Adopted, Step, and Biological Children

Adopted children live in the most affluent households. Biological children are the least affluent. A Census Bureau report analyzes the nation's adopted, step, and biological children under age 18 and the characteristics of their parents. These are among the findings...

• Number. Of the nation's 65 million children, 62 million are biological children of the householder, 2.4 million are step children, and 1.6 million are adopted.
• Income. The nation's adopted children live in households with a median income of $73,378. This compares with a smaller median of $64,974 for step children and an even smaller median of $59,905 for biological children. 
• Education. The parents of adopted children are much better educated than other parents. Thirty-nine percent have a bachelor's degree or more education compared with 31 percent of biological parents and just 20 percent of step parents.
• Homeownership. The parents of adopted children are more likely to be homeowners (76 percent) than the parents of step or biological children (61 and 62 percent, respectively).
• Race. The parents of adopted children are more likely than the parents of step or biological children to be of a different race than their child—24 percent versus 13 and 7 percent, respectively.
• Age. The parents of adopted children are older than the parents of step or biological children, with an average age of 44.8 versus 38.5 for step parents and 38.4 for biological parents. 

Source: Census Bureau, Adopted Children and Step Children: 2010