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. 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 household income has been rising steadily in recent years as the economy has rebounded from the deep recession and millions of Americans have found jobs again. 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. Median household income is generally viewed as the best gauge of how a typical middle-class home is faring financially, although the Census Bureau changed how it collects income data in 2013, making it harder to do an “apples-to-apples” comparison of median income last year to median income before the change.

Source: Washington Post September 12, 2018 14:29 UTC