Census 2000 counted

105.5 million households in the United

States and collected

data on income for

calendar year 1999.

Median household

income in 1999 was

$42,000, up 7.7 percent from 1989 in real

terms (after adjusting

for 29.8 percent inflation over the period).1

Median income divides

households into two

equal groups, half having incomes above the

median, the other half

having incomes below.

In 1999, 12.3 percent

of households had

incomes over

$100,000, and 22.1

percent had incomes

below $20,000.

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

Helping You Make Informed Decisions

U.S.Department of Commerce

Economics and Statistics Administration

U.S. CENSUS BUREAU

Issued June 2005

C2KBR-36

Household Income: 1999

Census 2000 Brief

By 

Ed Welniak 

and 

Kirby Posey

Figure 1.

Reproduction of the Questions on 

Household Income From Census 2000

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 questionnaire.

Annual amount — Dollars

INCOME IN 1999 — Mark the "Yes" box for each

income source received during 1999 and enter the total

amount received during 1999 to a maximum of $999,999.

Mark the "No" box if the income source was not

received. If net income was a loss, enter the amount and

mark the "Loss" box next to the dollar amount.

For income received jointly, report, if possible, the

appropriate share for each person; otherwise, report

the whole amount for only one person and mark 

the "No" box for the other person. If exact amount is

not known, please give best estimate.

a. Wages, salary, commissions, bonuses, or tips

from all jobs — Report amount before deductions for

taxes, bonds, dues, or other items.

Yes

$ , .00

No

Annual amount — Dollars

b. Self-employment income from own nonfarm

businesses or farm businesses, including

proprietorships and partnerships — Report NET

income after business expenses.

Yes

$ , .00 Loss

No

x

x

x

x

31

c. Interest, dividends, net rental income, royalty

income, or income from estates and trusts — Report

even small amounts credited to an account.

Yes Annual amount — Dollars

$ , .00 Loss

No

1 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.
2 U.S. Census Bureau

This report, part of a series that

presents population and housing

data collected by Census 2000,

provides information on the distribution of household income.

Census 2000 income data allow

more comparisons among geographic areas than do survey data.

The text of this report discusses

data for the United States, including regions, states, counties, and

places with populations of 100,000

or more.2

More recent data are available from

current surveys conducted by the

U.S. Census Bureau. For example,

the Current Population Survey’s

Annual Social and Economic

Supplement (ASEC) estimated real

median household income in 2003

to be $43,300, compared with

$44,900 in 1999, a decline of 

3.6 percent.3 The ASEC showed an

increase in median household

income of 8.5 percent from 1989

to 1999.

The 1940 decennial census was

the first to include a question

about income. Later censuses

expanded and refined approaches

to collecting these data, most

recently adding a question about

Figure 1.

Reproduction of the Questions on Household 

Income From Census 2000 — Con.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 questionnaire.

31 d. Social Security or Railroad Retirement

Yes Annual amount — Dollars

No

e. Supplemental Security Income (SSI)

Yes Annual amount — Dollars

No

f. Any public assistance or welfare payments

from the state or local welfare office

Yes Annual amount — Dollars

No

g. Retirement, survivor, or disability pensions —

Do NOT include Social Security.

Yes Annual amount — Dollars

$ , .00

No

h. Any other sources of income received regularly

such as Veterans’ (VA) payments, unemployment

compensation, child support, or alimony — Do NOT

include lump-sum payments such as money from an

inheritance or sale of a home.

Yes Annual amount — Dollars

$ , .00

No

32 What was this person’s total income in 1999? Add

entries in questions 31a—31h; subtract any losses. If net

income was a loss, enter the amount and mark the

"Loss" box next to the dollar amount.

Annual amount — Dollars

None OR $ , .00 Loss

$ , .00

$ , .00

$ , .00

x

2 The text of this report discusses data for

the United States, including the 50 states and

the District of Columbia. Information about

the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is presented in Table 2 and Figures 4 and 5 (additional

information is available on the Census

Bureau’s Web site at <www.census.gov>).

Census 2000 showed 245 places in the

United States with 100,000 or more population. They included 238 incorporated places

(including 4 city-county consolidations) and 7

census designated places that were not legally incorporated. For a list of these places by

state, see <www.census.gov/population/www

/cen2000/phc-t6.html>. 3 The Current Population Survey’s Annual

Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) is a

key annual source of data on income and

poverty. Annual income and poverty estimates are also available from the American

Community Survey. Data from both surveys

can be accessed at <www.census.gov/hhes

/www/income.html>.
Supplemental Security Income and

combining separate farm and nonfarm self-employment income

questions into a single one.4

Figure 1 shows the eight questions

that Census 2000 asked of people

15 and older about different

sources of income.

INCOMES OF FAMILIES 

AND HOUSEHOLDS

Income amounts in 1999 from

wages and salary, self-employment, interest and dividends,

Social Security, Supplemental

Security Income, public assistance,

retirement, and all other sources

were aggregated for all people 15

and older in a household to form

household income. These sources

were aggregated for all related

people 15 and older in the household to form family income. Most

comparisons in this brief use

households as the unit of analysis. 

Households with a householder

45 to 54 years old had the

highest median income.

The median income for this age

group was $56,300 in 1999.

Median income was lowest among

households with a householder 75

and older ($22,300), as shown in

Figure 2.

Incomes vary by type of

household and family

composition.

Median income was higher for families ($50,000) than for households

($42,000), as shown in Figure 3.

This result tends to occur because

many households consist of people

who live alone and are not included in the definition of a family.

Many families have more than one

earner and many people who live

alone are young or elderly.

Married-couple families had the

highest median income of all the

family types ($57,300).

Households consisting of women

who lived alone had the lowest

median income ($19,500).

Income varies by race 

and ethnicity. 

Respondents were asked to choose

one or more races in Census 2000.

With the exception of the Two or

More Races group, all race groups

discussed in this report refer to

people who indicated only one

racial identity among the six major

categories: White, Black or African

American, American Indian or

Alaska Native, Asian, Native

Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander,

and Some Other Race.5 The use of

the single-race population in this

report does not imply that it is the

preferred method of presenting or

analyzing data. The Census Bureau

uses a variety of approaches.6

U.S. Census Bureau 3

Figure 2.

Median Household Income by Age 

of Householder: 1999

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000.

(In dollars. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, 

nonsampling error, and definitions, see 

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)

75

and over

15 to 24 25 to 34 35 to 44 45 to 54 55 to 64 65 to 74

$22,679 $22,259

$41,414 

$50,654 

$56,300 

$47,447 

$31,368 

4 Supplemental Security Income is administered by the Social Security Administration

for low income elderly and the blind and disabled population.

5 For further information on each of the

six major race groups and the Two or More

Races population, see reports from the

Census 2000 Briefs series (C2KBR/01), available on the Census 2000 Web site at

<www.census.gov/population/www

/cen2000/briefs.html>. Hereafter, this

report uses the term Black to refer to people

who are Black or African American; the term

Pacific Islander to refer to people who are

Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander;

and the term Hispanic to refer to people who

are Hispanic or Latino. Some Other Race is

not a standard Office of Management and

Budget race category. 6 This report draws heavily on Summary

File 3, a Census 2000 product that can be

accessed through American FactFinder, available from the Census Bureau’s Web site,

<www.census.gov>. Information on people

who reported more than one race, such as

White and American Indian or Alaska Native

or Asian and Black, can be found in

Summary File 4, which is also available

through American FactFinder. About 2.6 percent of people reported more than one race.
Among the race groups shown in

Table 1, median income in 1999

was highest for households with

an Asian householder ($51,900)

and lowest for those with a Black

householder ($29,400). The median income for households with a

White householder who was not

Hispanic was $45,400. The median income for those with Hispanic

householders was $33,700.7

Households with an Asian householder also had the highest percentage (19.8) of households with

incomes over $100,000 and 10.0

percent reported incomes below

$10,000. Households with a Black

householder had the highest percentage (19.1) of households with

incomes below $10,000; 5.9 percent reported incomes over

$100,000.

THE GEOGRAPHIC

DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME

Median income grew in each

of the four regions between

1989 and 1999. 

Real median household income

grew more in the South and the

Midwest than in the Northeast or

the West—by 11.4 percent each,

compared with 3.6 percent in the

Northeast and 7.6 percent in the

West (see Table 2).8 The Northeast

had the highest median household

income in 1999 ($45,500), followed by the West ($45,100), the

Midwest ($42,400), and the South

($38,800). 

4 U.S. Census Bureau

Figure 3.

Median Income by Household and Family Composition: 1999

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000.

(In dollars. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, 

see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)

Male

householder,

no spouse

present

Female

householder,

no spouse

present

Married

couples

All

families

Female

living

alone

Nonfamily

with a female

householder

Male

living

alone

Nonfamily

with a male

householder

Nonfamily

households

All

households

$35,141

$41,994

$25,705

$30,986

$27,022

$21,594

$19,473

$50,046

$57,345

$25,458

7 Because Hispanics may be any race,

data in this report for Hispanics overlap with

data for racial groups. Based on Census

2000 sample data, the proportion of respondents identified as Hispanic was 8.0 percent

for Whites; 1.9 percent for Blacks; 14.6 percent for American Indians and Alaska

Natives; 1.0 percent for Asians; 9.5 percent

for Pacific Islanders; 97.1 percent for those

reporting Some Other Race; and 31.1 percent for those reporting Two or More Races.

8 The Northeast region includes the

states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts,

New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York,

Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.

The Midwest region includes the states of

Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan,

Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North

Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

The South region includes the states of

Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida,

Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland,

Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South

Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West

Virginia, and the District of Columbia. The

West region includes the states of Alaska,

Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho,

Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon,

Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
U.S. Census Bureau 5

Household income increased

in almost all states between

1989 and 1999.

Almost all the states showed an

increase in median household

income; the exceptions were

Alaska, Connecticut, Hawaii, and

Rhode Island. The District of

Columbia did not show an increase

in real median household income.

Colorado and South Dakota experienced the largest increase in real

median household income—21 percent over the 1989–1999 period.

The relative standings of many

states did not change between

1989 and 1999. The four states

ranked highest in median income

in 1989 (Connecticut, Alaska, New

Jersey, and Maryland) remained

there in 1999. New Jersey, with a

1999 median income of $55,100,

replaced Connecticut as the state

with the highest income. The four

states with the lowest median

incomes in 1989 (Mississippi, West

Virginia, Arkansas, and Louisiana)

remained there in 1999. West

Virginia, with a 1999 median

income of $29,700, replaced

Mississippi as the state having the

lowest income.

The highest income

households were concentrated

in the Northeast, West, and in

large metropolitan areas.

New Jersey and Connecticut had

the highest proportion of highincome households—about 30 percent over $79,700, the 80th percentile of national household

income.9 West Virginia, though not

different from Arkansas,

Mississippi, Montana, North

Dakota, and South Dakota, had the

lowest percentage of households

with incomes above $79,700—

9 percent. 

Figure 5 shows the percentage of

high-income households by county.

On the East Coast, several counties

around Boston showed a high percentage of these households. The

East Coast showed a nearly continuous string of high-income counties beginning north of New York

City and extending through the

counties around Washington, DC.

On the West Coast, counties

around San Francisco, Sacramento,

and Los Angeles exhibited a high

percentage of households with

incomes above the 80th percentile.

In other parts of the country, most

high-income counties were part of

large metropolitan areas, especially

their suburban counties.

Overall, 21.1 million households

had incomes higher than $79,700,

Table 1.

Household Income by Race and Hispanic Origin of Householder: 1999

(Data based on sample. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)

Income

All races White

Black or

African

American

American

Indian or

Alaska

Native Asian

Native

Hawaiian

or Other

Pacific

Islander

Some

Other

Race

alone

Two or

More

Races Hispanic1 White, not

Hispanic1

Total households ....... 105,539,122 83,697,584 12,023,966 770,334 3,129,127 100,151 3,833,697 1,984,263 9,272,610 78,983,497

Percent.............. 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Less than $10,000 . . . . . . . 9.5 7.9 19.1 16.6 10.0 9.3 12.2 13.5 12.4 7.6

$10,000 to $14,999 . . . . . . 6.3 5.9 8.6 8.8 4.6 5.4 7.8 7.4 7.8 5.8

$15,000 to $19,999 . . . . . . 6.3 5.9 8.0 8.2 4.6 5.6 8.2 7.1 8.0 5.8

$20,000 to $24,999 . . . . . . 6.6 6.3 7.8 8.1 4.9 6.7 8.6 7.3 8.3 6.2

$25,000 to $29,999 . . . . . . 6.4 6.3 7.3 7.3 4.7 6.5 8.3 7.0 7.8 6.2

$30,000 to $34,999 . . . . . . 6.4 6.3 6.5 7.0 5.0 6.5 7.8 6.7 7.4 6.3

$35,000 to $39,999 . . . . . . 5.9 5.9 5.8 6.1 4.8 6.2 6.8 6.1 6.5 5.9

$40,000 to $44,999 . . . . . . 5.7 5.7 5.2 5.5 4.9 6.0 6.1 5.6 5.9 5.7

$45,000 to $49,999 . . . . . . 5.0 5.1 4.3 4.6 4.4 5.2 5.3 4.8 5.0 5.1

$50,000 to $59,999 . . . . . . 9.0 9.4 7.3 7.8 8.5 9.5 8.4 8.3 8.3 9.4

$60,000 to $74,999 . . . . . . 10.4 10.9 7.6 8.0 11.1 11.5 8.4 9.1 8.6 11.1

$75,000 to $99,999 . . . . . . 10.2 10.9 6.6 6.6 12.7 11.2 6.7 8.3 7.4 11.1

$100,000 to $124,999 . . . . 5.2 5.6 2.9 2.7 7.9 5.1 2.7 3.9 3.2 5.7

$125,000 to $149,999 . . . . 2.5 2.7 1.2 1.1 4.3 2.3 1.1 1.8 1.4 2.8

$150,000 to $199,999 . . . . 2.2 2.4 0.9 0.8 4.1 1.7 0.7 1.5 1.0 2.5

$200,000 or more. . . . . . . . 2.4 2.7 0.9 0.8 3.5 1.2 0.7 1.4 1.0 2.7

Median income (dollars). . . 41,994 44,687 29,423 30,599 51,908 42,717 32,694 35,587 33,676 45,367

Mean income (dollars) .... 56,644 59,696 39,877 40,135 67,734 53,096 41,619 47,597 44,250 60,478

1

Hispanics may be of any race.

Source: Census 2000 Summary File 3.

9 The percentage of households with

incomes above $79,663 in New Jersey (32

percent) and Connecticut (30 percent) were

not statistically different. 
6 U.S. Census Bureau

Table 2.

Median Household Income by Region and State: 1989 and 1999

(Data based on sample. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see

www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)

Geography

1989 1999

Percent

change in

real

median

income

(1999 less

Number 1989)

Median

(1999

dollars)

Confidence

interval

Ranking Number

Median

(1999

dollars)

Confidence

interval

Ranking

Lower

bound

(1999

dollars)

Upper

bound

(1999

dollars)

Lower

bound

(1999

dollars)

Upper

bound

(1999

dollars)

Total U.S. . . . ......... 91,993,582 39,009 38,994 39,024 NA 105,539,122 41,994 41,976 42,012 NA 7.7

REGIONS

Northeast. . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,861,186 43,900 43,854 43,946 NA 20,294,648 45,481 45,443 45,519 NA 3.6

Midwest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22,326,056 38,071 38,040 38,102 NA 24,748,799 42,414 42,379 42,449 NA 11.4

South................ 31,836,124 34,824 34,799 34,849 NA 38,034,872 38,790 38,769 38,811 NA 11.4

West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18,970,216 41,882 41,847 41,917 NA 22,460,803 45,084 45,040 45,128 NA 7.6

STATES

Alabama . . . .......... 1,506,009 30,626 30,501 30,751 42-43 1,737,385 34,135 34,020 34,250 43-44 11.5

Alaska . . . ............ 189,700 53,742 53,388 54,096 2 221,804 51,571 51,168 51,974 4 –4.0

Arizona . . . ........... 1,371,885 35,743 35,598 35,888 28-29 1,901,625 40,558 40,412 40,704 26-28 13.5

Arkansas . . . .......... 891,665 27,446 27,341 27,551 49 1,042,807 32,182 32,059 32,305 49 17.3

California . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10,399,700 46,461 46,403 46,519 9 11,512,020 47,493 47,416 47,570 8-9 2.2

Colorado . . . .......... 1,285,119 39,118 39,001 39,235 19 1,659,308 47,203 47,052 47,354 9-11 20.7

Connecticut . . . ........ 1,230,243 54,148 53,984 54,313 1 1,302,227 53,935 53,713 54,157 2 NS

Delaware . . . .......... 247,163 45,263 44,922 45,604 10 298,755 47,381 47,044 47,718 8-11 4.7

District of Columbia ..... 249,034 39,879 39,545 40,213 16-18 248,590 40,127 39,693 40,561 27-30 NS

Florida . . . ............ 5,138,360 35,669 35,600 35,738 28-29 6,341,121 38,819 38,743 38,895 34 8.8

Georgia . . . ........... 2,366,575 37,665 37,551 37,779 23-24 3,007,678 42,433 42,315 42,551 20 12.7

Hawaii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 356,748 50,395 50,027 50,763 5 403,572 49,820 49,494 50,146 6-7 –1.1

Idaho . . . ............. 361,432 32,780 32,611 32,949 39 470,133 37,572 37,378 37,766 36-37 14.6

Illinois . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,197,720 41,859 41,790 41,928 12-13 4,592,740 46,590 46,503 46,677 12-13 11.3

Indiana. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,064,246 37,375 37,268 37,482 25-26 2,337,229 41,567 41,439 41,695 22 11.2

Iowa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,065,243 34,042 33,943 34,141 36-37 1,150,197 39,469 39,342 39,596 31 15.9

Kansas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 946,253 35,420 35,300 35,540 30-32 1,038,940 40,624 40,478 40,770 25-27 14.7

Kentucky . . . .......... 1,379,610 29,246 29,136 29,356 46-47 1,591,739 33,672 33,562 33,782 45 15.1

Louisiana . . . .......... 1,498,371 28,487 28,383 28,591 48 1,657,107 32,566 32,444 32,688 48 14.3

Maine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 465,729 36,151 35,975 36,327 27 518,372 37,240 37,046 37,434 38-39 3.0

Maryland . . . .......... 1,749,342 51,118 50,963 51,273 4 1,981,795 52,868 52,687 53,049 3 3.4

Massachusetts. . . ...... 2,244,406 47,959 47,836 48,082 6-7 2,444,588 50,502 50,344 50,660 5 5.3

Michigan . . . .......... 3,424,122 40,260 40,191 40,329 15-16 3,788,780 44,667 44,583 44,751 16-17 10.9

Minnesota . . . ......... 1,648,825 40,116 40,035 40,197 16-18 1,896,209 47,111 46,984 47,238 9-11 17.4

Mississippi . . . ......... 910,574 26,134 26,007 26,261 51 1,047,555 31,330 31,200 31,460 50 19.9

Missouri .............. 1,961,364 34,214 34,125 34,303 35-36 2,197,214 37,934 37,835 38,033 35-36 10.9

Montana . . . . . . . . . . . . . 306,919 29,835 29,626 30,044 45 359,070 33,024 32,822 33,226 47 10.7

Nebraska . . . .......... 602,858 33,765 33,635 33,895 38 666,995 39,250 39,077 39,423 32-33 16.2

Nevada . . . ........... 467,513 40,248 40,051 40,445 15-18 751,977 44,581 44,362 44,800 16-17 10.8

New Hampshire. . . . . . . . 411,387 47,150 46,944 47,356 8 474,750 49,467 49,220 49,714 6-7 4.9

New Jersey . . . ........ 2,794,316 53,118 53,009 53,227 3 3,065,774 55,146 54,998 55,294 1 3.8

New Mexico. . . . . . . . . . . 543,825 31,262 31,071 31,453 41 678,032 34,133 33,957 34,309 43-44 9.2

New York . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6,634,434 42,784 42,698 42,870 6-7 7,060,595 43,393 43,324 43,462 19 1.4

North Carolina . . . ...... 2,517,098 34,584 34,503 34,665 34 3,133,282 39,184 39,094 39,274 32-33 13.3

North Dakota . . . ....... 241,802 30,127 29,926 30,328 44 257,234 34,604 34,408 34,800 42 14.9

Ohio. . . .............. 4,089,312 37,256 37,177 37,335 25-26 4,446,621 40,956 40,875 41,037 23-25 9.9

Oklahoma . . . ......... 1,207,235 30,600 30,477 30,723 42-43 1,343,506 33,400 33,291 33,509 46 9.2

Oregon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1,105,362 35,367 35,249 35,485 30-32 1,335,109 40,916 40,773 41,059 23-25 15.7

Pennsylvania . . . ....... 4,492,958 37,728 37,659 37,797 23-24 4,779,186 40,106 40,032 40,180 28-29 6.3

Rhode Island . . . ....... 377,080 41,766 41,509 42,023 12-13 408,412 42,090 41,771 42,409 21 NS

South Carolina. . . ...... 1,258,783 34,077 33,959 34,195 35-37 1,534,334 37,082 36,954 37,210 38-39 8.8

South Dakota. . . ....... 260,059 29,206 29,032 29,380 46-47 290,336 35,282 35,078 35,486 41 20.8

Tennessee . . . ......... 1,853,515 32,196 32,089 32,303 40 2,234,229 36,360 36,243 36,477 40 12.9

Texas. . . ............. 6,079,341 35,063 35,005 35,121 32-33 7,397,294 39,927 39,864 39,990 28,30 13.9

Utah. . . .............. 537,196 38,248 38,064 38,432 21-22 701,933 45,726 45,517 45,935 14-15 19.6

Vermont . . . ........... 210,633 38,666 38,431 38,901 20 240,744 40,856 40,617 41,095 23-26 5.7

Virginia . . . ........... 2,294,722 43,255 43,128 43,382 11 2,700,335 46,677 46,545 46,809 12-13 7.9

Washington ........... 1,875,508 40,471 40,376 40,566 14 2,272,261 45,776 45,626 45,926 14-15 13.1

West Virginia . . . . . . . . . . 688,727 26,989 26,859 27,119 50 737,360 29,696 29,555 29,837 51 10.0

Wisconsin ............ 1,824,252 38,212 38,126 38,298 21-22 2,086,304 43,791 43,677 43,905 18 14.6

Wyoming . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169,309 35,167 34,882 35,452 30-33 193,959 37,892 37,533 38,251 35-37 7.7

Puerto Rico . . . ....... 1,057,357 11,544 11,485 11,604 NA 1,261,816 14,412 14,360 14,464 NA 25.3

NA Not applicable.

NS Not statistically different from zero at the 90-percent confidence level.

Note: The estimates in this table may vary from actual values due to sampling and nonsampling error. As a result, the median income of a state with a

higher rank may not be statistically different from the median income of a state with a lower rank.

Source: Census 2000 Summary File 3.
and 13.0 million households had

incomes of $100,000 or more.

California had several cities

with median household

incomes among the highest in

the country.

Among places of 100,000 or more

population, Naperville, Illinois

(near Chicago) reported the highest

median household income

($88,800) in 1999 (Table 3). The

next highest income cities were

Plano, Texas (near Dallas) and

Thousand Oaks, California (near

Los Angeles). Seven of the cities

with the highest median incomes

were in California. Four—

Sunnyvale, Simi Valley, San Jose,

and Santa Clara—are in an area

commonly called Silicon Valley,

home to many companies that sell

computer products and services.

Miami, Florida had the lowest 1999

median household income

($23,500) among places with

100,000 or more population. Five

of the ten places with the lowest

median household income were in

the Northeast—Buffalo, New York;

Hartford, Connecticut; Syracuse,

New York; Providence, Rhode

Island; and Newark, New Jersey.

ADDITIONAL FINDING

What are the sources of

household income?

In Census 2000, households

reported nearly $6.0 trillion in

income in 1999. A little over 80

percent came from earnings

(wages or salaries and self-employment income) with 74.6 percent

coming from wages and salaries

alone. Property income (interest,

dividends, and rents or royalties)

accounted for 6.8 percent. Social

Security or Railroad Retirement

provided 5.1 percent. Other retirement, survivor, or disability

U.S. Census Bureau 7

AK

-4.0

NY

1.4

PA

6.3

ME

3.0

MA 5.3

CT -0.4

CA

2.2

WY

7.7 RI 0.8

DE 4.7

MD 3.4

DC 0.6

NJ 3.8

MT

10.7

NM

9.2

OR

15.7

MN

17.4

KS

14.7

SD

20.8

ND

14.9

MO

10.9

WA

13.1

FL

8.8

IL

11.3

IN

11.2

WI

14.6 MI

10.9

OH

9.9

IA

15.9

AZ

13.5

NV

10.8

TX

13.9

CO

20.7

UT

19.6

ID

14.6

NE

16.2

OK

9.2

GA

12.7

AR

17.3

AL

11.5

NC

13.3

MS

19.9

LA

14.3

TN

12.9

KY

15.1

VA

7.9

SC

8.8

WV

10.0

Percent change in 

real median income 

(1989 to 1999)

Percent Change in Real Median Household Income 

by State: 1989 to 1999

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3. American FactFinder at 

factfinder.census.gov provides census data and mapping tools.

Figure 4.

(Data based on sample. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, 

nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)

PR 

24.8

HI -1.1

VT

5.7

NH

4.9

15.0 or more increase 

7.8 to 14.9 increase

5.0 to 7.7 increase

0.1 to 4.9 increase

Income declined

 

U.S. percent

7.7
8 U.S. Census Bureau 20.0 or more 16.0 to 19.9 11.0 to 15.9 Less than 11.0 High Income Households: 1999 Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2000 Summary File 3. American FactFinder at factfinder.census.gov provides census data and mapping tools. Percent of households with incomes above the national 80th-percentile by state 25.0 or more 20.0 to 24.9 10.0 to 19.9 5.0 to 9.9 Less than 5.0 U.S. percent 20.0 U.S. percent 20.0 Figure 5. 0 100 Miles 0 100 Miles 0 100 Miles 0 100 Miles Percent of households with incomes above the national 80th-percentile ($79,663) by county (Data based on sample. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf) 
pension income supplied another

5.1 percent. Among the remaining

categories of income asked about

in Census 2000, Supplemental

Security Income accounted for 0.5

percent, public assistance or welfare 0.2 percent, and 1.9 percent

came from all other sources.

ABOUT CENSUS 2000

Why Census 2000 Asked

About Income

The data are used to measure

poverty and allocate federal funds

through allocation formulas for

many government programs. The

questions on income also provide

vital information on general

economic well-being. Specific programs requiring income information include the Community

Reinvestment Act of 1977 and the

Enterprise Zone Development Act.

The Business and Industry

Guaranteed Loan Program and the

Compensatory Education for the

Disadvantaged Program also use

income measures to direct funding.

Accuracy of the Estimates

The data contained in this report

are based on the sample of households who responded to the

Census 2000 long form.

Nationally, approximately 1 out of

every 6 addresses received that

form. As a result, the sample

estimates may differ somewhat

from the 100-percent figures that

would have been obtained if data

had been collected from all housing units, people within those

housing units, and people living in

group quarters using the same

questionnaires, instructions, personnel, and so forth. The sample

estimates also differ from the values that would have been obtained

from different samples of housing

units, people within those housing

units, and people living in group

quarters. The deviation of a sample estimate from the average of

all possible samples is called the

sampling error. 

In addition to the variability that

arises from the sampling procedures, both sample data and 

100-percent data are subject to

nonsampling error. Nonsampling

error may be introduced during any

of the various complex operations

used to collect and process data.

Such errors may include: not enumerating every household or every

person in the population, failing to

obtain all required information from

the respondents, obtaining incorrect

or inconsistent information, and

recording information incorrectly.

In addition, errors can occur during

the field review of the enumerators’

work, during clerical handling of

the census questionnaires, or during the electronic processing of 

the questionnaires.

Nonsampling error may affect the

data in two ways: first, errors that

are introduced randomly will

increase the variability of the data

and, therefore, should be reflected

in the standard errors; and second,

errors that tend to be consistent in

one direction will bias estimates in

that direction. For example, if

respondents consistently tend to

underreport their incomes, then

the resulting estimates of the

U.S. Census Bureau 9

Table 3.

Ten Places of 100,000 or More Population with the Highest

and Lowest Median Household Income: 1999

(Data based on sample. For information on confidentiality protection, sampling error,

nonsampling error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf)

Place

Number of

households

Household income (dollars)

Median

Confidence interval

Lower

bound

Upper

bound

Highest Median Income

Naperville, Illinois.................... 128,300 88,771 87,146 90,396

Plano, Texas. ....................... 222,301 78,722 77,394 80,050

Thousand Oaks, California ........... 116,725 76,815 75,010 78,620

Fremont, California .................. 203,413 76,579 75,286 77,872

Sunnyvale, California ................ 131,905 74,409 73,137 75,681

Irvine, California..................... 143,034 72,057 70,532 73,582

Simi Valley, California . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111,547 70,370 68,949 71,791

San Jose, California ................. 893,889 70,243 69,669 70,817

Santa Clara, California ............... 102,104 69,466 67,994 70,938

Gilbert, Arizona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109,936 68,032 66,905 69,159

Lowest Median Income

Miami, Florida....................... 362,563 23,483 23,085 23,881

Brownsville, Texas. .................. 140,075 24,468 23,812 25,124

Buffalo, New York . . . ................ 292,648 24,536 24,135 24,937

Hartford, Connecticut ................ 121,578 24,820 24,193 25,447

Syracuse, New York . . ............... 147,326 25,000 24,572 25,428

Cleveland, Ohio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 478,393 25,928 25,635 26,221

Waco, Texas........................ 114,032 26,264 25,509 27,019

Birmingham, Alabama. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243,072 26,735 26,284 27,186

Providence, Rhode Island . . . . . . . . . . . . 173,618 26,867 26,227 27,507

Newark, New Jersey................. 273,546 26,913 26,390 27,436

Note: The estimates in this table may vary from actual values due to sampling and nonsampling error. As a result, the median income of a place with a higher rank may not be

statistically different from the median income of a place with a lower rank.

Source: Census 2000 Summary File 3.
number of households or families

in each income category will tend

to be understated for the higher

income categories and overstated

for the lower income categories.

Such biases are not reflected in the

standard errors.

While it is impossible to completely

eliminate error from an operation

as large and complex as the decennial census, the Census Bureau

attempts to control the sources of

such error during the data collection and processing operations.

The primary sources of error and

the programs instituted to control

error in Census 2000 are described

in detail in Summary File 3

Technical Documentation under

Chapter 8, “Accuracy of the Data,”

located at <www.census.gov

/prod/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf>.

All statements in this Census 2000

report have undergone statistical

testing, and all comparisons are

significant at the 90-percent confidence level unless otherwise

noted. The estimates in tables,

maps, and other figures may vary

from actual values due to sampling

and nonsampling errors. As a

result, estimates in one category

may not be significantly different

from estimates assigned to a different category. Further information on the accuracy of the data is

located at <www.census.gov/prod

/cen2000/doc/sf3.pdf>. For further information on the computation and use of standard errors,

contact the Decennial Statistical

Studies Division at 301-763-4242. 

For More Information

Census 2000 Summary Files 3 and

4 data are available from the

American FactFinder on the Internet

<www.factfinder.census.gov>. They

were released on a state-by-state

basis during 2002. For information

on confidentiality protection, nonsampling error, sampling error, and

definitions, also see

<www.census.gov/prod/cen2000

/doc/sf3.pdf> or contact the

Customer Services Center at 

301-763-INFO (4636).

Information on population and

housing topics is presented in the

Census 2000 Brief series, located

on the Census Bureau’s Web site at

<www.census.gov/population

/www/cen2000/briefs.html>. This

series presents information on

race, Hispanic origin, age, sex,

household type, housing tenure,

and social, economic, and housing

characteristics, such as ancestry,

income, and housing costs.

For additional information on the

income of households, families,

and people, including reports and

survey data, visit the Census

Bureau’s Internet site at 

<www.census.gov/hhes/www

/income.html>. To find information about the availability of data

products, including reports, 

CD-ROMs, and DVDs, call the

Customer Services Center at 

301-763-INFO (4636), or visit

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

10 U.S. Census Bureau