Household Income Stable in January 2015

Median household income was stable at $54,332 in January 2015, according to Sentier Research. Although this was $321 greater than the December 2014 median, the difference was not statistically significant after adjusting for inflation. The January 2015 median was 3.4 percent higher than the January 2014 median and 6.3 percent above the $51,126 median of August 2011—the low point in Sentier's household income series. 

"Even though there was not a statistically significant increase in median income between December and January," says Sentier's Gordon Green, "there has been a general upward trend in median income since the low point reached in August 2011." Sentier's median household income estimates are derived from the Census Bureau's monthly Current Population Survey. 

Median household income in January 2015 was 1.0 percent below the median of June 2009, the end of the Great Recession. It was 2.8 percent below the median of December 2007, the start of the Great Recession. It was 3.9 percent below the median of January 2000. The Household Income Index for January 2015 stood at 96.1 (January 2000 = 100.0).

Source: Sentier Research, Household Income Trends: January 2015