Income and Poverty in US, 2017 – The official poverty rate decreased by 0.4 percentage points

The U.S. Census Bureau collects data and publishes estimates on income and poverty in order to evaluate national economic trends as well as to understand their impact on the well-being of households, families, and individu-als. This report presents data on income and poverty in the United States based on information collected in the 2018 and earlier Current Population Survey (CPS) Annual Social and Economic Supplements (ASEC) conducted by the Census Bureau.

This report contains two main sec tions, one focuses on income and the other on poverty. Each section presents estimates by characteris- tics such as race, Hispanic origin, nativity, and region. Other topics, such as earnings and family pov- erty rates are included only in the relevant section.

Summary of Findings

• Real median household income increased 1.8 percent between 2016 and 2017.1 This is the third consecutive annual increase in median household income.
• The 2017 real median earnings of all male workers increased 3.0 percent from 2016, while real median earnings for their female counterparts saw no statistically significant change between 2016 and 2017.
• In 2017, the real median earn- ings of men and women work- ing full-time, year-round each decreased from their respective 2016 medians by 1.1 percent.2
• The number of men and women with earnings working full-time, year-round increased by 1.4 million and 1.0 million, respectively, between 2016 and 2017.3
• The official poverty rate decreased by 0.4 percentage points between 2016 and 2017. This is the third consecutive annual decrease in the poverty rate.
• The number of people in pov- erty in 2017 was not statistically different from 2016.
For most demographic groups shown in Table 1, the 2017 median household income estimates were higher or were not statistically different from the 2016 estimates. Householders aged 15 to 24 were the only group to experience a decline in median household income between 2016 and 2017.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story at Income and Poverty in the United States: 2017