The recession has taken a bite out of our paychecks, according to census data. What follows is a snapshot of how our salaries have faired since the Great Recession began about four years ago.
- The average household income dropped 2.3 percent, to $49,445, from 2009 to 2010.
- Since 2007, the year before the Great Recession, median household income has declined 6.4 percent.
- The average household income is 7.1 percent lower than its peak in 1999.
- Median incomes for family and nonfamily households both dropped between 2009 and 2010. For family households, the real median income declined by 1.2 percent to $61,544; for nonfamily households, income declined by 3.9 percent to $29,730.
- White and black households saw their average incomes decline between 2009 and 2010. Asian and Hispanic household incomes held steady.
- Between 2009 and 2010, the median income of native-born households declined, while that of foreign-born households remained about the same.
- Median household incomes held steady in the Northeast, but they dropped between 2009 and 2010 in the Midwest, South, and West.
- Median incomes for men and women over 15 years old who worked full time remained flat. Women continued to earn about 77 percent what men did from 2009 to 2010.
- Since 2007, the number of men working full time dropped by 6.6 million. The number of women working full time dropped by 2.8 million.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
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