Family Income
How has the Family Income Model Changed in the Past Years?
In 2009, the average household income was $49,777, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Although this number was taken during a recession, it is only 4.2% less than the median recession in 2007 (the year before the recession hit) and only 5% less than the family income peak in 1999, which was $52,388.
This tells us that although we are on the end tale of a recession, we can’t expect our family income to miraculously increase. Our family budget and family investments need to be as solid as ever, as do our family expenses, to maintain the lifestyle in which your family lives.
Sometimes discussing the family income can cause fights: you can’t afford that much for the wedding, one spouse wants to stay-at-home, or the budget goes over your income. Fights over the family income are especially prevalent in new families who have recently gotten married and have not discussed how the incomes are to be divided. To learn tips on how to avoid these fights, watch Marriage and Money; have you had the talk yet in our video section.
Family Income Inequalities
According to the U.S. Census Bureau webpage, researchers believe that changes in the labor market and, to a certain extent, household composition affected the long-run increase in income inequality. Wage distribution has become considerably more unequal with workers at the top experiencing real wage gains and those at the bottom with real wage losses.
In addition, changes in the dynamics that make up a family have intensified the family income differences. For example, divorces, marital separations, births out of wedlock, and the increasing age at first marriage have led to a shift away from “the typical family unit” to single-parent families and nonfamily households. This, in turn, effects the amount of family income a family has to live off of.
Median Family Incomes by State
Although the typical family make-up is one factor in how much family income is made, a more prevalent factor is where you live and what you do. Here is a list of the highest and lowest family incomes by state based off a 4-person family:
Highest Average Family Incomes
- Maryland – $101,693
- Connecticut – $101,647
- New Jersey – $99,474
- New Hampshire – $88,538
- Rhode Island – $87,163
- Virginia – $85,586
- Hawaii – $85,190
- Alaska – $84,577
- Delaware – $83,928
- Minnesota – $83,772
Lowest Average Family Incomes
- New Mexico – $52,842
- Arkansas – $53,523
- Mississippi – $54, 812
- West Virginia – $59,307
- Idaho – $60,488
- South Carolina – $62,056
- Tennessee – $62,197
- Alabama – $62,983
- Kentucky – $62,739
- Oklahoma – $63,004
*Puerto Rico – $27,924
These numbers might seem too high to coordinate with the national family income average, but the national number includes every family in the country; these numbers only reflect the average family incomes of 4-person families.
Family Income Trends
A family’s income does go through trends. These trends tend to mirror the dips and rises in the economy, but can also be affected by offramping and onramping, education, career choice and multiple other factors. Try to find your own family’s income trends. Family income trends might be more apparent if you or your spouse works on an hourly rate rather than salary. Take a hard look at your own family income trends and try to budget a plan that could help keep the trends going in a positive direction.
