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Facts at a Glance: Income remains stagnant in Massachusetts
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Today, the U.S. Census Bureau released its annual updates on poverty, median household incomes, and health insurance coverage in the United States. The Census Bureau’s data suggest that at the 2007 peak of the most recent economic cycle, the median household income in Massachusetts – a common barometer of how the typical household is faring – has not made significant gains over the course of the past year and made only slight gains since the peak of the last economic cycle ending in 2000.
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- Data from the American Community Survey (ACS) indicate that the state’s median household income has increased only modestly since the peak of the previous economic cycle. Since 2000, when median household income was $59,962, the median household income in Massachusetts has risen by about 4 percent, according to the ACS. This suggests that household incomes in Massachusetts, like those nationally, have been slow to recover from the recession of the early part of the decade.
- According to the ACS, the median household income in Massachusetts was $62,365 for 2007, which is not statistically different from the 2006 level of $61,664.
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- For the country as a whole, there was a statistically significant increase in the median household income between 2006 and 2007, from $49,825 to $50,740, according to the ACS. The Census Bureau’s other major survey, the Current Population Survey (CPS), shows that median incomes increased 1.3% (from $49,568 to $50,233) between 2006 and 2007. The differences between ACS and CPS data are due to different sampling methodologies. A more detailed comparison of the two data sets can be found at http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/factsheet081904.html.
- Nationally, median household income remains approximately at the level it was in 2000. While ACS indicates a slight increase in median household income from 2000 to 2007 (from $49,951 to $50,740), according to CPS it has yet to surpass 2000 levels ($50,557 in 2000 compared to $50,233 today).
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- Although the median household income in Massachusetts has grown only slightly over the past few years, it continues to compare favorably to other states. For the 2007 period, Massachusetts had the 7th highest median household income in the country. Only Maryland, New Jersey, Connecticut, Alaska, Hawaii and New Hampshire had higher median household incomes during this period.
