the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, for the first time since 1999 the median U.S. household earned $61,372 last year, meaning half of the families in the country brought in more income than this and half earned less. Crossing the $61,000 mark signals the American middle-class may have finally earned more than it did in 1999, although the Census Bureau cautions that median income last year was not statistically different from 1999 or 2007.
Middle-class income rose to the highest recorded levels in 2017 and the national poverty rate declined as the benefits of the strong economy lifted the fortunes of more Americans, the U.S. Census reported Wednesday.
Middle-class household income has been rising steadily in recent years as the economy rebounded from the deep recession . After a period of economic stagnation millions of Americans have found jobs again.
Overall, just over half of American adults were in the middle class in 2016. That’s up slightly from 2011, but down from 61% in 1971. The Census Bureau also reported that the U.S. poverty rate declined modestly to 12.3 percent, the lowest level in years and a sign the economic devastation from the Great Recession is subsiding.
