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Sep 24, 2011

Typical U.S. family got poorer during the past 10 years – USATODAY.com

A typical U.S. family got poorer during the past 10 years in the first decade-long income decline in at least a half-century, new federal data show.

  • People wait in line during a job fair in August at Atlanta Technical College in Atlanta. The weak economy has driven median household income down, hitting poor people and minorities the hardest. The median income for black households fell 3.6% to $32,206 last year.

    By Bob Andres, AP

    People wait in line during a job fair in August at Atlanta Technical College in Atlanta. The weak economy has driven median household income down, hitting poor people and minorities the hardest. The median income for black households fell 3.6% to $32,206 last year.

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By Bob Andres, AP

People wait in line during a job 

Median household income fell 2.3% to $49,445 last year and has dropped 7% since 2000 after adjusting for inflation, the Census Bureau said Tuesday. Income was the lowest since 1996.

Poverty rose, too. The share of people living in poverty hit 15.1%, the highest level since 1993, and 2.6 million more people moved into poverty, the most since Census began keeping track in 1959.


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