Inflation Adjusted Household Median Income Up About 17% Since 1975

The U.S. Census Bureau currently publishes household median income and household mean income data from 1975 to 2008.

The U.S. Census Bureau includes the information in "current dollars" (not adjusted for inflation) and "2008 dollars" (adjusted for inflation). Note: data for 2009 has not been published as of yet.

It's interesting to look at the trend of median household income in the United States from 1975 until now.

From 1975 to 2008, you have had multiple wars, multiple recessions, multiple unemployment rate spikes of over 10%, the greatest economic boom in the history of the United States, the greatest real estate boom in the history of the United States, stagflation, multiple presidents, etc. The list goes on and on.

It's interesting to look at, between 1975 and 2008, how the median household income in the United States has fluctuated.

In 1975, the inflation-adjusted median household income in the United States was $42,936.

In 2008, the inflation-adjusted median household income in the United States was $50,303.

That means that, from 1975 until 2008, the median household income in the United States has increased 17%.

When you factor in the 2009 numbers, which will almost certainly dip below the $50,000 mark for the first time since 1997, the percentage is even smaller.

It shouldn't surprise anyone that recessions result in lower median household incomes.

Median household income in the United States dropped in 1979, and continued to trend lower until 1984.

From there, median household income slowly trended higher, only to take a breather in the early '90s (Gulf War, recession).

After that, median household income surged higher, peaking at $52,587 in 1999 (the height of the dot com bubble).

When the dot com bubble popped, median household income numbers dropped in the United States. Couple that with 9/11 and the recession that followed, and median household income numbers dropped for five years straight (2000 to 2004).

In 2007, median household income surged to $52,163 before dropping off a cliff in 2008.

So what can we take from this data? A few things, including:

-median household income numbers are about the same now as they were in 1997

-median household income numbers will very likely continue to trend lower over the next 3-4 years, even though the "Great Recession" has technically come to an end

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

Filed under: General Knowledge