,042 13.6

1979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52,262 6,193 11.8 51,687 5,909 11.4 117,583 8,110 6.9 21,898 2,911 13.3

1978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51,669 5,831 11.3 51,409 5,674 11.0 113,832 7,897 6.9 20,950 2,530 12.1

1977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52,563 6,097 11.6 52,299 5,943 11.4 112,374 7,893 7.0 20,316 2,426 11.9

1976 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53,428 6,189 11.6 53,167 6,034 11.3 110,717 7,890 7.1 20,020 2,633 13.2

1975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54,405 6,927 12.7 54,126 6,748 12.5 109,105 8,210 7.5 19,654 2,634 13.4

1974 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,590 6,223 11.2 55,320 6,079 11.0 107,579 7,053 6.6 19,206 2,460 12.8

1973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N N N 56,211 5,462 9.7 N N N N 2,698 14.4

1972 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N N N 57,181 5,784 10.1 N N N N 3,072 16.8

1971 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N N N 58,119 6,341 10.9 N N N N 3,605 19.9

1970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N N N 58,472 6,138 10.5 N N N N 4,011 22.6

1969 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N N N 58,578 5,667 9.7 N N N N 4,052 23.3

1968 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N N N N 6,373 10.7 N N N 17,062 3,939 23.1

1967 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N N N N 6,729 11.3 N N N 16,791 4,646 27.7

1966 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N N N N 7,204 12.1 N N N 16,514 4,357 26.4

1965 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N N N N 8,595 14.4 N N N N N N

1960 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N N N N 11,229 20.0 N N N N N N

1959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N N N N 11,386 20.6 N N N N 4,744 33.1

Table B-2.

Poverty Status of People by Age, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1959 to 2014—Con.

(Numbers in thousands. People as of March of the following year. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, 

nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf)

See footnotes at end of table.
52 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau

Race, Hispanic 

origin, and year

Under 18 years 18 to 64 years 65 years and older

All people Related children in families

Total

Below poverty

Total

Below poverty

Total

Below poverty

Total

Below poverty

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

WHITE ALONE, NOT HISPANIC10

2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,057 4,679 12.3 37,457 4,440 11.9 121,424 12,173 10.0 35,727 2,801 7.8

20131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,167 5,116 13.4 37,572 4,784 12.7 121,629 11,691 9.6 35,322 2,745 7.8

20132 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,395 4,094 10.7 37,849 3,833 10.1 121,991 12,133 9.9 34,781 2,569 7.4

2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,759 4,782 12.3 38,167 4,510 11.8 122,221 11,833 9.7 34,131 2,324 6.8

2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38,955 4,850 12.5 38,322 4,554 11.9 123,101 12,112 9.8 32,904 2,210 6.7

20103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39,437 4,866 12.3 38,823 4,544 11.7 123,731 12,230 9.9 31,616 2,155 6.8

2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,917 4,850 11.9 40,319 4,518 11.2 125,511 11,658 9.3 30,736 2,022 6.6

2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41,309 4,364 10.6 40,707 4,059 10.0 125,482 10,380 8.3 30,149 2,280 7.6

2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41,979 4,255 10.1 41,304 3,996 9.7 125,161 9,598 7.7 29,442 2,179 7.4

2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42,212 4,208 10.0 41,563 3,930 9.5 124,847 9,761 7.8 28,990 2,044 7.0

2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42,523 4,254 10.0 41,867 3,973 9.5 124,326 9,708 7.8 28,704 2,264 7.9

20044 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42,978 4,519 10.5 42,363 4,190 9.9 123,481 10,236 8.3 28,639 2,153 7.5

2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43,150 4,233 9.8 42,547 3,957 9.3 123,110 9,391 7.6 28,335 2,277 8.0

2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43,614 4,090 9.4 43,017 3,848 8.9 122,511 9,157 7.5 28,018 2,321 8.3

WHITE, NOT HISPANIC11

2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,095 4,194 9.5 43,459 3,887 8.9 122,470 8,811 7.2 27,973 2,266 8.1

20005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,244 4,018 9.1 43,554 3,715 8.5 121,499 8,130 6.7 27,948 2,218 7.9

19996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,272 4,155 9.4 43,570 3,832 8.8 120,341 8,462 7.0 27,952 2,118 7.6

1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45,355 4,822 10.6 44,670 4,458 10.0 120,282 8,760 7.3 27,118 2,217 8.2

1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45,491 5,204 11.4 44,665 4,759 10.7 119,373 9,088 7.6 26,995 2,200 8.1

1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45,605 5,072 11.1 44,844 4,656 10.4 118,822 9,074 7.6 27,033 2,316 8.6

1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45,689 5,115 11.2 44,973 4,745 10.6 118,228 8,908 7.5 27,034 2,243 8.3

1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46,668 5,823 12.5 45,874 5,404 11.8 119,192 9,732 8.2 26,684 2,556 9.6

1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46,096 6,255 13.6 45,322 5,819 12.8 118,475 9,964 8.4 26,272 2,663 10.1

19927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45,590 6,017 13.2 44,833 5,558 12.4 117,386 9,461 8.1 26,025 2,724 10.5

19918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45,236 5,918 13.1 44,506 5,497 12.4 117,672 9,244 7.9 26,208 2,580 9.8

1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,797 5,532 12.3 44,045 5,106 11.6 117,477 8,619 7.3 25,854 2,471 9.6

1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,492 5,110 11.5 43,938 4,779 10.9 116,983 8,154 7.0 25,504 2,335 9.2

19889 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,438 4,888 11.0 43,910 4,594 10.5 116,479 8,293 7.1 25,044 2,384 9.5

19879 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,461 5,230 11.8 43,907 4,902 11.2 115,721 8,327 7.2 24,754 2,472 10.0

1986 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,664 5,789 13.0 44,041 5,388 12.2 115,157 8,963 7.8 24,298 2,492 10.3

1985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,752 5,745 12.8 44,199 5,421 12.3 114,969 9,608 8.4 23,734 2,486 10.5

1984 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,886 6,156 13.7 44,349 5,828 13.1 114,180 9,734 8.5 23,402 2,410 10.3

1983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,830 6,649 14.8 44,374 6,381 14.4 113,570 10,279 9.1 22,992 2,610 11.4

1982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45,531 6,566 14.4 45,001 6,229 13.8 113,717 10,082 8.9 22,655 2,714 12.0

1981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45,950 5,946 12.9 45,440 5,639 12.4 112,722 9,207 8.2 22,237 2,834 12.7

1980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46,578 5,510 11.8 45,989 5,174 11.3 111,460 7,990 7.2 21,760 2,865 13.2

1979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46,967 4,730 10.1 46,448 4,476 9.6 110,509 6,930 6.3 21,339 2,759 12.9

1978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46,819 4,506 9.6 46,606 4,383 9.4 107,481 6,837 6.4 20,431 2,412 11.8

1977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47,689 4,714 9.9 47,459 4,582 9.7 106,063 6,772 6.4 19,812 2,316 11.7

1976 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48,824 4,799 9.8 48,601 4,664 9.6 104,846 6,720 6.4 19,565 2,506 12.8

1975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49,670 5,342 10.8 49,421 5,185 10.5 103,496 7,039 6.8 19,251 2,503 13.0

1974 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50,759 4,820 9.5 50,520 4,697 9.3 101,894 6,051 5.9 18,810 2,346 12.5

BLACK ALONE OR

IN COMBINATION

2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,875 4,639 36.0 12,706 4,564 35.9 27,442 6,137 22.4 4,249 805 19.0

20131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,044 4,359 33.4 12,915 4,325 33.5 27,056 6,031 22.3 4,054 772 19.0

20132 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,104 4,838 36.9 12,882 4,730 36.7 26,923 6,410 23.8 4,085 712 17.4

2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,108 4,815 36.7 12,908 4,675 36.2 26,482 6,265 23.7 3,993 730 18.3

2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,968 4,849 37.4 12,815 4,762 37.2 25,962 6,241 24.0 3,718 640 17.2

20103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,015 4,923 37.8 12,759 4,814 37.7 25,815 6,031 23.4 3,555 643 18.1

2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,655 4,480 35.4 12,445 4,349 34.9 24,815 5,441 21.9 3,405 655 19.2

2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,388 4,202 33.9 12,201 4,104 33.6 24,404 5,017 20.6 3,305 663 20.0

2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,380 4,178 33.7 12,227 4,106 33.6 23,968 4,742 19.8 3,215 748 23.3

2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,375 4,086 33.0 12,206 3,977 32.6 23,510 4,652 19.8 3,128 710 22.7

2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,159 4,074 33.5 11,975 3,972 33.2 23,338 4,735 20.3 3,053 708 23.2

20044 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,190 4,059 33.3 12,012 3,962 33.0 22,842 4,638 20.3 3,005 714 23.8

2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,215 4,108 33.6 11,989 3,977 33.2 22,355 4,313 19.3 2,933 688 23.5

2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,114 3,817 31.5 11,931 3,733 31.3 22,170 4,376 19.7 2,922 691 23.6

Table B-2.

Poverty Status of People by Age, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1959 to 2014—Con.

(Numbers in thousands. People as of March of the following year. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, 

nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf)

See footnotes at end of table.
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 53

Race, Hispanic 

origin, and year

Under 18 years 18 to 64 years 65 years and older

All people Related children in families

Total

Below poverty

Total

Below poverty

Total

Below poverty

Total

Below poverty

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

BLACK ALONE12

2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,015 4,090 37.1 10,887 4,036 37.1 25,954 5,869 22.6 4,143 796 19.2

20131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,003 3,708 33.7 10,896 3,678 33.8 25,562 5,742 22.5 3,933 736 18.7

20132 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,088 4,244 38.3 10,916 4,153 38.0 25,552 6,099 23.9 3,975 698 17.6

2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,078 4,201 37.9 10,931 4,097 37.5 25,154 6,002 23.9 3,893 708 18.2

2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,138 4,320 38.8 11,005 4,247 38.6 24,831 5,980 24.1 3,640 630 17.3

20103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,173 4,355 39.0 10,953 4,271 39.0 24,667 5,775 23.4 3,443 617 17.9

2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,282 4,033 35.7 11,102 3,919 35.3 23,953 5,264 22.0 3,320 647 19.5

2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,172 3,878 34.7 10,998 3,781 34.4 23,565 4,855 20.6 3,229 646 20.0

2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,302 3,904 34.5 11,174 3,838 34.3 23,213 4,602 19.8 3,150 731 23.2

2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,315 3,777 33.4 11,168 3,690 33.0 22,907 4,570 19.9 3,085 701 22.7

2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,136 3,841 34.5 10,962 3,743 34.2 22,659 4,627 20.4 3,007 701 23.3

20044 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,244 3,788 33.7 11,080 3,702 33.4 22,226 4,521 20.3 2,956 705 23.8

2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,367 3,877 34.1 11,162 3,750 33.6 21,746 4,224 19.4 2,876 680 23.7

2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,275 3,645 32.3 11,111 3,570 32.1 21,547 4,277 19.9 2,856 680 23.8

BLACK11

2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,556 3,492 30.2 11,419 3,423 30.0 21,462 4,018 18.7 2,853 626 21.9

20005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,480 3,581 31.2 11,296 3,495 30.9 21,160 3,794 17.9 2,785 607 21.8

19996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,488 3,813 33.2 11,260 3,698 32.8 21,518 4,000 18.6 2,750 628 22.8

1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,317 4,151 36.7 11,176 4,073 36.4 20,837 4,222 20.3 2,723 718 26.4

1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,367 4,225 37.2 11,193 4,116 36.8 20,400 4,191 20.5 2,691 700 26.0

1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,338 4,519 39.9 11,155 4,411 39.5 20,155 4,515 22.4 2,616 661 25.3

1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,369 4,761 41.9 11,198 4,644 41.5 19,892 4,483 22.5 2,478 629 25.4

1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,211 4,906 43.8 11,044 4,787 43.3 19,585 4,590 23.4 2,557 700 27.4

1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,127 5,125 46.1 10,969 5,030 45.9 19,272 5,049 26.2 2,510 702 28.0

19927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,956 5,106 46.6 10,823 5,015 46.3 18,952 4,884 25.8 2,504 838 33.5

19918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,350 4,755 45.9 10,178 4,637 45.6 18,355 4,607 25.1 2,606 880 33.8

1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,162 4,550 44.8 9,980 4,412 44.2 18,097 4,427 24.5 2,547 860 33.8

1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,012 4,375 43.7 9,847 4,257 43.2 17,833 4,164 23.3 2,487 763 30.7

19889 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,865 4,296 43.5 9,681 4,148 42.8 17,548 4,275 24.4 2,436 785 32.2

19879 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,730 4,385 45.1 9,546 4,234 44.4 17,245 4,361 25.3 2,387 774 32.4

1986 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,629 4,148 43.1 9,467 4,037 42.7 16,911 4,113 24.3 2,331 722 31.0

1985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,545 4,157 43.6 9,405 4,057 43.1 16,667 4,052 24.3 2,273 717 31.5

1984 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,480 4,413 46.6 9,356 4,320 46.2 16,369 4,368 26.7 2,238 710 31.7

1983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,417 4,398 46.7 9,245 4,273 46.2 16,065 4,694 29.2 2,197 791 36.0

1982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,400 4,472 47.6 9,269 4,388 47.3 15,692 4,415 28.1 2,124 811 38.2

1981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,374 4,237 45.2 9,291 4,170 44.9 15,358 4,117 26.8 2,102 820 39.0

1980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,368 3,961 42.3 9,287 3,906 42.1 14,987 3,835 25.6 2,054 783 38.1

1979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,307 3,833 41.2 9,172 3,745 40.8 14,596 3,478 23.8 2,040 740 36.2

1978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,229 3,830 41.5 9,168 3,781 41.2 13,774 3,133 22.7 1,954 662 33.9

1977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,296 3,888 41.8 9,253 3,850 41.6 13,483 3,137 23.3 1,930 701 36.3

1976 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,322 3,787 40.6 9,291 3,758 40.4 13,224 3,163 23.9 1,852 644 34.8

1975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,421 3,925 41.7 9,374 3,884 41.4 12,872 2,968 23.1 1,795 652 36.3

1974 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,439 3,755 39.8 9,384 3,713 39.6 12,539 2,836 22.6 1,721 591 34.3

1973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N N N 9,405 3,822 40.6 N N N 1,672 620 37.1

1972 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N N N 9,426 4,025 42.7 N N N 1,603 640 39.9

1971 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N N N 9,414 3,836 40.4 N N N 1,584 623 39.3

1970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N N N 9,448 3,922 41.5 N N N 1,422 683 48.0

1969 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N N N 9,290 3,677 39.6 N N N 1,373 689 50.2

1968 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N N N N 4,188 43.1 N N N 1,374 655 47.7

1967 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N N N N 4,558 47.4 N N N 1,341 715 53.3

1966 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N N N N 4,774 50.6 N N N 1,311 722 55.1

1965 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N N N N 5,022 65.6 N N N N 711 62.5

Table B-2.

Poverty Status of People by Age, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1959 to 2014—Con.

(Numbers in thousands. People as of March of the following year. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, 

nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf)

See footnotes at end of table.
54 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau

Race, Hispanic 

origin, and year

Under 18 years 18 to 64 years 65 years and older

All people Related children in families

Total

Below poverty

Total

Below poverty

Total

Below poverty

Total

Below poverty

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

ASIAN ALONE OR

IN COMBINATION

2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,792 577 12.0 4,722 544 11.5 12,834 1,390 10.8 2,059 301 14.6

20131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,900 628 12.8 4,858 600 12.4 12,393 1,457 11.8 1,889 312 16.5

20132 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,740 457 9.6 4,701 442 9.4 12,374 1,258 10.2 1,910 259 13.6

2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,557 570 12.5 4,485 533 11.9 11,913 1,291 10.8 1,703 211 12.4

2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,572 607 13.3 4,495 566 12.6 11,660 1,397 12.0 1,581 185 11.7

20103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,308 586 13.6 4,256 560 13.2 11,414 1,265 11.1 1,515 214 14.1

2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,996 531 13.3 3,946 507 12.9 9,898 1,154 11.7 1,378 216 15.7

2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,717 494 13.3 3,678 476 12.9 9,507 1,031 10.8 1,319 162 12.3

2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,606 431 11.9 3,558 402 11.3 9,531 892 9.4 1,293 144 11.2

2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,573 408 11.4 3,530 398 11.3 9,553 897 9.4 1,205 142 11.8

2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,472 359 10.3 3,435 352 10.2 9,115 999 11.0 1,144 144 12.6

20044 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,406 329 9.7 3,367 311 9.2 8,780 819 9.3 1,104 147 13.3

2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,316 420 12.7 3,279 406 12.4 8,510 956 11.2 1,065 152 14.2

2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,199 353 11.0 3,159 338 10.7 8,292 804 9.7 995 86 8.7

ASIAN ALONE13

2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,750 524 14.0 3,681 492 13.4 12,012 1,314 10.9 2,029 299 14.7

20131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,766 555 14.7 3,746 538 14.4 11,646 1,393 12.0 1,845 307 16.7

20132 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,651 367 10.1 3,621 354 9.8 11,531 1,162 10.1 1,881 256 13.6

2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,596 497 13.8 3,542 470 13.3 11,153 1,220 10.9 1,669 205 12.3

2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,657 494 13.5 3,600 466 13.0 10,873 1,297 11.9 1,555 182 11.7

20103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,431 494 14.4 3,399 477 14.0 10,696 1,191 11.1 1,484 214 14.4

2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,311 463 14.0 3,271 444 13.6 9,344 1,069 11.4 1,350 213 15.8

2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,052 446 14.6 3,016 430 14.2 8,961 974 10.9 1,296 157 12.1

2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,980 374 12.5 2,932 345 11.8 9,012 832 9.2 1,265 143 11.3

2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,956 360 12.2 2,915 351 12.0 9,039 851 9.4 1,182 142 12.0

2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,871 317 11.1 2,842 312 11.0 8,591 941 11.0 1,118 143 12.8

20044 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,854 281 9.9 2,823 265 9.4 8,294 774 9.3 1,083 146 13.5

2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,759 344 12.5 2,726 331 12.1 8,044 907 11.3 1,052 151 14.3

2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,683 315 11.7 2,648 302 11.4 7,881 764 9.7 977 82 8.4

ASIAN AND PACIFIC

ISLANDER11

2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,215 369 11.5 3,169 353 11.1 8,352 814 9.7 899 92 10.2

20005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,294 420 12.7 3,256 407 12.5 8,500 756 8.9 878 82 9.3

19996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,212 381 11.9 3,178 367 11.5 7,879 807 10.2 864 96 11.1

1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,137 564 18.0 3,099 542 17.5 6,951 698 10.0 785 97 12.4

1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,096 628 20.3 3,061 608 19.9 6,680 753 11.3 705 87 12.3

1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,924 571 19.5 2,899 553 19.1 6,484 821 12.7 647 63 9.7

1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,900 564 19.5 2,858 532 18.6 6,123 757 12.4 622 89 14.3

1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,739 318 18.3 1,719 308 17.9 4,401 589 13.4 513 67 13.0

1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,061 375 18.2 2,029 358 17.6 4,871 680 14.0 503 79 15.6

19927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,218 363 16.4 2,199 352 16.0 5,067 568 11.2 494 53 10.8

19918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,056 360 17.5 2,036 348 17.1 4,582 565 12.3 555 70 12.7

1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,126 374 17.6 2,098 356 17.0 4,375 422 9.6 514 62 12.1

1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,983 392 19.8 1,945 368 18.9 4,225 512 12.1 465 34 7.4

19889 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,970 474 24.1 1,949 458 23.5 4,035 583 14.4 442 60 13.5

19879 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,937 455 23.5 1,908 432 22.7 4,010 510 12.7 375 56 15.0

Table B-2.

Poverty Status of People by Age, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1959 to 2014—Con.

(Numbers in thousands. People as of March of the following year. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, 

nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf)

See footnotes at end of table.
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 55

Race, Hispanic 

origin, and year

Under 18 years 18 to 64 years 65 years and older

All people Related children in families

Total

Below poverty

Total

Below poverty

Total

Below poverty

Total

Below poverty

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

HISPANIC (ANY RACE)

2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,995 5,745 31.9 17,636 5,522 31.3 33,873 6,701 19.8 3,636 658 18.1

20131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,898 5,907 33.0 17,496 5,638 32.2 32,839 6,746 20.5 3,443 704 20.4

20132 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,837 5,415 30.4 17,559 5,273 30.0 32,903 6,654 20.2 3,405 676 19.8

2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,664 5,976 33.8 17,341 5,773 33.3 32,228 6,977 21.6 3,213 663 20.6

2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,600 6,008 34.1 17,276 5,820 33.7 31,643 6,667 21.1 3,036 569 18.7

20103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,371 6,059 34.9 16,964 5,815 34.3 30,740 6,948 22.6 2,860 516 18.0

2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,965 5,610 33.1 16,655 5,419 32.5 29,031 6,224 21.4 2,815 516 18.3

2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,370 5,010 30.6 16,138 4,888 30.3 28,311 5,452 19.3 2,717 525 19.3

2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,647 4,482 28.6 15,375 4,348 28.3 27,731 4,970 17.9 2,555 438 17.1

2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,147 4,072 26.9 14,907 3,959 26.6 27,209 4,698 17.3 2,428 472 19.4

2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,654 4,143 28.3 14,361 3,977 27.7 26,051 4,765 18.3 2,315 460 19.9

20044 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14,173 4,098 28.9 13,929 3,985 28.6 25,324 4,620 18.2 2,194 403 18.4

2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,730 4,077 29.7 13,519 3,982 29.5 24,490 4,568 18.7 2,080 406 19.5

2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13,210 3,782 28.6 12,971 3,653 28.2 23,952 4,334 18.1 2,053 439 21.4

2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,763 3,570 28.0 12,539 3,433 27.4 22,653 4,014 17.7 1,896 413 21.8

20005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,399 3,522 28.4 12,115 3,342 27.6 21,734 3,844 17.7 1,822 381 20.9

19996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,188 3,693 30.3 11,912 3,561 29.9 20,782 3,843 18.5 1,661 340 20.5

1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11,152 3,837 34.4 10,921 3,670 33.6 18,668 3,877 20.8 1,696 356 21.0

1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,802 3,972 36.8 10,625 3,865 36.4 18,217 3,951 21.7 1,617 384 23.8

1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,511 4,237 40.3 10,255 4,090 39.9 17,587 4,089 23.3 1,516 370 24.4

1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,213 4,080 40.0 10,011 3,938 39.3 16,673 4,153 24.9 1,458 342 23.5

1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,822 4,075 41.5 9,621 3,956 41.1 16,192 4,018 24.8 1,428 323 22.6

1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,462 3,873 40.9 9,188 3,666 39.9 15,708 3,956 25.2 1,390 297 21.4

19927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,081 3,637 40.0 8,829 3,440 39.0 15,268 3,668 24.0 1,298 287 22.1

19918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,648 3,094 40.4 7,473 2,977 39.8 13,279 3,008 22.7 1,143 237 20.8

1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,457 2,865 38.4 7,300 2,750 37.7 12,857 2,896 22.5 1,091 245 22.5

1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,186 2,603 36.2 7,040 2,496 35.5 12,536 2,616 20.9 1,024 211 20.6

19889 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7,003 2,631 37.6 6,908 2,576 37.3 12,056 2,501 20.7 1,005 225 22.4

19879 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,792 2,670 39.3 6,692 2,606 38.9 11,718 2,509 21.4 885 243 27.5

1986 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,646 2,507 37.7 6,511 2,413 37.1 11,206 2,406 21.5 906 204 22.5

1985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,475 2,606 40.3 6,346 2,512 39.6 10,685 2,411 22.6 915 219 23.9

1984 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,068 2,376 39.2 5,982 2,317 38.7 10,029 2,254 22.5 819 176 21.5

1983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,066 2,312 38.1 5,977 2,251 37.7 9,697 2,148 22.5 782 173 22.1

1982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,527 2,181 39.5 5,436 2,117 38.9 8,262 1,963 23.8 596 159 26.6

1981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,369 1,925 35.9 5,291 1,874 35.4 8,084 1,642 20.3 568 146 25.7

1980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,276 1,749 33.2 5,211 1,718 33.0 7,740 1,563 20.2 582 179 30.8

1979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,483 1,535 28.0 5,426 1,505 27.7 7,314 1,232 16.8 574 154 26.8

1978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,012 1,384 27.6 4,972 1,354 27.2 6,527 1,098 16.8 539 125 23.2

1977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,028 1,422 28.3 5,000 1,402 28.0 6,500 1,164 17.9 518 113 21.9

1976 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,771 1,443 30.2 4,736 1,424 30.1 6,034 1,212 20.1 464 128 27.7

1975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N N N 4,896 1,619 33.1 N N N N 137 32.6

1974 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N N N 4,939 1,414 28.6 N N N N 117 28.9

1973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N N N 4,910 1,364 27.8 N N N N 95 24.9

Table B-2.

Poverty Status of People by Age, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1959 to 2014—Con.

(Numbers in thousands. People as of March of the following year. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, 

nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf)

N Not available. 1

 The 2014 CPS ASEC included redesigned questions for income and health insurance 

coverage. All of the approximately 98,000 addresses were eligible to receive the redesigned 

set of health insurance coverage questions. The redesigned income questions were 

implemented to a subsample of these 98,000 addresses using a probability split panel 

design. Approximately 68,000 addresses were eligible to receive a set of income questions 

similar to those used in the 2013 CPS ASEC and the remaining 30,000 addresses were 

eligible to receive the redesigned income questions. The source of these 2013 estimates 

is the portion of the CPS ASEC sample which received the redesigned income questions, 

approximately 30,000 addresses. 2

 The source of these 2013 estimates is the portion of the CPS ASEC sample which 

received the income questions consistent with the 2013 CPS ASEC, approximately 68,000 

addresses.

3

 Implementation of Census 2010-based population controls. 4

 For 2004, figures are revised to reflect a correction to the weights in the 2005 ASEC. 5

 Implementation of Census 2000-based population controls and a 28,000 household 

sample expansion. 6

 For 1999, figures are based on Census 2000 population controls. 7

 For 1992, figures are based on 1990 census population controls. 8

 For 1991, figures are revised to correct for nine omitted weights from the original 

March 1992 CPS file.

9

 For 1988 and 1987, figures are based on new processing procedures and are also 

revised to reflect corrections to the files after publication of the 1988 advance report Money 

Income and Poverty Status in the United States: 1988, P-60, No. 166. 10 The 2003 CPS allowed 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 2010 through American 

FactFinder. About 2.9 percent of people reported more than one race in Census 2010. 11 For 2001 and earlier years, the CPS allowed respondents to report only one race 

group. The reference race groups for 2001 and earlier poverty data are White, non-Hispanic 

White, Black, and Asian and Pacific Islander. 12 Black alone refers to people who reported Black and did not report any other race. 13 Asian alone refers to people who reported Asian and did not report any other race.

Note: Before 1979, people in unrelated subfamilies were included in people in families.

Beginning in 1979, people in unrelated subfamilies are included in all people but are 

excluded from people in families.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1960 to 2015 Annual Social 

and Economic Supplements.
56 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau

Table B-3.

Poverty Status of Families by Type of Family: 1959 to 2014

(Numbers in thousands. Families as of March of the following year. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, 

nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar15.pdf)

Race, Hispanic origin, 

and year

All families Married-couple families Male householder,

no wife present

Female householder,

no husband present

Total

Below poverty 

Total

Below poverty 

Total

Below poverty 

Total

Below poverty 

Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent Number Percent

ALL RACES

2014 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81,730 9,467 11.6 60,015 3,735 6.2 6,162 969 15.7 15,553 4,764 30.6

20131 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82,316 9,645 11.7 59,643 3,394 5.7 6,497 1,048 16.1 16,176 5,203 32.2

20132 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81,217 9,130 11.2 59,692 3,476 5.8 6,330 1,008 15.9 15,195 4,646 30.6

2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80,944 9,520 11.8 59,224 3,705 6.3 6,231 1,023 16.4 15,489 4,793 30.9

2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80,529 9,497 11.8 58,963 3,652 6.2 5,888 950 16.1 15,678 4,894 31.2

20103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79,559 9,400 11.8 58,667 3,681 6.3 5,649 892 15.8 15,243 4,827 31.7

2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78,867 8,792 11.1 58,428 3,409 5.8 5,582 942 16.9 14,857 4,441 29.9

2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78,874 8,147 10.3 59,137 3,261 5.5 5,255 723 13.8 14,482 4,163 28.7

2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77,908 7,623 9.8 58,395 2,849 4.9 5,103 696 13.6 14,411 4,078 28.3

2006 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78,454 7,668 9.8 58,964 2,910 4.9 5,067 671 13.2 14,424 4,087 28.3

2005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77,418 7,657 9.9 58,189 2,944 5.1 5,134 669 13.0 14,095 4,044 28.7

20044 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,866 7,835 10.2 57,983 3,216 5.5 4,901 657 13.4 13,981 3,962 28.3

2003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76,232 7,607 10.0 57,725 3,115 5.4 4,717 636 13.5 13,791 3,856 28.0

2002 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75,616 7,229 9.6 57,327 3,052 5.3 4,663 564 12.1 13,626 3,613 26.5

2001 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74,340 6,813 9.2 56,755 2,760 4.9 4,440 583 13.1 13,146 3,470 26.4

20005 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,778 6,400 8.7 56,598 2,637 4.7 4,277 485 11.3 12,903 3,278 25.4

19996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,206 6,792 9.3 56,290 2,748 4.9 4,099 485 11.8 12,818 3,559 27.8

1998 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71,551 7,186 10.0 54,778 2,879 5.3 3,977 476 12.0 12,796 3,831 29.9

1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70,884 7,324 10.3 54,321 2,821 5.2 3,911 507 13.0 12,652 3,995 31.6

1996 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70,241 7,708 11.0 53,604 3,010 5.6 3,847 531 13.8 12,790 4,167 32.6

1995 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69,597 7,532 10.8 53,570 2,982 5.6 3,513 493 14.0 12,514 4,057 32.4

1994 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69,313 8,053 11.6 53,865 3,272 6.1 3,228 549 17.0 12,220 4,232 34.6

1993 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68,506 8,393 12.3 53,181 3,481 6.5 2,914 488 16.8 12,411 4,424 35.6

19927 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68,216 8,144 11.9 53,090 3,385 6.4 3,065 484 15.8 12,061 4,275 35.4

19918 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67,175 7,712 11.5 52,457 3,158 6.0 3,025 392 13.0 11,693 4,161 35.6

1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66,322 7,098 10.7 52,147 2,981 5.7 2,907 349 12.0 11,268 3,768 33.4

1989 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66,090 6,784 10.3 52,317 2,931 5.6 2,884 348 12.1 10,890 3,504 32.2

19889 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65,837 6,874 10.4 52,100 2,897 5.6 2,847 336 11.8 10,890 3,642 33.4

19879 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65,204 7,005 10.7 51,675 3,011 5.8 2,833 340 12.0 10,696 3,654 34.2

1986 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64,491 7,023 10.9 51,537 3,123 6.1 2,510 287 11.4 10,445 3,613 34.6

1985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63,558 7,223 11.4 50,933 3,438 6.7 2,414 311 12.9 10,211 3,474 34.0

1984 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62,706 7,277 11.6 50,350 3,488 6.9 2,228 292 13.1 10,129 3,498 34.5

1983 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62,015 7,647 12.3 50,081 3,815 7.6 2,038 268 13.2 9,896 3,564 36.0

1982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61,393 7,512 12.2 49,908 3,789 7.6 2,016 290 14.4 9,469 3,434 36.3

1981 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61,019 6,851 11.2 49,630 3,394 6.8 1,986 205 10.3 9,403 3,252 34.6

1980 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60,309 6,217 10.3 49,294 3,032 6.2 1,933 213 11.0 9,082 2,972 32.7

1979 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59,550 5,461 9.2 49,112 2,640 5.4 1,733 176 10.2 8,705 2,645 30.4

1978 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57,804 5,280 9.1 47,692 2,474 5.2 1,654 152 9.2 8,458 2,654 31.4

1977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57,215 5,311 9.3 47,385 2,524 5.3 1,594 177 11.1 8,236 2,610 31.7

1976 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56,710 5,311 9.4 47,497 2,606 5.5 1,500 162 10.8 7,713 2,543 33.0

1975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56,245 5,450 9.7 47,318 2,904 6.1 1,445 116 8.0 7,482 2,430 32.5

1974 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,698 4,922 8.8 47,069 2,474 5.3 1,399 125 8.9 7,230 2,324 32.1

1973 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,053 4,828 8.8 46,812 2,482 5.3 1,438 154 10.7 6,804 2,193 32.2

1972 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54,373 5,075 9.3 46,314 N N 1,452 N N 6,607 2,158 32.7

1971 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53,296 5,303 10.0 45,752 N N 1,353 N N 6,191 2,100 33.9

1970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52,227 5,260 10.1 44,739 N N 1,487 N N 6,001 1,952 32.5

1969 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51,586 5,008 9.7 44,436 N N 1,559 N N 5,591 1,827 32.7

1968 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50,511 5,047 10.0 43,842 N N 1,228 N N 5,441 1,755 32.3

1967 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49,835 5,667 11.4 43,292 N N 1,210 N N 5,333 1,774 33.3

1966 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48,921 5,784 11.8 42,553 N N 1,197 N N 5,171 1,721 33.1

1965 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48,278 6,721 13.9 42,107 N N 1,179 N N 4,992 1,916 38.4

1964 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47,836 7,160 15.0 41,648 N N 1,182 N N 5,006 1,822 36.4

1963 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47,436 7,554 15.9 41,311 N N 1,243 N N 4,882 1,972 40.4

1962 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46,998 8,077 17.2 40,923 N N 1,334 N N 4,741 2,034 42.9

1961 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46,341 8,391 18.1 40,405 N N 1,293 N N 4,643 1,954 42.1

1960 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45,435 8,243 18.1 39,624 N N 1,202 N N 4,609 1,955 42.4

1959 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45,054 8,320 18.5 39,335 N N 1,226 N N 4,493 1,916 42.6

N Not available. 1

 The 2014 CPS ASEC included redesigned questions for income and health insurance 

coverage. All of the approximately 98,000 addresses were eligible to receive the redesigned 

set of health insurance coverage questions. The redesigned income questions were 

implemented to a subsample of these 98,000 addresses using a probability split panel 

design. Approximately 68,000 addresses were eligible to receive a set of income questions 

similar to those used in the 2013 CPS ASEC and the remaining 30,000 addresses were 

eligible to receive the redesigned income questions. The source of these 2013 estimates 

is the portion of the CPS ASEC sample which received the redesigned income questions, 

approximately 30,000 addresses. 2

 The source of these 2013 estimates is the portion of the CPS ASEC sample which 

received the income questions consistent with the 2013 CPS ASEC, approximately 68,000 

addresses. 3

 Implementation of Census 2010-based population controls.

4

 For 2004, figures are revised to reflect a correction to the weights in the 2005 ASEC .

5

 Implementation of Census 2000-based population controls and a 28,000 household 

sample expansion . 6

 For 1999, figures are based on Census 2000 population controls .

7

 For 1992, figures are based on 1990 census population controls .

8

 For 1991, figures are revised to correct for nine omitted weights from the original 

March 1992 CPS file . 9

 For 1988 and 1987, figures are based on new processing procedures and are also 

revised to reflect corrections to the files after publication of the 1988 advance report Money 

Income and Poverty Status in the United States: 1988, P-60, No . 166 .

Note: Before 1979, unrelated subfamilies were included in all families . Beginning in 

1979, unrelated subfamilies are excluded from all families .

Source: U .S . Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1960 to 2015 Annual Social 

and Economic Supplements .
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 57

Beginning in the 2011 Current 

Population Survey Annual Social and 

Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC) 

report, the variance of CPS ASEC estimates used to calculate the standard 

errors and confidence intervals displayed in the text tables were calculated using the Successive Difference 

Replication (SDR) method documented 

by Fay and Train (1995). This method 

involves the computation of a set of 

replicate weights which account for 

the complex survey design of the 

CPS. The SDR method has been used 

to estimate variances in the American 

Community Survey since its inception. 

In previous years, the standard errors 

of CPS ASEC estimates were calculated 

using a Generalized Variance Function 

(GVF) approach. Under this approach, 

generalized variance parameters were 

used in formulas provided in the 

source and accuracy (S&A) statement 

to estimate standard errors. 

A study by Davern et al. (2006) found 

that the CPS ASEC GVF standard 

errors performed poorly against more 

precise Survey Design-Based (SDB) 

estimates. In most cases, Davern’s 

results indicated that the published 

GVF parameters significantly underestimated standard errors in the 

CPS ASEC. This and other critiques 

prompted the Census Bureau to 

transition from using the GVF method 

of estimating standard errors to 

using the SDR method of estimating 

standard errors for the CPS ASEC. In 

2009, the Census Bureau released replicate weights for the 2005 through 

2009 CPS ASEC collection years and 

has released replicate weights for 

each year since with the release of 

the CPS ASEC public use data.

Following the 2009 release of CPS 

ASEC replicate weights, Boudreaux, 

Davern, and Graven (2011) compared 

replicate weight standard error estimates with SDB estimates. Replicate 

weight estimates performed markedly 

better against SDB standard errors 

than those calculated using the published GVF parameters. The Census 

Bureau will continue to provide the 

GVF parameters in the source and 

accuracy statement.

Since the published GVF parameters 

generally underestimated standard 

errors, standard errors produced 

using SDR may be higher than in 

previous reports. For most CPS ASEC 

estimates, the increase in standard 

errors from GVF to SDR will not alter 

the findings. However, marginally 

significant differences using the GVF 

may not be significant using replicate 

weights. 

References

Boudreaux, Michel, Michael Davern, 

and Peter Graven, “Alternative 

Variance Estimates in the Current 

Population Survey and the 

American Community Survey,” 

presented at the 2011 Annual 

Meeting of the Population 

Association of America.

Davern, Michael, Arthur Jones, James 

Lepkowski, Gestur Davidson, 

and Lynn A. Blewett, “Unstable 

Inferences? An Examination of 

Complex Survey Sample Design 

Adjustments Using the Current 

Population Survey for Health 

Services Research,” Inquiry, 

Vol. 43, No. 3, 2006, pp. 283–297. 

Fay, Robert E. and George F. Train, 

“Aspects of Survey and ModelBased Postcensal Estimation 

of Income and Poverty 

Characteristics for States and 

Counties,” Proceedings of 

the Section on Government 

Statistics, American Statistical 

Association, Alexandria, VA, 1995, 

pp. 154–159.

APPENDIX C. REPLICATE WEIGHTS

U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 59

Introduction

The 2014 Current Population 

Survey Annual Social and Economic 

Supplement (CPS ASEC) utilized a 

probability split panel design to test a 

new redesigned set of income questions.1, 2 The Census Bureau conducted an initial nationwide test of a 

redesigned set of income questions 

by telephone in March 2013.3 Based 

on the results of that initial test, a 

second, more comprehensive test 

was conducted in 2014. There were 

approximately 98,000 addresses in 

the 2014 CPS ASEC sample; a subsample of about 30,000 addresses 

were randomly assigned to be eligible 

to receive the redesigned income 

1 For more details on the split panel test, 

all changes to the ASEC and the impact of the 

redesigned questions on estimates of income, 

see Jessica Semega and Ed Welniak, “The Effects 

of the Changes to the CPS ASEC on Estimates 

of Income” presented at the 2015 Allied Social 

Science Association (ASSA) Research Conference, 

<www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library

/working-papers/2015/DEMO/ASSA-Income

-CPSASEC-Red.pdf>. Minor corrections to the 

research file used for the research papers 

account for the differences in the estimates. 2 A similar split panel design was used to test 

a new questionnaire in the 1979 CPS ASEC. See 

<www2.census.gov/prod2/popscan/p60-123

.pdf> for more details. 3 For more details of the March 2013 content 

test and more specific details on all the changes 

to the ASEC redesigned income questions, see 

Jessica Semega and Ed Welniak, “Evaluating the 

2013 CPS ASEC Income Redesign Content Test,” 

presented at the November 2013 meetings of the 

Federal Committee on Statistical Methodology, 

<www.census.gov/hhes/www/income

/publications/Evaluating%20the%202013

%20CPS%20ASEC%20Income%20Redesign

%20Content%20Test.pdf>.

questions.4 The remaining sample 

(approximately 68,000 addresses) 

were eligible to receive the set of 

traditional income questions.5

The income questions were redesigned with the goals of improving 

income reporting, increasing response 

rates, reducing reporting errors by 

taking better advantage of an automated questionnaire environment, 

and updating questions on retirement 

income and the income generated 

from retirement accounts and all other 

assets. The following were components of the redesign instrument:

• Tailor the order of income questions to match those sources 

most likely received by respondents given certain known 

characteristics of the respondent, 

focusing on households with a 

householder aged 62 and older, 

lower income households, and 

a default for all other household 

types.

4 All 2014 ASEC sample addresses were 

eligible to receive a new set of health insurance 

questions. 5 Each address in sample was assigned a 

random number to determine if the address 

would receive the traditional or redesigned ASEC 

questionnaire. One caveat is that all month-insample-one addresses received the traditional 

ASEC. Census Bureau field representatives did 

not know in advance if the household they were 

interviewing would receive the traditional or 

redesigned income questions until they began 

the interview. All CPS ASEC interviewers were 

trained to administer both sets of questions.

• Use a dual-pass identifying all 

sources of income received first 

and then ask amounts for those 

sources the respondent indicated 

receiving.

• Use income ranges as a followup for “don’t know” or “refused” 

income amount questions.

• Remove the family income 

screener for determining which 

households to ask low-income 

sources (such as Temporary 

Assistance for Needy Families 

[TANF]).

• Change the disability questions 

to eliminate confusion between 

disability from Social Security and 

Supplemental Security Income.

• Collect lump sum back-payments 

for disability benefits.

• Use a new strategy to collect 

property income by asking separately about income from retirement accounts and other assets. 

• Collect the value of assets that 

generate income if the respondent is unsure of the income 

generated.

• Ask about retirement account 

withdrawals and distributions.

APPENDIX D. COMPARISON OF 2013 INCOME AND POVERTY ESTIMATES USING THE TRADITIONAL 

AND REDESIGNED INCOME QUESTIONS
60 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau

Effects on Income Data 

Income source recipiency, means, 

medians and aggregate income totals 

from the traditional ASEC (68,000 

sample) are compared to data from 

the redesigned ASEC (30,000 sample).

Both sets of data were weighted to 

national population controls, to evaluate the performance of the redesigned 

ASEC.6 Table D-1 shows the percentage change in real median household 

income and earnings by select characteristics. None of the characteristics 

examined show a statistically lower 

median income for the redesigned 

ASEC. Overall median household 

income based on the redesigned ASEC 

was $53,585 in 2013, 3.2 percent 

higher than median household income 

using the traditional ASEC ($51,939). 

Family household median income was 

2.0 percent higher and 3.1 percent 

higher for married-couple households 

in 2013 using the redesigned ASEC 

compared to traditional ASEC.7

6 The current ASEC processing system does 

not take full advantage of the information collected in the redesigned ASEC. In order to expedite the release of this report and the research 

file, the redesigned ASEC data were formatted to 

match the traditional ASEC data to use the same 

processing system. The estimates in this report 

do not include any data from the income range 

questions as the Census Bureau is researching 

how best to use these data. 7 The percentage change of male householders was significantly different from the percentage changes of nonfamily households and female 

householders. The apparent differences between 

the percent changes of all types of household 

characteristics are not significantly different. 

Non-Hispanic White household median 

income was 3.5 percent higher using 

the redesigned ASEC while Black and 

Asian median household incomes 

were not statistically different from 

the traditional ASEC. There was no 

statistically significant difference in 

Hispanic median household income.8

Households maintained by a householder aged 35 to 44 (4.0 percent 

higher), aged 45 to 54 (5.1 percent 

higher), aged 55 to 64 (5.1 percent 

higher) and aged 65 and over (4.7 

percent higher), had higher median 

incomes using the redesigned ASEC.9

Households in the South and West had 

higher median household incomes 

(3.6 percent and 6.0 percent higher, 

respectively) using the redesigned 

ASEC.10

Earnings of men and women who 

worked year round, full time were 

not statistically different between the 

redesigned and traditional ASEC.

8 The percentage change for Hispanics 

was significantly different than the percentage changes for Asians, non-Hispanic Whites, 

and Whites. The percentage changes were not 

significantly different between all other Race and 

Hispanic Origin of Householder characteristics. 9 The percentage changes for all of the Age 

of Householder categories were not significantly 

different between one another. 10 The percentage changes were not significantly different between all regions.

Effects on Poverty Data

Using the redesigned income questions only minimally affected poverty 

estimates—see Table D-2. For poverty, the differences in the estimates 

of the overall poverty rate and the 

total number of people in poverty 

were not statistically significant. The 

poverty rate using the portion of the 

sample eligible for the redesigned 

income questions was higher than 

the poverty rate using the portion of 

the sample eligible for the traditional 

income questions for the following 

major demographic groups: children 

under age 18, Whites, Asians, and 

individuals living in the Midwest. 

Poverty rates using the redesigned 

income questions were lower than 

the poverty rates using the traditional 

income questions for Blacks, workers 

who worked less than full time, year 

round and individuals with a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Table D-1.

Income and Earnings Summary Measures by Selected Characteristics: 2013 Traditional and 

Redesign1 

(Income in 2013 dollars. Households and people as of March of the following year. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling 

error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar14.pdf)

Characteristic

Traditional (T) Redesign (R)

Percentage change* in 

median income 

(R/T)

Number 

(thousands)

Median income (dollars)

Number 

(thousands)

Median income (dollars)

Estimate

Margin of 

error2 Estimate (±)

Margin of 

error2 (±) Estimate

Margin of 

error2 (±)

HOUSEHOLDS

 All households . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122,952 51,939 455 123,931 53,585 1,076 *3.2 2.14

Type of Household

Family households . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81,192 65,587 643 82,270 66,923 872 *2.0 1.53

Married-couple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59,669 76,509 674 59,626 78,897 1,359 *3.1 1.91

Female householder, no husband present . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,193 35,154 832 16,158 35,412 1,512 0.7 4.74

Male householder, no wife present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,330 50,625 1,503 6,486 52,480 2,730 3.7 6.02

Nonfamily households . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41,760 31,178 518 41,660 31,480 951 1.0 3.14

Female householder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,266 26,425 795 21,827 26,238 1,019 –0.7 4.43

Male householder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,494 36,876 937 19,834 39,379 1,674 *6.8 5.20

Race3 and Hispanic Origin of Householder

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97,774 55,257 699 98,807 56,745 850 *2.7 1.86

White, not Hispanic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83,641 58,270 1,006 84,432 60,329 876 *3.5 2.12

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,108 34,598 1,198 16,009 35,324 1,410 2.1 5.20

Asian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,759 67,065 2,830 5,818 72,383 5,531 7.9 8.66

Hispanic (any race) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,811 40,963 908 16,088 39,687 1,954 –3.1 4.78

Age of Householder

Under 65 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94,223 58,448 958 94,862 60,265 771 *3.1 2.06

15 to 24 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,323 34,311 1,808 6,652 33,791 3,156 –1.5 10.68

25 to 34 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20,008 52,702 1,489 19,988 52,416 2,098 –0.5 4.90

35 to 44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,046 64,973 1,620 21,164 67,594 1,976 *4.0 3.86

45 to 54 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,809 67,141 1,265 23,664 70,598 2,114 *5.1 3.73

55 to 64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,036 57,538 1,662 23,395 60,481 1,835 *5.1 4.16

65 years and older . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28,729 35,611 722 29,069 37,297 1,283 *4.7 4.12

Nativity of Householder

Native born . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105,328 52,779 754 105,900 55,087 940 *4.4 2.18

Foreign born . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,624 46,939 1,037 18,031 46,795 1,563 –0.3 3.98

Naturalized citizen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,491 54,974 2,898 9,489 56,354 3,098 2.5 8.57

Not a citizen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,133 40,578 1,113 8,542 40,185 1,944 –1.0 5.39

Region

Northeast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,053 56,775 1,426 22,511 56,868 2,563 0.2 4.90

Midwest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27,214 52,082 1,160 27,426 53,426 2,102 2.6 4.34

South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46,499 48,128 1,104 46,553 49,854 1,335 *3.6 3.10

West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27,186 56,181 1,190 27,441 59,525 2,067 *6.0 4.09

Residence

Inside metropolitan statistical areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103,573 54,042 790 104,128 55,884 810 *3.4 1.87

Inside principal cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41,359 46,778 892 41,360 48,806 1,621 *4.3 3.65

Outside principal cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62,213 59,497 1,090 62,768 60,787 937 *2.2 2.11

Outside metropolitan statistical areas4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,379 42,881 1,238 19,802 43,601 1,755 1.7 4.70

EARNINGS OF FULL-TIME, YEAR-ROUND WORKERS

Men with earnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60,769 50,033 404 61,240 50,015 935 Z 1.89

Women with earnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45,068 39,157 596 44,629 38,793 1,145 –0.9 3.16

Female-to-male earnings ratio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . N 0.78 0.01 N 0.78 0.03 –0.9 3.79

* An asterisk preceding an estimate indicates change is statistically different from zero at the 

90 percent confidence level . 

N Not applicable .

Z Represents or rounds to zero .

1

 The 2014 CPS ASEC included redesigned questions for income and health insurance 

coverage . All of the approximately 98,000 addresses were eligible to receive the redesigned set of 

health insurance coverage questions . The redesigned income questions were implemented to a 

subsample of these 98,000 addresses using a probability split panel design . Approximately 68,000 

addresses were eligible to receive a set of income questions similar to those used in the 2013 CPS 

ASEC (referred to here as the traditional ASEC) and the remaining 30,000 addresses were eligible 

to receive the redesigned income questions . 2 A margin of error is a measure of an estimate’s variability . The larger the margin of error in 

relation to the size of the estimate, the less reliable the estimate . This number, when added to and 

subtracted from the estimate, forms the 90 percent confidence interval . Margins of error shown in 

this table are based on standard errors calculated using replicate weights . For more information, 

see “Standard Errors and Their Use” at <ftp://ftp2 .census .gov/library/publications/2014/demo 

/p60-249sa .pdf> .

3

 Federal surveys give respondents the option of reporting more than one race. Therefore, 

two basic ways of defining a race group are possible. A group such as Asian may be defined as 

those who reported Asian and no other race (the race-alone or single-race concept) or as those 

who reported Asian regardless of whether they also reported another race (the race-alone-or-incombination concept). This table shows data using the first approach (race alone). 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 2010 through American FactFinder. About 2.9 percent 

of people reported more than one race in Census 2010. Data for American Indians and Alaska 

Natives, Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders, and those reporting two or more races are 

not shown separately. 4

 The “Outside metropolitan statistical areas” category includes both micropolitan statistical 

areas and territory outside of metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas. For more information, 

see “About Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas” at <www.census.gov/population

/metro/>.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2014 Annual Social and Economic 

Supplement.

U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 61
Table D-2.

People in Poverty by Selected Characteristics: 2013 Traditional and Redesign1

(Numbers in thousands, margin of error in thousands or percentage points as appropriate. People as of March of the following year. 

For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs

-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar14.pdf)

Characteristic

Traditional Redesign Change in poverty 

(Redesign less 

traditional)3,*

Total

Below poverty

Total

Below poverty

Number

Margin of 

error2

 (±) Percent

Margin of 

error2 (±) Number

Margin of 

error2 (±) Percent

Margin of 

error2 (±) Number Percent

PEOPLE

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312,965 45,318 1,014 14.5 0.3 313,096 46,269 1,474 14.8 0.5 950 0.3

Family Status

In families. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254,988 31,530 845 12.4 0.3 256,070 32,786 1,370 12.8 0.5 1,256 0.4

Householder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81,217 9,130 247 11.2 0.3 82,316 9,645 421 11.7 0.5 *515 0.5

Related children under age 18 . . . . . . . . . . . 72,573 14,142 445 19.5 0.6 72,246 15,116 723 20.9 1.0 *974 *1.4

 Related children under age 6 . . . . . . . . . . . 23,585 5,231 225 22.2 1.0 23,606 5,590 340 23.7 1.4 359 1.5

In unrelated subfamilies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,413 608 114 43.0 6.3 1,626 776 220 47.7 8.4 168 4.7

Reference person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 595 246 48 41.3 6.4 661 291 86 44.0 8.2 45 2.6

Children under age 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 714 340 69 47.7 6.7 844 448 130 53.1 9.3 107 5.4

Unrelated individuals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56,564 13,181 414 23.3 0.6 55,400 12,707 579 22.9 0.9 –474 –0.4

Race4 and Hispanic Origin

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243,085 29,936 816 12.3 0.3 243,346 31,287 1,073 12.9 0.4 *1,351 *0.5

White, not Hispanic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195,167 18,796 722 9.6 0.4 195,118 19,552 815 10.0 0.4 756 0.4

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,615 11,041 506 27.2 1.3 40,498 10,186 632 25.2 1.6 *–855 *–2.0

Asian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,063 1,785 176 10.5 1.0 17,257 2,255 330 13.1 1.9 *470 *2.6

Hispanic (any race) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54,145 12,744 513 23.5 0.9 54,181 13,356 801 24.7 1.5 611 1.1

Sex

Male . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153,361 20,119 568 13.1 0.4 153,465 20,294 769 13.2 0.5 175 0.1

Female . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159,605 25,199 573 15.8 0.4 159,630 25,975 902 16.3 0.6 776 0.5

Age

Under age 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,625 14,659 455 19.9 0.6 73,439 15,801 725 21.5 1.0 *1,142 *1.6

Aged 18 to 64 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194,833 26,429 648 13.6 0.3 194,694 25,899 877 13.3 0.5 –530 –0.3

Aged 65 and older . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,508 4,231 227 9.5 0.5 44,963 4,569 286 10.2 0.6 338 0.7

Nativity

Native born . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 271,968 37,921 943 13.9 0.3 272,423 38,831 1,299 14.3 0.5 909 0.3

Foreign born . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,997 7,397 373 18.0 0.8 40,673 7,438 556 18.3 1.2 41 0.2

Naturalized citizen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,147 2,425 173 12.7 0.9 19,247 2,132 249 11.1 1.3 –293 –1.6

Not a citizen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,850 4,972 311 22.8 1.2 21,426 5,306 498 24.8 1.9 334 2.0

Region

Northeast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,478 7,046 437 12.7 0.8 55,529 7,205 700 13.0 1.3 160 0.3

Midwest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66,785 8,590 430 12.9 0.7 66,732 9,269 641 13.9 1.0 *679 *1.0

South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116,961 18,870 706 16.1 0.6 116,956 19,040 968 16.3 0.8 171 0.1

West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,742 10,812 434 14.7 0.6 73,879 10,754 670 14.6 0.9 –59 –0.1

Residence

Inside metropolitan statistical areas . . . . . . . . 265,915 37,746 1,007 14.2 0.4 265,301 37,994 1,491 14.3 0.5 248 0.1

Inside principal cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102,149 19,530 842 19.1 0.7 101,094 18,617 1,140 18.4 1.0 –912 –0.7

Outside principal cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163,767 18,217 738 11.1 0.4 164,207 19,377 1,091 11.8 0.6 1,160 0.7

Outside metropolitan statistical areas5 . . . . . . 47,050 7,572 665 16.1 1.0 47,795 8,275 891 17.3 1.3 703 1.2

Work Experience

 Total, aged 18 to 64 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194,833 26,429 648 13.6 0.3 194,694 25,899 877 13.3 0.5 –530 –0.3

All workers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146,252 10,736 347 7.3 0.2 146,957 10,261 452 7.0 0.3 –475 –0.4

Worked full-time, year-round . . . . . . . . . . . . 100,855 2,771 155 2.7 0.2 101,146 3,014 247 3.0 0.2 244 0.2

Less than full-time, year-round........... 45,397 7,965 322 17.5 0.6 45,811 7,247 425 15.8 0.9 *–719 *–1.7

Did not work at least 1 week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48,581 15,693 515 32.3 0.9 47,737 15,638 684 32.8 1.2 –55 0.5

Disability Status6

 Total, aged 18 to 64 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194,833 26,429 648 13.6 0.3 194,694 25,899 877 13.3 0.5 –530 –0.3

With a disability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15,098 4,352 233 28.8 1.2 14,461 4,013 316 27.8 1.9 –338 –1.1

With no disability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178,761 22,023 567 12.3 0.3 179,206 21,777 783 12.2 0.4 –246 –0.2

Educational Attainment

 Total, aged 25 and older . . . . . . . . . . 209,287 24,841 623 11.9 0.3 209,259 24,692 873 11.8 0.4 –149 –0.1

No high school diploma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24,458 6,888 245 28.2 0.9 24,192 7,253 452 30.0 1.6 365 1.8

High school, no college . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62,240 8,669 325 13.9 0.5 61,581 8,642 458 14.0 0.7 –27 0.1

Some college, no degree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,709 5,903 268 10.6 0.4 55,990 5,817 361 10.4 0.6 –86 –0.2

Bachelor's degree or higher............... 66,879 3,381 236 5.1 0.4 67,496 2,981 291 4.4 0.4 *–400 *–0.6

FAMILIES

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81,217 9,130 247 11.2 0.3 82,316 9,645 421 11.7 0.5 *515 0.5

Married-couple......................... 59,692 3,476 165 5.8 0.3 59,643 3,394 249 5.7 0.4 –82 –0.1

Female householder, no husband present . . . 15,195 4,646 200 30.6 1.1 16,176 5,203 324 32.2 1.6 *557 1.6

Male householder, no wife present . . . . . . . . . 6,330 1,008 97 15.9 1.4 6,497 1,048 170 16.1 2.4 41 0.2

See footnotes on next page.

62 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau
* An asterisk preceding an estimate indicates change is statistically different from zero at the 90 percent confidence level . 

1

 The 2014 CPS ASEC included redesigned questions for income and health insurance coverage . All of the approximately 98,000 addresses were eligible to receive the redesigned set of health 

insurance coverage questions . The redesigned income questions were implemented to a subsample of these 98,000 addresses using a probability split panel design . Approximately 68,000 addresses 

were eligible to receive a set of income questions similar to those used in the 2013 CPS ASEC (referred to here as the traditional ASEC) and the remaining 30,000 addresses were eligible to receive the 

redesigned income questions . 2

 A margin of error is a measure of an estimate’s variability . The larger the margin of error in relation to the size of the estimate, the less reliable the estimate . This number, when added to and 

subtracted from the estimate, forms the 90 percent confidence interval . Margins of error shown in this table are based on standard errors calculated using replicate weights . For more information, see 

“Standard Errors and Their Use” at <ftp://ftp2 .census .gov/library/publications/2014/demo/p60-249sa .pdf> . 3

 Details may not sum to totals because of rounding .

4

 Federal surveys now give respondents the option of reporting more than one race . Therefore, two basic ways of defining a race group are possible . A group such as Asian may be defined as those 

who reported Asian and no other race (the race-alone or single-race concept) or as those who reported Asian regardless of whether they also reported another race (the race-alone-or-in-combination 

 concept) . This table shows data using the first approach (race alone) . 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 2010 through American FactFinder . About 2 .9 percent of people reported more than one race in Census 2010 . Data for American Indians and Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and Other 

Pacific Islanders, and those reporting two or more races are not shown separately . 5

 The “Outside metropolitan statistical areas” category includes both micropolitan statistical areas and territory outside of metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas . For more information, see 

“About Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas” at <www .census .gov/population/metro/> . 6

 The sum of those with and without a disability does not equal the total because disability status is not defined for individuals in the Armed Forces .

Source: U .S . Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2014 Annual Social and Economic Supplement .

U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 63

U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 65

APPENDIX E. COMBINING THE 2014 ASEC TRADITIONAL AND REDESIGN SAMPLES USING 

MODELED INCOME

Introduction

The 2014 Current Population 

Survey Annual Social and Economic 

Supplement (CPS ASEC) utilized a 

probability split panel design to test a 

new redesigned set of income questions.1 There were approximately 

98,000 addresses in the 2014 CPS 

ASEC sample; a subsample of about 

30,000 addresses were randomly 

assigned to be eligible to receive the 

redesigned income questions, and 

the remaining sample (approximately 

68,000 addresses) were eligible to 

receive the set of traditional income 

questions. Income and poverty estimates from the traditional subsample 

were not comparable with income and 

poverty estimates from the redesigned 

subsample. 

This appendix discusses research to 

create a file with the full 2014 CPS 

ASEC sample with responses that are 

consistent with the redesigned survey 

instrument. It also compares estimates 

of poverty and median income from 

this file to estimates from the smaller 

redesigned subsample. 

While the survey redesign significantly 

increased recipiency and aggregates, 

the majority of mean incomes (by 

dollars) was not statistically different. For example, earnings comprised 

75.9 percent of all income, and there 

were no statistically significant differences between earnings across the 

two instruments. The survey redesign 

1 For more details on the split panel test, see 

Appendix D of this report. 

did not affect any demographic, labor 

force participation, or occupational 

questions. Therefore, although it is 

not known what respondents to the 

traditional instrument would have 

answered to the redesigned income 

questions, there is a considerable 

amount of information about them 

that was not affected by the redesign. 

In order to utilize the data not affected 

by the redesign, the samples can be 

combined by treating the problem as 

one of missing data—as if the recipients of the traditional instrument did 

not respond to the redesigned income 

questions. The approach uses an 

imputation technique to create an 

“income-consistent” full file with modeled values for some income types in 

the traditional sample. This technique 

statistically models responses in order 

to replace missing data with plausible values in a way that is similar 

to the CPS ASEC hotdeck imputation 

procedure.2

Imputation Method

As a part of the standard processing 

of the CPS ASEC, when an individual 

does not respond to a particular question, missing values are imputed using 

a hotdeck procedure. An important 

restriction of this approach is that 

the number of variables that can be 

2 For a more complete discussion of the 

method and results in this appendix, see Jonathan 

Rothbaum, “Bridging a Survey Redesign Using 

Multiple Imputation: An Application to the 2014 

CPS ASEC,” <www.census.gov/content/dam

/Census/library/working-papers/2015/demo

/SEHSD-WP2015-15.pdf>.

included in the hotdeck model is limited by the size of the sample. While 

this is a constraint with the full CPS 

ASEC sample, the constraint is even 

more binding when imputing income 

from the smaller sample of about 

30,000 addresses eligible to receive 

the redesigned questions. If retirement, interest, and dividend income 

were imputed in the traditional sample 

using a hotdeck, the model would 

not incorporate many variables that 

are potentially correlated with each 

income type. This would limit the ability of the imputation to find the best 

possible match between similar donors 

and recipients and reduce the quality 

of the matches, potentially biasing the 

results.

A more flexible technique using 

regression modelling to match donors 

to recipients was used to impute the 

missing responses for this research 

file. A primary reason for choosing the 

semiparametric approach is its similarity to the hotdeck. In the hotdeck, 

matching is based directly on observable characteristics. In the modelbased approach, the matching is based 

on the predicted probability of recipiency and expected income conditional 

on recipiency, both of which are estimated from observable characteristics. 

The basic steps of the imputation are 

shown in Figure E-1.
66 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau

First, for each income type, individual 

recipiency in the redesign sample 

was predicted using a logistic regression with a large set of covariates 

that were unaffected by the redesign. 

Then the full sample was divided 

into equal-sized strata based on 

this probability. Third, within each 

stratum, each individual’s expected 

income conditional on recipiency 

was calculated using Ordinary Least 

Squares (OLS) regressions. Fourth, 

each stratum was subdivided into 

equal-sized substrata based on 

expected income. Finally, within each 

probability-expected income substratum, donors were selected at random 

from the redesign sample to impute 

income recipiency, source, and value 

information for traditional sample 

respondents.

Selecting the Variables to Be 

Imputed

For each income source where the 

response could be considered “missing” for the traditional sample due 

to a question change, there was 

a tradeoff between imputing the 

responses using the redesign sample 

and preserving the information from 

the responses in the traditional sample. To minimize the loss of reported 

information, income was imputed for 

three income sources: 1) retirement 

income, 2) interest, and 3) dividends. 

These three sources had the largest 

difference in estimated aggregate 

income of the types affected by the 

Figure E-1.

Overview of Imputation Method: Example of Interest 

Income

Step 1

Predict probability 

of interest income 

recipiency in 

redesign

Step 2

Divide all 

individuals in 

both samples 

based on this 

probability

Step 3

For each group, 

predict expected 

interest income 

in redesign for 

all individuals in 

both samples

Step 4

Divide each 

group into 

subgroups based 

on predicted 

interest income

Step 5

Within each subgroup 

cell, randomly select 

redesign individuals 

as donors for 

traditional individuals 

and donate all 

variables related to 

interest income

Probability

of recipiency

High

Low

Probability

of recipiency

High

Predict expected income within group

Low

Low

Expected value

Select redesign donors for recipients 

within cell

Low High

Low Expected value High
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 67

redesign. Figures E-2 and E-3 show 

changes in recipiency and aggregate 

income. For interest income, the 

number of recipients increased by 

37.6 million and aggregate income 

increased by $206.3 billion. For 

retirement income, the number of 

recipients increased by 1.8 million 

and aggregate income increased by 

$82.7 billion. For dividend income, 

the number of recipients decreased 

by 1.4 million and aggregate income 

decreased by $29.6 billion.

Comparing the Redesign and 

Closest Income-Consistent File

Ten independent imputation files 

(implicates) were created using this 

technique. While the microdata of all 

ten implicates will be released as a 

research file to the public, a single 

file was chosen to tabulate income 

and poverty estimates. The implicate 

“closest” to the 10 implicate average 

poverty and median income estimates 

was selected.3

Table E-1 shows a comparison of 

household median income by selected 

characteristics in the redesign sample 

and the “closest” income-consistent 

file. Median incomes were significantly different by household type for 

nonfamily male and female householders and households in the West. 

3 For a more complete discussion of how 

the file was selected, see Jonathan Rothbaum, 

“Bridging a Survey Redesign Using Multiple Imputation: An Application to the 2014 CPS ASEC,” 

<www.census.gov/content/dam/Census

/library/working-papers/2015/demo

/SEHSD-WP2015-15.pdf>.

Figure E-2.

Absolute Difference in Income Recipients Between the ASEC Traditional and 

ASEC Redesign Samples

–234 414

(In thousands)

1,329

Increasing Decreasing

–1,439 1,827

37,630

Income source

Note: For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see <ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys

/cps/techdocs/cpsmar14.pdf>.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2014 Annual Social and Economic Supplement.

Retirement Interest

income

Disability Dividends

income

Public 

assistance

Workers' 

compensation
68 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau

Table E-2 shows a comparison of 

poverty. Poverty estimates were 

statistically different by relationship for householders and related 

children under age 18, White alone, 

Asian alone, females, people under 

18 years old, those 65 years old and 

over, noncitizens, and individuals who 

reside in the Midwest and outside 

of metropolitan statistical areas.4

4 For householders, the change in poverty 

was statistically significant for the number in 

poverty, but not the percentage. For noncitizens, 

the percentage in poverty was statistically different, but not the number.

For the majority of comparisons in 

both tables, estimates for the closest 

income-consistent file were not statistically different from the redesign 

sample.

Figure E-3.

Absolute Difference in Aggregate Income Between the ASEC Traditional and 

ASEC Redesign Samples

1.6 10.0

(Billions of dollars)

–29.6

82.7

206.3

Income source

Note: For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see <ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys

/cps/techdocs/cpsmar14.pdf>.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2014 Annual Social and Economic Supplement.

Public assistance Disability income Dividends Retirement income Interest

Increasing Decreasing
Table E-1.

Household Median Income by Selected Characteristics: 2013 Redesign and Closest 

Income-Consistent1

(Income in 2013 dollars. Households and people as of March of the following year. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling 

error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar14.pdf)

Characteristic

Redesign (R) Income-Consistent (IC)

Percentage change* in 

median income 

(IC-R)/R

Number 

(thousands)

Median income (dollars)

Number 

(thousands)

Median income (dollars)

Estimate

Margin of 

error2 Estimate (±)

Margin of 

error2 (±) Estimate

Margin of 

error2 (±)

HOUSEHOLDS

 All households . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123,931 53,585 1,076 123,229 53,516 655 –0.1 1.63

Type of Household

Family households . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82,270 66,923 872 81,353 67,319 603 0.6 1.06

Married-couple . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59,626 78,897 1,359 59,629 79,380 950 0.6 1.54

Female householder, no husband present . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,158 35,412 1,512 15,420 36,095 765 1.9 3.69

Male householder, no wife present . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,486 52,480 2,730 6,304 51,992 1,454 –0.9 4.34

Nonfamily households . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41,660 31,480 951 41,877 32,131 490 2.1 2.36

Female householder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,827 26,238 1,019 22,219 27,669 896 *5.5 3.40

Male householder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,834 39,379 1,674 19,658 37,727 962 *–4.2 3.46

Race3 and Hispanic Origin of Householder

White . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98,807 56,745 850 98,052 56,764 546 Z 1.22

White, not Hispanic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84,432 60,329 876 83,892 60,296 535 –0.1 1.16

Black . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,009 35,324 1,410 16,064 35,403 867 0.2 3.45

Asian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5,818 72,383 5,531 5,749 71,140 2,083 –1.7 6.11

Hispanic (any race) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16,088 39,687 1,954 15,874 41,236 836 3.9 4.45

Age of Householder

Under 65 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94,862 60,265 771 94,442 60,486 473 0.4 1.08

15 to 24 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,652 33,791 3,156 6,404 34,875 1,502 3.2 8.14

25 to 34 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,988 52,416 2,098 19,978 53,951 1,415 2.9 3.57

35 to 44 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,164 67,594 1,976 21,123 67,237 1,177 –0.5 2.44

45 to 54 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,664 70,598 2,114 23,733 71,007 1,081 0.6 2.55

55 to 64 years . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23,395 60,481 1,835 23,205 59,487 1,757 –1.6 2.74

65 years and older . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29,069 37,297 1,283 28,787 36,835 634 –1.2 2.69

Nativity of Householder

Native born . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105,900 55,087 940 105,518 54,638 665 –0.8 1.42

Foreign born . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,031 46,795 1,563 17,712 48,096 1,217 2.8 3.12

Naturalized citizen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9,489 56,354 3,098 9,476 57,613 2,142 2.2 5.32

Not a citizen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8,542 40,185 1,944 8,236 40,939 885 1.9 4.50

Region

Northeast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,511 56,868 2,563 22,150 57,884 1,600 1.8 3.88

Midwest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27,426 53,426 2,102 57,280 53,585 1,357 0.3 3.22

South . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46,553 49,854 1,335 46,462 50,222 755 0.7 2.09

West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27,441 59,525 2,067 27,338 57,310 1,126 *–3.7 2.86

Residence

Inside metropolitan statistical areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104,128 55,884 810 103,766 55,590 568 –0.5 1.12

Inside principal cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41,360 48,806 1,621 41,290 48,126 1,029 –1.4 2.69

Outside principal cities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62,768 60,787 937 62,476 60,752 676 –0.1 1.19

Outside metropolitan statistical areas4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,802 43,601 1,755 19,463 45,012 1,131 3.2 3.35

EARNINGS OF FULL-TIME, YEAR-ROUND WORKERS

Men with earnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61,240 50,015 935 60,924 50,047 298 0.1 1.63

Women with earnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,629 38,793 1,145 44,929 38,960 548 0.4 2.39

* An asterisk preceding an estimate indicates change is statistically different from zero at the 

90 percent confidence level . 

Z Represents or rounds to zero .

1

 The 2014 CPS ASEC included redesigned questions for income and health insurance 

coverage . The redesigned income questions were implemented to a subsample of these 98,000 

addresses using a probability split panel design . Approximately 68,000 addresses were eligible 

to receive a set of income questions similar to those used in the 2013 CPS ASEC (referred to 

here as the traditional ASEC) and the remaining 30,000 addresses were eligible to receive the 

redesigned income questions . The Closest Income-Consistent file uses the full 2014 CPS ASEC 

sample by imputing values for retirement income, interest and dividends that are consistent with the 

 redesigned survey instrument for persons who answered the traditional income questions . 2 A margin of error is a measure of an estimate’s variability . The larger the margin of error in 

relation to the size of the estimate, the less reliable the estimate . This number, when added to and 

subtracted from the estimate, forms the 90 percent confidence interval . Margins of error shown in 

this table are based on standard errors calculated using replicate weights . For more information, 

see “Standard Errors and Their Use” at <ftp://ftp2 .census .gov/library/publications/2014/demo 

/p60-249sa .pdf> .

3

 Federal surveys give respondents the option of reporting more than one race. Therefore, 

two basic ways of defining a race group are possible. A group such as Asian may be defined as 

those who reported Asian and no other race (the race-alone or single-race concept) or as those 

who reported Asian regardless of whether they also reported another race (the race-alone-or-incombination concept). This table shows data using the first approach (race alone). 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 2010 through American FactFinder. About 2.9 percent 

of people reported more than one race in Census 2010. Data for American Indians and Alaska 

Natives, Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders, and those reporting two or more races are 

not shown separately. 4

 The “Outside metropolitan statistical areas” category includes both micropolitan statistical 

areas and territory outside of metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas. For more information, 

see “About Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas” at <www.census.gov/population

/metro/>.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2014 Annual Social and Economic 

Supplement.

U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 69
Table E-2.

People in Poverty by Selected Characteristics: 2013 Redesign and Closest Income-Consistent1

(Numbers in thousands, margin of error in thousands or percentage points as appropriate. People as of March of the following year. For 

information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see ftp://ftp2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps

/techdocs/cpsmar14.pdf)

Characteristic

Redesign (R) Income Consistent (IC) Change in poverty 

(IC-R)/R)3,*

Total

Below poverty

Total

Below poverty

Number

Margin of 

error2

 (±) Percent

Margin of 

error2 (±) Number

Margin of 

error2 (±) Percent

Margin of 

error2 (±) Number Percent

PEOPLE

 Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313,096 46,269 1,474 14.8 0.5 312,983 45,267 893 14.5 0.3 –1,002 –0.3

Family Status

In families.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 256,070 32,786 1,370 12.8 0.5 255,079 31,792 777 12.5 0.3 –994 –0.3

Householder.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82,316 9,645 421 11.7 0.5 81,381 9,238 224 11.4 0.3 *–407 –0.4

Related children under age 18. . . . . . . . . . . . 72,246 15,116 723 20.9 1.0 72,454 14,471 417 20.0 0.6 *–645 *–0.9

 Related children under age 6. . . . . . . . . . . . 23,606 5,590 340 23.7 1.4 23,586 5,318 197 22.5 0.8 –272 –1.1

In unrelated subfamilies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,626 776 220 47.7 8.4 1,465 608 101 41.5 5.1 –168 –6.2

Reference person. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661 291 86 44.0 8.2 604 236 37 39.1 4.8 –54 –4.8

Children under 18. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 844 448 130 53.1 9.3 754 351 64 46.6 5.8 –96 –6.5

Unrelated individuals.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,400 12,707 579 22.9 0.9 56,439 12,867 331 22.8 0.5 160 –0.1

Race4 and Hispanic Origin

White. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243,346 31,287 1,073 12.9 0.4 243,144 30,210 655 12.4 0.3 *–1,077 *–0.4

White, not Hispanic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195,118 19,552 815 10.0 0.4 195,288 19,026 549 9.7 0.3 –526 –0.3

Black. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,498 10,186 632 25.2 1.6 40,577 10,696 439 26.4 1.1 510 1.2

Asian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17,257 2,255 330 13.1 1.9 17,003 1,884 165 11.1 1.0 *–372 *–2.0

Hispanic (any race). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54,181 13,356 801 24.7 1.5 54,138 12,760 476 23.6 0.9 –596 –1.1

Sex

Male. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153,465 20,294 769 13.2 0.5 153,373 20,150 467 13.1 0.3 –144 –0.1

Female. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159,630 25,975 902 16.3 0.6 159,610 25,117 530 15.7 0.3 *–858 *–0.5

Age

Under age 18. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,439 15,801 725 21.5 1.0 73,535 15,009 427 20.4 0.6 *–792 *–1.1

Aged 18 to 64. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194,694 25,899 877 13.3 0.5 194,971 26,208 544 13.4 0.3 309 0.1

Aged 65 years and older. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44,963 4,569 286 10.2 0.6 44,477 4,050 169 9.1 0.4 *–519 *–1.1

Nativity

Native born. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272,423 38,831 1,299 14.3 0.5 272,249 38,068 808 14.0 0.3 –763 –0.3

Foreign born. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,673 7,438 556 18.3 1.2 40,734 7,199 319 17.7 0.7 –239 –0.6

Naturalized citizen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19,247 2,132 249 11.1 1.3 19,132 2,217 140 11.6 0.7 85 0.5

Not a citizen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21,426 5,306 498 24.8 1.9 21,602 4,982 279 23.1 1.1 –323 *–1.7

Region

Northeast. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55,529 7,205 700 13.0 1.3 55,481 7,021 409 12.7 0.7 –185 –0.3

Midwest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66,732 9,269 641 13.9 1.0 66,758 8,728 390 13.1 0.6 *–542 *–0.8

South. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116,956 19,040 968 16.3 0.8 116,959 18,796 613 16.1 0.5 –245 –0.2

West. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73,879 10,754 670 14.6 0.9 73,785 10,723 379 14.5 0.5 –31 Z

Residence

Inside metropolitan statistical areas. . . . . . . . . 265,301 37,994 1,491 14.3 0.5 265,773 37,611 960 14.2 0.3 –383 –0.2

Inside principal cities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101,094 18,617 1,140 18.4 1.0 101,874 19,070 783 18.7 0.6 453 0.3

Outside principal cities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164,207 19,377 1,091 11.8 0.6 116,900 18,540 653 11.3 0.4 –836 –0.5

Outside metropolitan statistical areas5. . . . . . . 47,795 8,275 891 17.3 1.3 47,210 7,656 621 16.2 0.7 *–618 *–1.1

* An asterisk preceding an estimate indicates change is statistically different from zero at the 90 percent confidence level. 

Z Represents or rounds to zero. 1

 The 2014 CPS ASEC included redesigned questions for income and health insurance coverage. The redesigned income questions were implemented to a subsample of these 98,000 addresses 

using a probability split panel design. Approximately 68,000 addresses were eligible to receive a set of income questions similar to those used in the 2013 CPS ASEC (referred to here as the traditional 

ASEC) and the remaining 30,000 addresses were eligible to receive the redesigned income questions. The Closest Income-Consistent file uses the full 2014 CPS ASEC sample by imputing values for 

retirement income, interest, and dividends that are consistent with the redesigned survey instrument for persons who answered the traditional income questions. 2

 A margin of error is a measure of an estimate’s variability. The larger the margin of error in relation to the size of the estimate, the less reliable the estimate. This number, when added to and 

subtracted from the estimate, forms the 90 percent confidence interval. Margins of error shown in this table are based on standard errors calculated using replicate weights. For more information, see 

“Standard Errors and Their Use” at <ftp://ftp2.census.gov/library/publications/2014/demo/p60-249sa.pdf>. 3

 Details may not sum to totals because of rounding.

4

 Federal surveys now give respondents the option of reporting more than one race. Therefore, two basic ways of defining a race group are possible. A group such as Asian may be defined as those 

who reported Asian and no other race (the race-alone or single-race concept) or as those who reported Asian regardless of whether they also reported another race (the race-alone-or-in-combination 

concept). This table shows data using the first approach (race alone). 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 2010 through American FactFinder. About 2.9 percent of people reported more than one race in Census 2010. Data for American Indians and Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and Other 

Pacific Islanders, and those reporting two or more races are not shown separately. 5

 The “Outside metropolitan statistical areas” category includes both micropolitan statistical areas and territory outside of metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas. For more information, see 

“About Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas” at <www.census.gov/population/metro/>.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2014 Annual Social and Economic Supplement.

70 Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 U.S. Census Bureau
U.S. Census Bureau Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 71

APPENDIX F. ADDITIONAL DATA AND CONTACTS

Detailed tables, historical tables, press 

releases, and briefings are available 

electronically on the Census Bureau’s 

income and poverty Web sites. The 

Web sites may be accessed through 

the Census Bureau’s home page at 

<www.census.gov> or directly at 

<www.census.gov/hhes

/www/income/> for income data and 

<www.census.gov/hhes/www

/poverty/> for poverty data.

For assistance with income and 

poverty data or questions about 

them, contact the U.S. Census Bureau 

Customer Service Center at 1-800-923-

8282 (toll free) or search your topic 

of interest using the Census Bureau’s 

“Question and Answer Center” found 

at <ask.census.gov/>.

Customized Tables 

The CPS Table Creator

<www.census.gov/cps/data

/cpstablecreator.html> 

Gives data users the ability to create 

customized tables from the Current 

Population Survey Annual Social and 

Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC). 

Table Creator can access data back to 

the 2003 CPS ASEC.

DataFerrett

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

Users can also generate customized 

tables using the DataFerrett tool. CPS 

ASEC files from 1992 to the present 

are available through DataFerrett.

Public Use Microdata

CPS ASEC

Microdata for the 2014 CPS ASEC 

and earlier years are available 

online at <http://thedataweb

.rm.census.gov/ftp/cps_ftp

.html#cpsmarch> or via DataFerrett 

at <http://dataferrett.census.gov/>. 

Technical methods have been applied 

to CPS microdata to avoid disclosing the identities of individuals from 

whom data were collected.

Taxes and Noncash Benefits

In the early 1980s, the Census Bureau 

embarked on a research program 

to examine the effects of taxes and 

noncash benefits on poverty and 

income distributional measures. Public 

use data containing these additional 

variables are typically released later 

in the year and are available online at 

<http://thedataweb.rm.census.gov

/ftp/cps_ftp.html#cpsmarch>.

Research Files

In addition, the Census Bureau produces special research files that enable 

researchers to replicate alternative 

poverty estimates. These files are typically released later in the year and are 

available online at <www.census.gov

/hhes/povmeas/data/index.html>.

Topcoding

In its long history of releasing public 

use microdata files based on the CPS 

ASEC, the Census Bureau has censored 

the release of “high income” amounts 

in order to meet the requirements of 

Title 13. This process is often called 

topcoding. During the period prior to 

the March 1996 survey, this censorship was applied by limiting the values 

for income amounts to be no greater 

than a specified maximum value (the 

topcode). Values above the maximum 

were replaced by the maximum value. 

Maximum values varied by income 

source and year. Beginning with the 

1996 survey, the censorship method 

was modified so that mean values 

were substituted for all amounts 

above the topcode (for historically consistent extracts from 1975 

to 1995, call the Income Statistics 

Branch, 301-763-3243). 

Differences in the methods used to 

censor high-income amounts over 

time made it difficult to generate 

consistent time series for important 

measures of income distribution such 

as the Gini Coefficient of Income 

Concentration (GINI), and decile 

shares. Moreover, using the mean 

value for all amounts above the topcode made it impossible to examine 

the distribution of income above the 

topcode. In an effort to alleviate these 

problems and improve the overall 

usefulness of the ASEC, the Census 

Bureau sponsored research on methods that both met Title 13 requirements and preserved the income 

distribution above the topcode. This 

research led to the implementation 

in the 2011 ASEC of rank proximity swapping methods that switch 

income amounts above the topcode 

for respondents that are of similar 

income rank. Swapped amounts are 

rounded following the swapping process to provide additional disclosure 

avoidance.

Extract files containing swapped 

income values for survey years 

1975 to 2010 are now available on the 

Census Bureau’s FTP site at <www

.census.gov/housing/extract_files/>.

Comments

The Census Bureau welcomes the 

comments and advice of data and 

report users. If you have suggestions 

or comments on the income data, 

please write to:

Edward J. Welniak, Jr.

Chief, Income Statistics Branch

Social, Economic, and Housing

 Statistics Division

U.S. Census Bureau

Washington, D.C. 20233-8500

Or send e-mail to: 

edward.j.welniak.jr@census.gov

If you have suggestions or comments 

on the poverty data, please write to:

Trudi J. Renwick

Chief, Poverty Statistics Branch

Social, Economic, and Housing

 Statistics Division

U.S. Census Bureau

Washington, D.C. 20233-8500

Or send e-mail to: 

trudi.j.renwick@census.gov
Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 P60-252 Current Population Reports U.S. Census Bureau

U.S. Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

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