The steady growth of the American economy has produced broad gains for the last few years. The 2017 report marked the third straight year that income has increased while poverty has declined. Median household income rose by 1.8 percent in 2017, following gains of 3.2 percent in 2016 and 5.2 percent in 2015. The Census Bureau made significant methodological changes in 2013, complicating comparisons with earlier years, but officials said that the level of median household income in 2017 was roughly the same as in 2007, the last full year before the financial crisis. The Census Bureau reported that 8.8 percent of the population, or 28.5 million people, lacked health insurance for the full year.

Source: New York Times September 12, 2018 14:29 UTC