10

From 1980—the year the Consumer Expenditure Survey 

(CE) became a continuous survey—until 2004, no 

procedures were employed to produce estimates for 

sources of income that respondents acknowledged receiving, 

but for which they did not provide values. However, the 

release of 2004 data marked the introduction of imputation 

for missing income responses. With a number of years of 

imputed income data now available, it is possible to evaluate 

the impact and efficacy of imputation by comparing pre- and 

post-imputation estimates of CE income with estimates from 

the Current Population Survey (CPS), a large-scale household 

survey that has employed imputation in producing its income 

estimates for many years. 

Background

Survey managers have applied various methods developed 

by the statistics community for imputing missing income values when survey participants fail to provide a response. The 

choice of an appropriate imputation procedure depends on an 

accurate assessment of the distribution of missing values and 

the relationship of nonresponse to socioeconomic characteristics of the sample population. To the extent the chosen procedure misidentifies the mechanism leading to nonresponse, the 

resulting imputed values will lead to biased and inconsistent 

results when used for analytical purposes.

CE survey managers have been particularly concerned 

about the ramifications of selecting an improper procedure, 

because sampled consumer units (CUs) report expenditure 

data which are expected a priori to be highly correlated with 

income. Consequently, imputation for missing income was 

not done; and CE data releases from 1972 to 2003 instead 

identified sample households as either “complete” or “incomplete” income respondents.7

Given the unique requirements any income imputation 

procedure would have to satisfy, CE and Census staff began 

a systematic search for an appropriate method. While this research continued, changes were made in the collection instruments in 2001 to improve the reporting of income. Bracketing 

questions were added to follow the existing questions, so that 

if a respondent initially refused to report or did not know the 

amount received, the bracket question asked the respondent 

to select a range which best reflected the amount received. 

These bracketed responses added a layer of complexity to the 

task of choosing an imputation method.

Once the research was completed, the method chosen for the 

CE was a regression-based procedure that would preserve both 

means and variances for each source of income. The process 

produces five imputed values for each missing observation. 

The first step is to run a regression to obtain coefficients to 

use in creating imputed values. Random noise is then added to 

each coefficient and the resulting “shocked” coefficient is used 

to estimate an imputed value. Additional noise is added to the 

estimated values to insure that CUs with similar demographic 

characteristics do not receive similar imputed income. 

After the five imputed values are created for each missing

value, an estimate representing the mean of those five values 

is calculated. Reported specific values are retained as is.

If a respondent reports the value falls within a bracket, the 

imputed values must fall within the range defined for that 

bracket. 

In a small number of instances, a CU will report not

receiving income from any source. Since this is extremely unlikely, the income imputation procedure is run for such CUs 

with an additional step. A logistic regression based on the 

characteristics of the CU, such as retirement or student status, 

is run first to impute receipt status (yes or no) for each source 

of income. For those sources of income that a CU is imputed 

to have received, the model is run to produce imputed income 

values.

Data collection

By comparing CE income estimates with another established 

source of income data over a time period covering pre- and 

post-imputation years, one can measure both the impact

of imputation on the relationship of aggregate CE income

to the independent source, and the efficacy and quality

of the imputation method in producing comparable estimates to that source. For this study, CE income data are compared with similar data from the CPS for the years 2002 to 

2007.

Comparisons of mean or aggregate pre-tax income

between the CE and the CPS have been a staple feature of 

Measuring the Impact of Income Imputation in

the Consumer Expenditure Survey: A Multi-year 

Comparison of Income Data with Estimates

from the Current Population Survey

7See Thesia I. Garner and Laura Blanciforti, “Household Income Reporting: 

An Analysis of U. S. Consumer Expenditure Survey Data,” Journal of Official 

Statistics, Vol. 10, No. 1, 1994, pp. 69-91 for more details.
11

BLS publications for almost 20 years.8 These published comparisons were based on CE data before imputation and CPS 

data that included imputed values.

Income estimates for the CE are from the Interview Survey 

component of the survey, while the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC) is the source of comparable CPS 

income data. 

The difference in timing of the collection of income data 

between the CE and the CPS poses challenges in constructing matching time periods for comparison purposes. The 

Interview Survey uses a rotating sample design, whereby 

sample units are being introduced every month. Income 

data are collected during the 2nd and 5th interviews, covering the 12 months prior to the month of interview. Thus, 

a CU undergoing their 2nd interview in June 2009 would 

report wage income received from June 2008 through May 

2009.

The ASEC is conducted annually in March—though a limited number of eligible households are interviewed in February and April—and collects data on the previous calendar 

year’s income from all sources. Households completing the 

ASEC in March 2009 report income for the 2008 calendar 

year. Conducting the ASEC in March is believed to provide 

better income data, because most households would either be 

completing or have just completed preparing tax returns and, 

thus, would be more likely to remember income sources and 

amounts.

While the structure and wording of income questions are 

similar in the CE and the CPS, there are differences that can 

affect the estimates. In the CE, the respondent reports the 

amount received from earned income, Social Security, Railroad Retirement, and Supplemental Security Income for each 

CU member age 14 years and over individually. For each of 

the remaining sources of income, the respondent reports the 

amount received by the consumer unit as a whole. In comparison, for the ASEC, the respondent is directed to report the 

amount received for each source of income by each individual 

household member 15 years or older.

The CE respondent is asked about the amount received 

over the last 12 months for each source of income, with the 

exception of Social Security/Railroad Retirement. As noted 

earlier, if the respondent either refuses or does not know the 

amount received, a card with ranges or brackets of income is 

shown to the respondent who is asked to report which bracket 

best reflects the amount received. In the ASEC, respondents 

are asked to report the amount received over the calendar year. 

Based on the response, they may also be asked for the periodicity of the report (weekly, monthly, etc.).

With respect to the contents of the income questions, in 

general where the Interview Survey questionnaire collects 

data for an income source in one question, the ASEC contains 

multiple questions, each collecting a portion of the data for 

that source. These questions also ask for income data from 

additional sources. For example, the Interview Survey instrument collects pension and annuity income in one question. 

The ASEC does so in three questions. One collects such income resulting from retirement, a second collects such income 

resulting from disability, and the third collects such income 

originating as a survivor’s benefit. Each of these ASEC questions also asks about other sources for retirement, disability, 

and survivor’s benefit income besides pensions and annuities. 

Three sources of income that are exceptions to this general 

rule are: wages and salaries, self-employment income, and interest income.

Comparison of CE and CPS income:

Sources and time Periods

The ASEC is designed to cover the civilian noninstitutional 

population, plus those military personnel who live with at 

least one other civilian adult, on or off base. The CE is also 

designed to represent the civilian noninstitutional population, 

plus a portion of the institutional population.

ASEC income data used in this article are derived from a 

table which CPS produces annually for its internal use. For 

each income source, the table shows the count of persons and 

mean amount of income, in total, by those directly reporting income, and by those for which imputation is done. The 

means and numbers of persons reporting each type of income 

are multiplied together to obtain aggregate income.

The income categories shown here are a subset of the 

categories that can be constructed from the detailed income 

sources reported for the CE and the ASEC. In addition to total 

aggregate income, results are shown for the following categories: wage and salary income; net nonfarm self-employment 

income; Social Security and Railroad Retirement income; 

pensions and annuities; interest; and dividends, rents, royalties, estates and trusts.

As noted earlier, annual estimates of income for the CPS 

match the calendar year, while the annual estimates of income 

for the CE Interview Survey cover the year prior to the month 

of interview. Thus, the creation of an estimator comparable to 

the CPS has to be resolved for CE income. After due consideration, three estimators of CE income were chosen.

The first replicates the method used for producing income 

estimates in CE publications.9

 Annual income reported by 

CUs in their second or fifth interview is divided by 12, thus 

creating a monthly amount, and then assigned to each of the 3 

months covered by the interview. Second-interview income is 

carried forward through the third and fourth interviews until 

income data is collected again at the fifth interview. The annual CE estimate for any calendar year will be calculated from 

all income assigned to that year. 

8See text tables 6 and 7, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1987, Bulletin 2354, 

June 1990; text tables 8 and 9, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1990–91, 

Bulletin 2425, September 1993; text tables 6 and 7, Consumer Expenditure 

Survey, 1992–93, Bulletin 2462, September 1995; text tables 10 and 11, 

Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1994–95, Bulletin 2492, December 1997; 

text tables 8 and 9, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1996–97, Report 935, 

September 1999; text tables 20 and 21, Consumer Expenditure Survey, 1998–

99, Report 955, November 2001; text tables 3–6, Consumer Expenditure 

Survey, 2002–2003, Report 990, March 2006. 9 Ibid.
12

Compared with the CPS estimate, this method creates an 

estimate using a significant amount of income reported from 

an earlier time period. Using 2008 as an example, the first 

month whose interviews would be used in the CE estimate

is February 2008. One-twelfth of the income reported in

that interview would be assigned to January 2008. However, the 12-month reference period for reporting would run

from February 2007 through January 2008, meaning 11 

months of the reference period were outside the calendar year 

of interest.

In fact, the only month whose interviews would span a 

recall period matching the ASEC calendar year is January 

of the following year. (For calendar year 2008, interviews 

conducted in January 2009 would have an annual reference 

period from January 2008 to December 2008.) This forms 

the basis for the second method of calculating CE estimates 

Only 2nd and 5th interviews conducted in January of the following year are used to construct the estimate. While such 

interviews exactly match the period covered by the ASEC, 

the number of interviews is very small at about 1/6th of the 

total number of interviews conducted in any one quarter. 

This would be detrimental to the statistical reliability of the 

estimate, potentially leading to wide annual swings in the 

estimate, particularly for some of the more thinly reported 

categories of income. 

Because of the conceptual attractiveness of the second 

method in matching the ASEC time period, the third method 

for creating CE estimates essentially expands on it. Centering 

on January interviews, this method adds 2nd and 5th interviews conducted between October of the previous year and 

April of the current year, or three months before and after 

January, to expand the number of interviews used to create the 

estimate. For all three methods, weighting adjustments are 

made to insure that the aggregate estimates are representative 

of the entire population. 

Comparison of CE with CPS: Results

Levels and ratios

The impact of imputation in the CE can be seen in text table 

4 that shows aggregate incomes, total and by source, from the 

CE and CPS, along with the ratio of CE to CPS estimates for 

the years 2002–07. The CE did not impute in the first 2 years 

of this period, so the estimates are based on all reported income, regardless of whether the CU was considered a complete or incomplete income respondent.

Imputation significantly raises CE total income, bringing it 

into near equality with CPS estimates. On average, imputation adds about 20 percentage points to the CE/CPS ratio. For 

the pre-imputation years of 2002–-03, the mean CE/CPS ratio 

for total income, taking into account each estimator of CE income, is about 0.75. The average ratio for the post-imputation 

years of 2004–07 rises to about 0.94.

This increase in the ratio for total income is largely driven 

by the increase in wage and salary income after imputation 

was introduced in the CE. Wage and salary income comprises 

about 80 percent of total CE income and 77 percent of total 

CPS income over this period. Before imputation, CE total 

income averages about $1,650 billion less than CPS total 

income, with CE wage and salary income trailing CPS wage 

and salary income by about $1,123 billion. The CE/CPS 

ratio for wage and salary income averages about 0.78. After 

imputation, the gaps between total income and wage and 

salary income in the CE and CPS narrow to an average of 

about $446 billion and $143 billion, respectively. Wage and 

salary income for the CE almost matches the CPS, with an 

average ratio of more than 0.97.

Social Security and Railroad Retirement income is the next 

largest component of total income in the CE and CPS. The 

story here is similar to the one for wage and salary income. 

The mean 2002–03 CE/CPS ratio is just over 0.80 [.8045], 

while the 2004–07 ratio increases to about 0.95.

Imputation in the CE has a larger impact on the CE/CPS 

ratio for nonfarm self-employment income, the third largest 

contributor to total income, than for any other component of 

income. In fact, the ratio rises more than 50 percentage points 

after imputation, going from about 0.63 to about 1.15, making 

it the only source of income for which the CE estimate is, on 

average, higher than the CPS estimate.

Pension and annuity income is the next largest component of total income. Similar to Social Security/Railroad

Retirement income, the CE/CPS ratio rises an almost

equivalent amount after imputation. For 2002–03, the ratio 

averagesjust under 0.81, increasing to slightly under 0.94

for 2004–07.

No other income component represents as much as 2 

percent of total income in the CE. For the CPS, however, 

two categories—interest and dividends, rents, royalties, 

estates and trusts—each make up more than 2 percent of 

total income. As such, the CE/CPS ratios for these items are 

fairly low, and historically have been among the lowest in the 

published tables. While still averaging 42 percent of the CPS 

estimate, the 2007 CE/CPS ratio rose 10 percentage points 

over the average of the previous 3 years. In addition, interest 

income is one of the few components whose CE/CPS ratio 

does not increase appreciably after imputation. The aggregate 

pre-imputation interest income estimate in the CE is about 28 

percent of the CPS estimate. After imputation, the CE interest 

income estimate increases to more than 34 percent of the CPS 

estimate. 

The initial level of the CE/CPS ratio is higher for income from dividends, rents, royalties, estates, and trusts than

for interest income, and imputation has a marked impact on 

the ratio. The ratio for 2002–03 averages midway between 

0.42 and 0.43, and increases to an average of 0.51 after

imputation. 

To complete the picture on the impact of imputation on the 

relationship between CE with CPS estimates, the next section 

looks more closely at the magnitude of imputation as it affects 

the aggregate estimates for total income and each source of 

income over the 2004–07 period where imputation is done for 

both surveys.
13

Text table 4. Aggregate pretax income and ratios for Current Population Survey (CPS) and for three alternative measures of

Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE), by total and source of income, 2002–07

[In billions of dollars]

Year and survey

Total Wage and salary 

income

Nonfarm selfemployment income

Social Security and 

Railroad Retirement 

income

Aggregate CE/CPS

ratio Aggregate CE/CPS

ratio Aggregate CE/CPS

ratio Aggregate CE/CPS

ratio

2002

 CPS............................................. 6,515.7 5,078.4 302.6 389.8

 CE, reference year 2002 ............. 4,629.0 71.0 3,736.3 73.6 197.8 65.4 312.9 80.3

 CE, January 2003........................ 4,858.1 74.6 3,880.9 76.4 204.3 67.5 299.1 76.7

 CE, October 2002 - April 2003..... 4,838.7 74.3 3,890.2 76.6 198.6 65.6 315.9 81.0

2003

 CPS ............................................. 6,707.2 5,157.1 331.6 410.1

 CE, reference year 2003 ............. 5,007.9 74.7 4,042.1 78.4 194.6 58.7 325.4 79.3

 CE, January 2004........................ 5,328.2 79.4 4,295.7 83.3 210.7 63.5 343.8 83.8

 CE, October 2003 - April 2004..... 5,109.5 76.2 4,125.7 80.0 194.3 58.6 334.7 81.6

2004

 CPS ............................................. 6,939.6 5,346.6 321.7 431.8

 CE, reference year 2004 ............. 6,322.2 91.1 5,021.3 93.9 338.4 105.2 400.0 92.6

 CE, January 2005........................ 6,689.9 96.4 5,119.7 95.8 566.6 176.1 431.0 99.8

 CE, October 2004 - April 2005..... 6,636.6 95.6 5,206.3 97.4 435.1 135.2 411.4 95.3

2005

 CPS ............................................. 7,352.4 5,630.6 366.5 449.2

 CE, reference year 2005 ............. 6,872.5 93.5 5,432.6 96.5 430.1 117.4 431.0 96.0

 CE, January 2006........................ 6,872.1 93.5 5,394.3 95.8 558.5 152.4 441.1 98.2

 CE, October 2005 - April 2006..... 6,940.3 94.4 5,522.8 98.1 423.4 115.5 441.9 98.4

2006

 CPS ............................................. 7,800.6 5,967.4 407.7 471.5

 CE, reference year 2006 ............. 7,170.8 91.9 5,718.6 95.8 414.0 101.5 446.0 94.6

 CE, January 2007........................ 7,332.3 94.0 5,994.1 100.4 445.0 109.1 409.1 86.8

 CE, October 2006 - April 2007..... 7,286.8 93.4 5,815.2 97.5 380.1 93.2 452.2 95.9

2007

 CPS ............................................. 8,013.6 6,141.5 390.6 500.2

 CE, reference year 2007 ............. 7,559.1 94.3 6,047.3 98.5 390.8 100.1 464.6 92.9

 CE, January 2008........................ 7,674.0 95.8 6,179.7 100.6 307.2 78.7 462.8 92.5

 CE, October 2007 - April 2008..... 7,610.1 95.0 6,094.2 99.2 369.3 94.6 483.8 96.7
14

Text table 4. Continued—Aggregate pretax income and ratios for Current Population Survey (CPS) and for three alternative 

measures of Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE), by total and source of income, 2002–07 

[In billions of dollars]

Year and survey

Pensions and annuities Interest

Dividends, rents, royalties,

and

estates and trusts

Aggregate CE/CPS

ratio Aggregate CE/CPS

ratio Aggregate CE/CPS

ratio

2002

 CPS................................................ 262.5 145.4 119.7

 CE, reference year 2002 ................ 178.7 68.1 36.9 25.4 50.3 42.1

 CE, January 2003........................... 217.4 82.8 39.8 27.4 48.9 40.9

 CE, October 2002 - April 2003........ 203.4 77.5 41.7 28.7 57.3 47.8

2003

 CPS ................................................ 276.3 148.3 152.4

 CE, reference year 2003 ................ 226.3 81.9 47.9 32.3 60.7 39.8

 CE, January 2004........................... 252.6 91.5 38.2 25.7 63.2 41.5

 CE, October 2003 - April 2004........ 231.8 83.9 43.4 29.2 65.6 43.0

2004

 CPS ................................................ 291.9 163.2 157.0

 CE, reference year 2004 ................ 280.1 96.0 59.0 36.2 85.3 54.3

 CE, January 2005........................... 300.0 102.8 59.0 36.1 50.6 32.2

 CE, October 2004 - April 2005........ 316.3 108.3 49.8 30.5 81.0 51.6

2005

 CPS ................................................ 310.3 186.9 169.8

 CE, reference year 2005 ................ 290.4 93.6 61.9 33.1 99.9 58.8

 CE, January 2006........................... 268.1 86.4 37.6 20.1 45.1 26.6

 CE, October 2005 - April 2006........ 291.1 93.8 61.3 32.8 71.9 42.3

2006

 CPS ................................................ 314.9 229.2 186.7

 CE, reference year 2006 ................ 283.5 90.0 69.7 30.4 106.9 57.3

 CE, January 2007........................... 213.6 67.8 66.8 29.1 80.1 42.9

 CE, October 2006 - April 2007........ 302.6 96.1 85.7 37.4 109.5 58.6

2007

 CPS ................................................ 323.3 242.8 191.0

 CE, reference year 2007 ................ 302.0 93.4 97.0 39.9 112.8 59.1

 CE, January 2008........................... 338.8 104.8 112.6 46.4 137.0 71.7

 CE, October 2007 - April 2008........ 300.1 92.8 94.9 39.1 109.7 57.4
15

The role of imputation

Text table 5 shows the percentage of CE and CPS aggregate 

income for the sources included in text table 4 accounted for 

by imputation for the 4 years imputation has been done in 

the CE. Looking at total income, more than 38 percent of the 

CE aggregate is attributable to imputation compared with over 

32 percent in the CPS. The percentage of imputed income in 

the CE has risen each year since the inception of imputation, 

while the percentage has remained stable in the CPS. Even 

though the CPS aggregates are larger than CE aggregates, 

a difference ranging between $390 and $537 billion, the 

dollar amounts imputed in the CE are uniformly larger than 

the amounts imputed in the CPS. The difference in imputed 

aggregate income has risen from about $35 billion in 2004 to 

about $562 billion in 2007.

As noted earlier, wage and salary income is the predominant 

component of total income, and consequently the contribution 

of imputation to aggregate wage and salary income essentially 

matches the contribution to total income. Imputation is a 

bigger factor in the CE estimates than the CPS estimates, both 

in terms of percentage of the estimate and actual dollar value. 

The percent of CE wage and salary income resulting from 

imputation has risen each year since 2004, going from 37.0 

percent in 2004 to 41.9 percent in 2007. Over the same period, 

imputation accounts for about 30 percent of CPS wage and 

salary income. The amount imputed in the CE exceeds that 

imputed in the CPS by about $220 billion for 2004, rising to 

about $755 billion in 2007.

The two components of total income representing retirement income show remarkably similar patterns with each 

other and in relation to the CPS. Though starting from a lower 

level, the average percentage of imputed income in the CE 

estimates for Social Security and Railroad Retirement income 

and income from pensions and annuities increases each year 

from 2004 to 2007. For Social Security and Railroad Retirement, the percentage goes from 20.2 percent to about 23.6 

percent; for pensions and annuities, the percentage rises from 

18.3 percent in 2004 to 21.8 percent in 2007. Nonresponse 

has been less of an issue for the CE than for the CPS, as on 

average, the CPS imputes 33.6 percent of Social Security and 

Railroad Retirement income and 32.6 percent of income from 

pensions and annuities over the 4 years. With one exception, 

the income directly reported is about $20 billion to $55 billion 

more for Social Security income and $10 billion to $60 billion 

more for income from pensions and annuities in the CE than 

in the CPS.

Over one-half of the CE estimates for nonfarm selfemployment income is derived from imputation. As with 

the sources previously mentioned, the average percentage 

of imputed income rises each year, but there is a sizable 

15-percentage-point increase from 57.5 percent to 72.6 

percent between 2005 and 2007. Imputation in the CPS 

averages 42.7 percent over the 4-year period. The amount 

imputed in the CE estimates is significantly greater than the 

amount imputed in the CPS each year, though somewhat 

paradoxically, the average difference is smallest, at about $92 

billion in 2007, the year in which imputed income comprises 

the largest proportion of the CE estimate.

Interest income and, to a lesser degree, income from 

dividends, rents, royalties, and estates and trusts show sharply 

different response patterns between the CE and the CPS. The 

percentage of imputed income in the CE estimates for this 

category has ranged from 45.8 percent to 58.6 percent. The 

endpoints of the range are from 2004 and 2005, respectively, 

years where the percentage of income imputed in the CE 

estimate derived from January interviews only differed 

considerably from the percentage of income imputed for 

estimates derived by the other two variables. In 2006 and 

2007, all three estimators displayed similar percentages of 

imputed income. The CPS derives an average of 71.9 percent 

of their annual estimates from imputation, and the actual 

dollar amounts imputed dwarf the amounts of imputed interest 

income in the CE by $100 billion to $120 billion.

After averaging about 37 percent from 2004 to 2006, the 

average percentage of imputed income for CE dividends, 

rents, royalties, estates and trusts leaped to over 51 percent 

in 2007. CPS estimates for dividends, rents, royalties, and 

estates and trusts have consisted of a steadily increasing 

percentage of imputed income over the 4-year period, rising 

from 47.9 percent in 2004 to 51.1 percent in 2007, matching 

the CE imputation percentage. In actual dollar amounts, the 

CPS uniformly imputes much higher amounts than the CE; 

on average, $86.8 billion dollars are imputed annually in the 

CPS, compared with $50.4 billion in the CE.
16

Text table 5. Aggregate pretax income and percent distribution, total and by reported and allocated status, by source of

income, Current Population Survey (CPS) and three alternative measures of Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE), 2004–07

[In billions of dollars]

Year, category of income,

and survey Total Reported Percent reported Allocated Percent allocated

2004

 Total aggregate income:

 CPS................................................ 6,939.6 4,603.6 66.3 2,336.0 33.7

 CE, reference year 2004 ................ 6,322.2 3,944.6 62.4 2,377.5 37.6

 CE, January 2005 .......................... 6,689.9 4,318.1 64.5 2,371.7 35.5

 CE, October 2004 - April 2005 ....... 6,636.6 4,274.2 64.4 2,362.3 35.6

 Wage and salary income:

 CPS................................................ 5,346.6 3,672.9 68.7 1,673.8 31.3

 CE, reference year 2004 ................ 5,021.3 3,084.1 61.4 1,937.3 38.6

 CE, January 2005 .......................... 5,119.7 3,251.8 63.5 1,868.0 36.5

 CE, October 2004 - April 2005 ....... 5,206.3 3,331.5 64.0 1,874.8 36.0

 Nonfarm self-employment income:

 CPS................................................ 321.7 183.5 57.0 138.3 43.0

 CE, reference year 2004 ................ 338.4 145.2 42.9 193.3 57.1

 CE, January 2005 .......................... 566.6 261.2 46.1 305.4 53.9

 CE, October 2004 - April 2005 ....... 435.1 179.9 41.3 255.2 58.7

 Social Security and Railroad 

 Retirement income:

 CPS................................................ 431.8 283.1 65.6 148.6 34.4

 CE, reference year 2004 ................ 400.0 312.4 78.1 87.7 21.9

 CE, January 2005 .......................... 431.0 349.6 81.1 81.4 18.9

 CE, October 2004 - April 2005 ....... 411.4 329.9 80.2 81.5 19.8

 Pensions and annuities:

 CPS................................................ 291.9 193.6 66.3 98.4 33.7

 CE, reference year 2004 ................ 280.1 221.4 79.0 58.7 21.0

 CE, January 2005 .......................... 300.0 256.9 85.6 43.1 14.4

 CE, October 2004 - April 2005 ....... 316.3 254.5 80.5 61.8 19.5

 Interest:

 CPS................................................ 163.2 41.3 25.3 121.8 74.7

 CE, reference year 2004 ................ 59.0 27.8 47.0 31.3 53.0

 CE, January 2005 .......................... 59.0 38.8 65.9 20.1 34.1

 CE, October 2004 - April 2005 ....... 49.8 24.7 49.7 25.0 50.3

 Dividends, rents, royalties, and

 estates and trusts:

 CPS................................................ 157.0 81.8 52.1 75.3 47.9

 CE, reference year 2004 ................ 85.3 53.7 62.9 31.6 37.1

 CE, January 2005 .......................... 50.6 34.4 67.9 16.3 32.1

 CE, October 2004 - April 2005 ....... 81.0 48.6 60.0 32.4 40.0

2005

 Total aggregate income:

 CPS................................................ 7,352.2 5,026.8 68.4 2,325.7 31.6

 CE, reference year 2005 ................ 6,872.5 4,322.3 62.9 2,550.1 37.1

 CE, January 2006 .......................... 6,872.1 4,332.7 63.0 2,539.4 37.0

 CE, October 2005 - April 2006 ....... 6,940.3 4,405.6 63.5 2,534.6 36.5

 Wage and salary income:

 CPS................................................ 5,630.6 4,002.1 71.1 1,628.4 28.9

 CE, reference year 2005 ................ 5,432.6 3,376.8 62.2 2,055.8 37.8

 CE, January 2006 .......................... 5,394.3 3,400.0 63.0 1,994.5 37.0

 CE, October 2005 - April 2006 ....... 5,522.8 3,493.0 63.2 2,029.8 36.8
17

Text table 5. Continued—Aggregate pretax income and percent distribution, total and by reported and allocated status, by source of 

income, Current Population Survey (CPS) and three alternative measures of Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE), 2004–07

[In billions of dollars]

Year, category of income,

and survey Total Reported Percent reported Allocated Percent allocated

2005

Nonfarm self-employment income:

 CPS................................................ 366.5 216.4 59.1 150.1 41.0

 CE, reference year 2005 ................ 430.1 187.7 43.6 242.4 56.4

 CE, January 2006 .......................... 558.5 229.6 41.1 328.9 58.9

 CE, October 2005 - April 2006 ....... 423.4 181.0 42.8 242.3 57.2

 Social Security and Railroad

 Retirement income:

 CPS................................................ 449.2 301.8 67.2 147.5 32.8

 CE, reference year 2005 ................ 431.0 341.0 79.1 90.1 20.9

 CE, January 2006 .......................... 441.1 351.8 79.8 89.3 20.2

 CE, October 2005 - April 2006 ....... 441.9 340.3 77.0 101.6 23.0

 Pensions and annuities:

 CPS................................................ 310.3 211.4 68.1 98.8 31.9

 CE, reference year 2005 ................ 290.4 229.5 79.0 60.9 21.0

 CE, January 2006 .......................... 268.1 223.2 83.2 44.9 16.8

 CE, October 2005 - April 2006 ....... 291.1 224.9 77.3 66.2 22.7

 Interest:

 CPS................................................ 186.9 54.8 29.3 132.1 70.7

 CE, reference year 2005 ................ 61.9 29.6 47.8 32.4 52.2

 CE, January 2006 .......................... 37.6 12.7 33.6 25.0 66.4

 CE, October 2005 - April 2006 ....... 61.3 26.1 42.7 35.1 57.3

 Dividends, rents, royalties, and

 estates and trusts:

 CPS................................................ 169.8 87.3 51.4 82.5 48.6

 CE, reference year 2005 ................ 99.9 63.7 63.8 36.2 36.2

 CE, January 2006 .......................... 45.1 22.3 49.5 22.8 50.5

 CE, October 2005 - April 2006 ....... 71.9 45.7 63.6 26.2 36.4

2006

 Total aggregate income:

 CPS................................................ 7,800.6 5,226.9 67.0 2,573.7 33.0

 CE, reference year 2006 ................ 7,170.8 4,354.7 60.7 2,816.2 39.3

 CE, January 2007 .......................... 7,332.3 4,435.1 60.5 2,897.3 39.5

 CE, October 2006 - April 2007 ....... 7,286.8 4,492.4 61.7 2,794.4 38.3

 Wage and salary income:

 CPS................................................ 5,967.4 4,163.5 69.8 1,803.9 30.2

 CE, reference year 2006 ................ 5,718.6 3,447.2 60.3 2,271.5 39.7

 CE, January 2007 .......................... 5,994.1 3,685.0 61.5 2,309.1 38.5

 CE, October 2006 - April 2007 ....... 5,815.2 3,566.6 61.3 2,248.7 38.7

 Nonfarm self-employment income:

 CPS................................................ 407.7 227.3 55.7 180.4 44.2

 CE, reference year 2006 ................ 414.0 144.9 35.0 269.1 65.0

 CE, January 2007 .......................... 445.0 109.7 24.7 335.3 75.3

 CE, October 2006 - April 2007 ....... 380.1 132.8 34.9 247.3 65.1

 Social Security and Railroad

 Retirement income:

 CPS................................................ 471.5 312.7 66.3 158.8 33.7

 CE, reference year 2006 ................ 446.0 345.5 77.5 100.6 22.5

 CE, January 2007 .......................... 409.1 309.2 75.6 99.9 24.4

 CE, October 2006 - April 2007 ....... 452.2 349.9 77.4 102.3 22.6
18

Text table 5. Continued—Aggregate pretax income and percent distribution, total and by reported and allocated status, by source of

income, Current Population Survey (CPS) and three alternative measures of Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE), 2004–07

[In billions of dollars]

Year, category of income,

and survey Total Reported Percent reported Allocated Percent allocated

2006

 Pensions and annuities:

 CPS................................................ 314.9 212.0 67.3 102.9 32.7

 CE, reference year 2006 ................ 283.5 221.1 78.0 62.4 22.0

 CE, January 2007 .......................... 213.6 160.8 75.3 52.9 24.7

 CE, October 2006 - April 2007 ....... 302.6 228.1 75.4 74.5 24.6

 Interest:

 CPS................................................ 229.2 67.0 29.2 162.1 70.7

 CE, reference year 2006 ................ 69.7 31.0 44.5 38.7 55.5

 CE, January 2007 .......................... 66.8 26.9 40.3 39.9 59.7

 CE, October 2006 - April 2007 ....... 85.7 40.8 47.6 44.9 52.4

 Dividends, rents, royalties, and

 estates and trusts:

 CPS................................................ 186.7 94.8 50.8 91.9 49.2

 CE, reference year 2006 ................ 106.9 71.1 66.5 35.8 33.5

 CE, January 2007 .......................... 80.1 57.3 71.6 22.8 28.4

 CE, October 2006 - April 2007 ....... 109.5 67.6 61.7 41.9 38.3

2007

 Total aggregate income:

 CPS................................................ 8,013.6 5,425.3 67.7 2,588.3 32.3

 CE, reference year 2007 ................ 7,559.1 4,505.3 59.6 3,053.8 40.4

 CE, January 2008 .......................... 7,674.0 4,252.7 55.4 3,421.3 44.6

 CE, October 2007 - April 2008 ....... 7,610.1 4,634.0 60.9 2,976.1 39.1

 Wage and salary income:

 CPS................................................ 6,141.5 4,336.8 70.6 1,804.7 29.4

 CE, reference year 2007 ................ 6,047.3 3,590.9 59.4 2,456.4 40.6

 CE, January 2008 .......................... 6,179.7 3,343.8 54.1 2,835.9 45.9

 CE, October 2007 - April 2008 ....... 6,094.2 3,708.2 60.8 2,386.0 39.2

 Nonfarm self-employment income:

 CPS................................................ 390.6 223.9 57.3 166.6 42.7

 CE, reference year 2007 ................ 390.8 116.7 29.9 274.1 70.1

 CE, January 2008 .......................... 307.2 83.7 27.2 223.6 72.8

 CE, October 2007 - April 2008 ....... 369.3 92.2 25.0 277.1 75.0

 Social Security and Railroad

 Retirement income:

 CPS................................................ 500.2 332.8 66.5 167.4 33.5

 CE, reference year 2007 ................ 464.6 352.5 75.9 112.0 24.1

 CE, January 2008 .......................... 462.8 354.3 76.6 108.5 23.4

 CE, October 2007 - April 2008 ....... 483.8 371.4 76.8 112.4 23.2
19

Text table 5. Continued—Aggregate pretax income and percent distribution, total and by reported and allocated status, by source of 

income, Current Population Survey (CPS) and three alternative measures of Consumer Expenditure Survey (CE), 2004–07

[In billions of dollars]

Year, category of income,

and survey Total Reported Percent reported Allocated Percent allocated

2007

 Pensions and annuities:

 CPS................................................ 323.3 219.3 67.8 104.0 32.2

 CE, reference year 2007 ................ 302.0 231.2 76.5 70.9 23.5

 CE, January 2008 .......................... 338.8 266.0 78.5 72.8 21.5

 CE, October 2007 - April 2008 ....... 300.1 239.2 79.7 60.9 20.3

 Interest:

 CPS................................................ 242.8 69.4 28.6 173.5 71.4

 CE, reference year 2007 ................ 97.0 45.6 47.0 51.4 53.0

 CE, January 2008 .......................... 112.6 50.4 44.7 62.2 55.3

 CE, October 2007 - April 2008 ....... 94.9 45.8 48.2 49.1 51.8

 Dividends, rents, royalties, and

 estates and trusts:

 CPS................................................ 191.0 93.4 48.9 97.6 51.1

 CE, reference year 2007 ................ 112.8 63.3 56.1 49.5 43.9

 CE, January 2008 .......................... 137.0 50.4 54.0 86.6 63.2

 CE, October 2007 - April 2008 ....... 109.7 57.9 52.7 51.8 47.3