Posted September 16, 2015 at 11:21 am by Elise Gould and Tanyell Cooke

By the Numbers: Income and Poverty, 2014

Key numbers from today’s new Census reports, Income and Poverty in the United States: 2014 and Health Insurance in the United States: 2014. All dollar values are adjusted for inflation (2014 dollars).

Earnings

Median earnings for men working full time fell 0.7 percent from 2000 to 2013. In 2014 men’s earnings fell 0.9 percent, to $50,383.

Median earnings for women working full time rose  5.4 percent from 2000 to 2013. In 2014 women’s earnings rose 0.5 percent, to $39,621.

Median earnings for men working full-time

  • 2014: $50,383
  • 2000–2013: -0.7%
  • 2013–2014: -0.9%

Median earnings for women working full-time

  • 2014: $39,621
  • 2000–2013: 5.4%
  • 2013–2014: 0.5%

Incomes

Median non-elderly household income fell 11.2 percent from 2000 to 2013. In 2014 household income fell 1.3 percent, to $60,462.

Median non-elderly household income

  • 2014: $60,462
  • 2000–2013: -11.2%
  • 2013–2014: -1.3%

Median income for white, non-Hispanic households fell 5.6 percent from 2000 to 2013. In 2014 it fell 1.7 percent, to $60,256.

Median income for African American households fell 13.8 percent from 2000 to 2013. In 2014 it fell 1.4 percent, to $35,398.

Median income for Hispanic households fell 8.7 percent from 2000 to 2013. In 2014 it rose 5.3 percent, to $42,491.

Median white, non-Hispanic household income

  • 2014: $60,256
  • 2000–2013: -5.6%
  • 2013–2014: -1.7%

Median African American household income

  • 2014: $35,398
  • 2000–2013: -13.8%
  • 2013–2014: -1.4%

Median Hispanic household income

  • 2014: $42,491
  • 2000–2013: -8.7%
  • 2013–2014: 5.3%

Poverty

The poverty rate rose 3.2 percentage points between 2000 and 2013. In 2014 it remained unchanged at 14.8 percent.

The child poverty rate rose 3.7 percentage points between 2000 and 2013. In 2014 it fell 0.2 percentage points, to 21.1 percent.

Poverty rate

  • 2014: 14.8%
  • 2000–2013: 3.2 percentage points
  • 2013–2014: 0.0 percentage points

Poverty rate for children

  • 2014: 21.1%
  • 2000–2013: 3.7 percentage points
  • 2013–2014: -0.2 percentage points

The white, non-Hispanic poverty rate rose 2.2 percentage points between 2000 and 2013. In 2014 it rose 0.1 percentage points, to 10.1 percent.

The African American poverty rate rose 4.7 percentage points between 2000 and 2013. In 2014 it rose 1.0 percentage point, to 26.2 percent.

The Hispanic poverty rate rose 2.0 percentage points between 2000 and 2013. In 2014 it fell 1.1 percentage points, to 23.6 percent.

White, non-Hispanic poverty rate

  • 2014: 10.1%
  • 2000–2013: 2.2 percentage points
  • 2013–2014: 0.1 percentage points

African American poverty rate

  • 2014: 26.2%
  • 2000–2013: 4.7 percentage points
  • 2013–2014: 1.0 percentage point

Hispanic poverty rate

  • 2014: 23.6%
  • 2000–2013: 2.0 percentage points
  • 2013–2014: -1.1 percentage points

Health insurance

The number of people without health insurance fell 2.9 percentage points from 2013 to 2014. In 2014, 10.4 percent of the population was uninsured.

Uninsured

  • 2014: 10.4%
  • 2013–2014: -2.9 percentage points

Policy matters

Using the Supplemental Poverty Measure, we can evaluate how government assistance lifts people out of poverty.

Social Security kept 25.9 million people out of poverty in 2014.

Food stamps (SNAP) kept 4.7 million people out of poverty in 2014.

Unemployment insurance kept  just under 1 million people out of poverty in 2014.

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