Median Household Income

The vise on the middle class tightened last year, driving down its share of the income pie as the number of Americans in poverty leveled off and the most affluent households saw their portion grow, new census data released Wednesday showed. Income inequality increased by 1.6 percent, the Census Bureau said in its annual report on poverty, income and health insurance. This was the biggest one-year increase in almost two decades and suggested that a trend in place since the late 1970s was picking up steam.

Big business is beginning to move its money around again. In just the past couple of weeks, Comcast has bought the remaining stake in NBC Universal from General Electric. With all that newfound cash, GE is buying back stock and upping its dividends to shareholders . Warren Buffett has bought the world's largest ketchup stash ; US Airways and American Airlines have agreed to merge. Meanwhile, Apple, so far an exception to this rule, is sitting on $137 billion but has been sued by a hedge-fund operator who wants more and...

A collection of high-end outlet stores is slated to land just outside the Capital Beltway as part of a National Harbor deal that will give Washington area shoppers, accustomed to traveling long distances for bargains, a much closer alternative as soon as 2013. Tanger Outlet Center at National Harbor will bring about 80 stores to rapidly growing Prince George's County, where residents have long complained about a dearth of retail options. It will be the latest addition to the still-expanding $4 billion waterfront complex of...

WASHINGTON — The plight of Americans living in poverty has not improved during the last year, according to newly released Census data, and Christian leaders said Wednesday (Sept. 12) that poverty must become a priority for Christians if it is not a priority for Washington. "Across the political and theological spectrum, the faith community is putting aside differences and taking up the biblical vocation of protecting the poor and bringing their stories and struggles to light," said Jim Wallis, president and...

Are American unions history? In the wake of labor's defeated effort to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) last week, both pro - and anti-union pundits have opined that unions are in an all-but- irreversible decline . Privately, a number of my friends and acquaintances in the labor movement have voiced similar sentiments. Most don't think that decline is irreversible but few have any idea how labor would come back. What would America look like without a union movement?

40 million The estimated number of households that have limited or no access to banks or credit. $26,390 The estimated median household income for the unbanked, about half of the national median.

-- Population (2008 estimate): 4,628 -- Households (2000): 1,663 -- Median household income (2007): $35,571 -- Per-capita annual income (1999): $12,704 -- Percentage of people below poverty level (2007): 21 percent SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau

The nation's poverty rate held steady as median household income edged upward and the number of Americans without health insurance decreased by more than 1 million people last year, according to annual census data released today . The Census Bureau report says that 37.3 million people -- or 12.5 percent of the population -- fell below the official federal poverty threshold in 2007, which is not statistically different than the 12.3 percent who...

1 . Today's middle-class Americans are worse off than their parents. The standard of living for Americans in the broad middle of the income ladder — households with incomes higher than the bottom 20 percent and lower than the top 20 percent — hasn't stagnated or worsened in the past generation. It has improved. Analyzing data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, a long-running survey of U.S. households, the Pew Charitable Trusts' Economic Mobility Project found that as of 2000-08, 86 percent of...

The April 14 article " Window on a great divide " ended with the commentary that the average salaries of $26,470 and $26,550 for workers in sporting goods and office supply stores, respectively, "fall short of the median household income in the U.S. in 2010, which was $49,455. " This was misleading, since dividing this amount by 1.95, the mean number of adult residents in a household in 2010, according to the Census Bureau , produces an average salary per adult of $25,361, somewhat lower than the averages cited.

The vise on the middle class tightened last year, driving down its share of the income pie as the number of Americans in poverty leveled off and the most affluent households saw their portion grow, new census data released Wednesday showed. Income inequality increased by 1.6 percent, the Census Bureau said in its annual report on poverty, income and health insurance. This was the biggest one-year increase in almost two decades and suggested that a trend in place since the late 1970s was picking up steam.

1 . Today's middle-class Americans are worse off than their parents. The standard of living for Americans in the broad middle of the income ladder — households with incomes higher than the bottom 20 percent and lower than the top 20 percent — hasn't stagnated or worsened in the past generation. It has improved. Analyzing data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, a long-running survey of U.S. households, the Pew Charitable Trusts' Economic Mobility Project found that as of 2000-08, 86 percent of Americans...

Are American unions history? In the wake of labor's defeated effort to recall Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) last week, both pro - and anti-union pundits have opined that unions are in an all-but- irreversible decline . Privately, a number of my friends and acquaintances in the labor movement have voiced similar sentiments. Most don't think that decline is irreversible but few have any idea how labor would come back. What would America look like without a union movement?

The April 14 article " Window on a great divide " ended with the commentary that the average salaries of $26,470 and $26,550 for workers in sporting goods and office supply stores, respectively, "fall short of the median household income in the U.S. in 2010, which was $49,455. " This was misleading, since dividing this amount by 1.95, the mean number of adult residents in a household in 2010, according to the Census Bureau , produces an average salary per adult of $25,361, somewhat lower than the averages cited.

Andrew Schiff was sitting in traffic in California after giving a speech on gold at an investment conference. He turned off the satellite radio, got out of the car and screamed a profanity. "I'm not Zen at all, and when I'm freaking out about the situation, where I'm stuck like a rat in a trap on a highway with no way to get out, it's very hard," said Schiff, director of marketing for broker-dealer Euro Pacific Capital . Schiff, 46, is facing another kind of jam this year.

A headline on the Jan. 28 Real Estate cover story said, " Tough economic times bring a more streamlined approach to modern era kitchen renovations . " The article features a Southwest D.C. couple who adopted the "smaller is better" approach by spending (only) $35,000 to remodel their kitchen cabinets. Are any other readers as dismayed by this as I am? According to Census Bureau data , the median individual income in the United States for 2010 was $27,344 and the median household income for the same period...

A headline on the Jan. 28 Real Estate cover story said, " Tough economic times bring a more streamlined approach to modern era kitchen renovations . " The article features a Southwest D.C. couple who adopted the "smaller is better" approach by spending (only) $35,000 to remodel their kitchen cabinets. Are any other readers as dismayed by this as I am? According to Census Bureau data , the median individual income in the United States for 2010 was $27,344 and the median household income for the same period was $51,914.

The nation's poverty rate held steady as median household income edged upward last year, according to annual census data released yesterday. The Census Bureau also reported that the number of people without health insurance decreased by more than 1 million people in 2007. About 12.5 percent of the population fell below the official federal poverty threshold of $21,203 for a family of four last year, the census data showed, a figure that was not statistically different than in 2006.

If you want "a little microcosm of Alexandria," you should head to the land between the freeways: Zip code 22304. A decade ago, this West End neighborhood was considered the most diverse Zip code in the country. The 2010 Census rankings on diversity are not out, but "it's still pretty diverse," urban planner Pat Mann said last week in a talk to the Holmes Run Park committee. The news might surprise those who think of Alexandrians as the retirees, yuppies and trust-fund residents who inhabit Old Town, but nearly...

It is the primary liberal argument that America's primary economic problem is growing income inequality. For three decades, in this view, the rich have grown richer while middle-class incomes have stagnated. This emphasis on economic discontents is purposeful. Any political coalition for income redistribution that does not include middle-income voters will fail. So the message has been: Suburbanites of the world, unite. You have nothing to lose but your student loans. The response of many conservatives has been...