Household Income Grows in December

Median household income in December 2015 stood at $57,153, according to Sentier Research—0.7 percent higher than the November median, after adjusting for inflation. The December 2015 median was 4.3 percent higher than the December 2014 median and 10.2 percent above the $51,859 median of August 2011, the low point in Sentier's household income series. 

"There has been a general upward trend in median household income since the post-recession low point reached in August 2011," reports Sentier. Its median household income estimates are derived from the Census Bureau's monthly Current Population Survey. 

Median household income in December 2015 was 2.7 percent higher than the median of June 2009, the end of the Great Recession. It was 0.8 percent higher than the median of December 2007, the start of the Great Recession. It is still 0.4 percent lower than the median of January 2000. The Household Income Index for December 2015 was 99.6 (January 2000 = 100.0).

Source: Sentier Research, Household Income Trends: December 2015