EMBARGOED UNTIL: 9 A.M. EDT, SEPTEMBER 24, 1998 (THURSDAY) Public Information Office CB98-175 301-457-3030/301-457-3670 (fax) 301-457-4067 (TDD) e-mail: pio@census.gov Income and Poverty Information Staff 301-457-3242 Poverty Rate Down, Household Income Up -- Both Return To 1989 Pre-Recession Levels, Census Bureau Reports Three years of positive growth in real median income have restored household income and poverty rates to their 1989 pre-recessionary levels, according to reports released today by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau. (The reports, Money Income in the United States: 1997 and Poverty in the United States: 1997, include data for states and valuation of noncash benefits. These reports are available on our web site at<http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income97.html>for income, and<http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/povty97.html>for poverty.) "Nationwide, the proportion of the population living below the poverty level declined from 13.7 percent in 1996 to 13.3 percent in 1997. The 1997 rate was not statistically different from the pre-recessionary rate in 1989," said Daniel Weinberg, chief of the Census Bureau's Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division. "This decline in the nation's overall poverty rate was mostly caused by declines in poverty experienced by African Americans and Hispanics." To illustrate, the number of poor African Americans dropped by 600,000 to 9.1 million between 1996 and 1997, while their poverty rate fell from 28.4 percent to 26.5 percent. For Hispanics, who may be of any race, the number in poverty declined from 8.7 million to 8.3 million, and their poverty rate dropped from 29.4 percent to 27.1 percent. In both years, the poverty rate for Hispanics did not differ statistically from that of African Americans. Although the poverty rates dropped for African Americans and Hispanics, they remained significantly higher than the rates for Whites (11.0 percent) and for Asians and Pacific Islanders (14.0 percent). Some groups had poverty rates in 1997 that were lower than their adjusted 1989 rate: persons 65 and older; residents of the Midwest and the South; African Americans; married-couple families; African American married-couple families; and African American female householder families. The poverty threshold for a family of four was $16,400 in annual income in 1997; it was $12,802 for a family of three. Between 1996 and 1997, the real, or inflation-adjusted, median income level for the nation's households rose 1.9 percent, from $36,306 to $37,005. In real terms, 1997 median household income is not statistically different from its 1989 pre-recessionary peak ($37,303). Certain subgroups achieved or surpassed their 1989 income levels in real terms in 1997: White households; households maintained by a person 25 to 34; households maintained by a person 65 and over; households outside metropolitan areas; households in the West; family households; and nonfamily households maintained by a woman. Some subgroups that had recently achieved their 1989 pre-recessionary income level in real terms continued to sustain or exceed that level in 1997: African American households; households in the Midwest and the South; those maintained by a person 55 to 64; married-couple households; and family households maintained by a woman with no husband present. Other highlights: Poverty - The number of poor people in the United States in 1997 was 35.6 million, statistically unchanged from 1996. - Based on comparisons of two-year moving averages (1995-96 and 1996-97), the poverty rate dropped in three states (Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina) and increased in two states (Arkansas and New Hampshire). - Using three-year averages (1995-97), state poverty rates ranged from 6.9 percent in New Hampshire to 24.0 percent in New Mexico. - None of the four regions (Northeast, Midwest, South and West) had a statistically significant change in poverty between 1996 and 1997. - Poverty rates in 1997 for all children (19.9 percent), adults ages 18 to 64 (10.9 percent) and people ages 65 and over (10.5 percent) were not statistically different from the previous year's rates. The 1997 poverty rates for the elderly and for those ages 18 to 64 did not differ statistically from each other. - Between 1996 and 1997, there was a decline in both the number of poor families (from 7.7 million to 7.3 million) and the poverty rate for families (from 11.0 percent to 10.3 percent). More than half of the decline in the number of poor families occurred among African American families. - Central cities of metropolitan areas experienced a decline in poverty rate from 19.6 percent in 1996 to 18.8 percent in 1997. Income - Based on comparisons of two-year moving averages (1995-96 and 1996-97), real median household income increased for 12 states (Alabama, Delaware, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia and Washington) and decreased in four states (Hawaii, Iowa, Maine and Wisconsin). - Using a three-year average (1995-97), the median household income for Alaska ($50,829) led all states and the District of Columbia. - All regions, except for the Northeast, experienced a significant increase in real median household income between 1996 and 1997. - This is the fourth consecutive year that family households experienced an annual increase in real median income. The change in nonfamily household income was not statistically significant between 1996 and 1997. Prior to 1997, nonfamily households experienced two years of annual increases in median income. - Between 1996 and 1997, the real median income of family households maintained by a woman with no husband present increased 4.4 percent, while the median income of family households maintained by a man showed no statistically significant change. - The median income of White households in 1997 ($38,972) was 2.5 percent higher than in 1996 in real terms. The median income of African American households in 1997 ($25,050) was up 4.3 percent. There was no statistically significant increase in real median household income for Asian and Pacific Islander households. Households maintained by a person of Hispanic origin ($26,628), experienced an increase of 4.5 percent between 1996 and 1997. (The differences between the 1996 and 1997 percent increases in the medians of White, African American and Hispanic households were not statistically significant.) - In 1997, households located outside metropolitan areas surpassed their pre-recessionary income level by 3.9 percent. Although this is the third consecutive year that households inside metropolitan areas experienced an annual increase in real median household income, their 1997 income remained 1.9 percent lower than their 1989 pre-recessionary level. - Real per capita income increased 3.7 percent between 1996 and 1997, from $18,552 to $19,241. The per capita income of the White population increased 4.1 percent, from $19,621 to $20,425. The Hispanic-origin population, which may include any race, also experienced an increase in per capita income between 1996 and 1997 of 4.8 percent, from $10,279 to $10,773. (Differences between the 1996 and 1997 percent increases in the per capita incomes of the total, White and Hispanic-origin populations were not statistically significant.) - The real median earnings of men and women who worked full time and year-round increased by 2.4 percent and 3.0 percent, respectively. (The difference between the percent increases in the earnings of men and women was not statistically significant.) The last time men experienced an annual increase in median earnings was in 1991. For women, this is the second consecutive year of increases. The female-to-male earnings ratio was 0.74 in 1997, not statistically different from its all-time high. - In addition to the official income and poverty data released today, the Census Bureau also released income and poverty estimates based on 17 other definitions of income. The data are from the March 1998 Current Population Survey. As in all surveys, the data are subject to sampling variability and other sources of error.-X-The Census Bureau pre-eminent collector and provider of timely, relevant and quality data about the people and economy of the United States. In more than 100 surveys annually and 20 censuses a decade, evolving from the first census in 1790, the Census Bureau provides official information about America's people, businesses, industries and institutions.
