Useful Stats: State Median Household Income, 2002-2003

Real median household income remained unchanged between 2002 and 2003 at $43,318, according to a report released last week by the U.S. Census Bureau. The report, Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2003, includes data collected from the 2004 Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey.

In conjunction with the report, the 2003 American Community Survey (ACS) also was released. The ACS is the largest household survey in the U.S., having considered 800,000 housing units per year during its 2000-2004 test phase. Similar to the decennial census long form it is designed to replace, the ACS provides information on money income, poverty and other social and economic indicators. ACS data for 2003 are shown for 116 metropolitan areas, 233 counties and 68 cities, all with populations of 250,000 or more.

Rhode Island had the highest percent change in median household income over 2002-2003, at 7.06 percent, based on ACS results. Thirty-five other states experienced positive change in the measure, with Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska rounding out the top five. Alaska, whose median household income declined by 7.14 percent, experienced the sharpest negative change over the two-year period. SSTI has prepared a table showing how all states, the District of Columbia and the U.S., overall, fared in this measure at http://www.ssti.org/Digest/Tables/091304t.htm.

Starting in 2006, the Census Bureau expects data will be available for all areas with populations of 65,000 or more. In addition, by 2010, data will be available down to the census tract and block group levels. The Census Bureau's 2003 report is available at: http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income.html