Median Household Income Falls Slightly

Median household income in February 2019 was $63,378, according to Sentier Research. This median is slightly less than the January 2019 record high, after adjusting for inflation. Behind the decline is February's 0.2 percent uptick in the Consumer Price Index. Sentier's estimates are derived from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey and track the economic wellbeing of households on a monthly basis.

The February 2019 median was 1.9 percent higher than the February 2018 median, after adjusting for inflation. It was 15.0 percent higher than the post-Great Recession low reached in June 2011 ($55,134)—a bottom hit two years after the official end of the Great Recession.

Sentier's Household Income Index for February 2019 was 103.9 (January 2000 = 100.0). In other words, after adjusting for inflation, the February 2019 median was just 3.9 percent higher than the median of January 2000—almost two decades ago. To stay on top of these trends, look for the next monthly update from Sentier.

Source: Sentier Research, Household Income Trends: February 2019

How's The American Dream Doing?

Every two years, when the results of the General Social Survey are released, we gain insight into the wellbeing of the American Dream—the promise that hard work and perseverance will lead to a rising standard of living. The GSS has been probing attitudes toward the American Dream since 1987 by asking the public whether it agrees or disagrees with the statement, "The way things are in America, people like me and my family have a good chance of improving our standard of living."

The American Dream is doing better, according to the latest survey. In 2018, 65 percent of the public agreed with the statement, up from 58 percent in 2016 and just 55 percent in 2012. The percentage of Americans who feel that the American Dream is working for them hasn't been above 60 percent since 2006—just before the Great Recession.

"The way things are in America, people like me and my family have a good chance of improving our standard of living" (percent who agree)
2018: 65.3%
2016: 58.1%
2014: 59.4%
2012: 54.8% (low point)
2010: 58.0%
2008: 59.4%
2006: 69.8%

The economic recovery probably has a lot to do with the more optimistic attitude toward economic mobility in the United States. Nearly every demographic segment is feeling better, with especially large leaps between 2016 and 2018 for Boomers (agreement rising from 50 to 60 percent), non-Hispanic Whites (agreement rising from 53 to 65 percent), and residents of the South (agreement rising from 55 to 71 percent).

One demographic segment, however, is not feeling better about the American Dream. Only 55 percent of Blacks in 2018 agreed that they had a good chance of improving their standard of living, down from 63 percent who felt that way in 2016.

Source: Demo Memo analysis of the General Social Survey

Global Warming: 51% Are Concerned Believers

The threat of global warming is making inroads into the consciousness of the American public. In the latest Gallup environmental survey, 51 percent of adults aged 18 or older are what Gallup calls Concerned Believers. Gallup defines this group as "highly worried about global warming, think it will pose a serious threat in their lifetime, believe it's the result of human activity, and think news reports about it are accurate or underestimate the problem." The 51 percent of 2019 is not statistically different from what Gallup has measured in each year since 2016, but it is significantly higher than the level recorded in the years prior to 2016, when it ranged from 33 to 39 percent.

Another 30 percent of Americans are what Gallup calls the Mixed Middle, and 20 percent are Cool Skeptics. The attitudes of Cool Skeptics are the opposite of Concerned Believers. Gallup describes them this way: "They worry little or not at all about global warming, do not think it will pose a serious threat in their lifetime, think it's attributable to natural environmental changes and think the news exaggerates the problem."

Those most likely to be Concerned Believers are women (55 percent), 18-to-29-year-olds (67 percent), college graduates (60 percent), nonwhites (60 percent), and Democrats (77 percent). Those most likely to be Cool Skeptics are men (25 percent), people aged 50 to 64 (26 percent), non-Hispanic Whites (27 percent), and Republicans (52 percent).

Source: Gallup, Americans as Concerned as Ever about Global Warming

How Many Households Have Pets? Now We Know

Pets are a big deal to millions of Americans. The average household spends more on pets than it does on any other entertainment item (pet spending is categorized as entertainment by the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Expenditure Survey). Despite this importance, good data on pet ownership is hard to find. A January article in the Washington Post called the estimates of pet ownership "fuzzy statistics" because they are all over the place, ranging from a low of 49 percent of households (American Housing Survey) to a high of 68 percent of households (American Pet Products Association), according to the Post article.

Now we have a more precise estimate, thanks to the National Opinion Research Center's General Social Survey (GSS). The GSS has been conducted biennially since 1972, but not until 2018 did it ask about pet ownership. The finding: 61 percent of households own pets.

What makes this estimate more accurate than others? The GSS pet estimate is better than the American Housing Survey estimate because the GSS pet module was designed specifically to collect data on pet ownership, asking nearly a dozen questions about pets. In contrast, the American Housing Survey asked only a single question, the purpose of which was to provide information for emergency management—would you need assistance in evacuating or sheltering pets? Respondents could answer yes, no, or no pets. It's no surprise that the resulting estimate lowballed pet ownership in the United States.

The GSS estimate is better than the American Pet Products Association (APPA) estimate because of the stellar methodology of the GSS. Starting with a full probability sample design, the GSS is conducted primarily through in-person interviews and has a response rate of more than 60 percent. In contrast, respondents to the APPA survey are recruited online, an "opt-in" methodology that is likely to oversample pet owners. That explains why the APPA data highballed pet ownership.

Back to the 61 percent. That's the great majority of households, folks. The GSS results show that 24 percent of households have one pet, and 36 percent have two or more...

Households by number of pets
No pets: 39%
1 pet: 24%
2 pets: 14%
3 or more pets: 22%

A substantial 46 percent of households have dogs and 25 percent have cats. A handful of households have birds (4 percent), fish (4 percent), small mammals such as gerbils (4 percent), reptiles (3 percent), and horses (1 percent).

When those living without pets are asked why they have resisted the call of the wild, the single most common reason is that they are too busy (36 percent). Another 20 percent say they simply aren't interested. Allergies or health risks are cited by 13 percent, and residential restrictions prevent 11 percent from becoming pet owners.

Source: Demo Memo analysis of the 2018 General Social Survey

How Does the Public Feel about a Nonwhite Majority?

A shockingly large percentage of the American public does not look favorably on the day when Asians, Blacks, Hispanics, and other minorities will outnumber non-Hispanic Whites—a threshold we may cross in 2045, according to Census Bureau projections. When asked whether a majority nonwhite population will strengthen or weaken American culture, 38 percent of the public says it will weaken American customs and values, according to a Pew Research Center survey of the public's attitudes toward a changing America.

It gets worse. When responses are broken down by race and Hispanic origin. Nearly half of Whites (46 percent) say a majority nonwhite population will weaken American culture. A smaller 18 percent of Blacks and 25 percent of Hispanics agree.

When asked whether having a majority nonwhite population by the year 2050 will be good or bad for the country, 23 percent of total adults say it will be bad. Some are more likely to feel this way than others. Twenty-eight percent of non-Hispanic Whites think it will be bad versus 13 percent of Blacks and 12 percent of Hispanics. Twenty-nine percent of people aged 65 or older say it will be bad versus 15 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds. Thirty-seven percent of Republicans don't like the idea versus 12 percent of Democrats.

The good news in these disturbing findings is that the percentage of Americans who think a majority nonwhite population will be good for the country is larger than the percentage who think it will be bad (35 versus 23 percent). And the percentage who say it will be neither good nor bad (42 percent) is even larger.

Source: Pew Research Center, Looking to the Future, Public Sees an America in Decline on Many Fronts

Shrinking Share of Older Women Live Alone

Nearly 15 percent of women aged 15 or older (14.6 percent) lived by themselves in 2018. This figure has been slowly rising for decades, mostly because of the aging of the population. Older adults are more likely than their younger counterparts to live alone, and as the population ages, lone living is becoming more common overall. But the opposite is true for older women. As death rates for the two biggest killers—heart disease and cancer—have fallen among men, widowhood (and lone living) is being delayed.

Among women aged 65 to 74, the percentage who live alone fell by 7 percentage points between 1990 and 2018—from 33 to 26 percent. Among women aged 75 or older, the decline was nearly 10 percentage points during those years...

Percent of women aged 75 or older who live alone
2018: 44.2
2010: 47.3
2000: 49.4
1990: 54.0

Source: Demo Memo analysis of the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey

Differences in Earnings of Husbands and Wives

How do husbands and wives compare in earnings? Not surprisingly, most husbands earn more. In 2018, the 54 percent majority of husbands earned at least $5,000 more than their wives...

Earnings difference between husbands and wives, 2018
54% of husbands earn at least $5,000 more than their wives
25% of husbands and wives earn within $4,999 of one another
20% of wives earn at least $5,000 more than their husbands

These figures have changed some since 2000. The percentage of husbands who earn at least $5,000 more than their wives fell from 59 percent in 2000 to the 54 percent of today. The percentage of wives who earn at least $5,000 more than their husbands grew from 15 percent in 2000 to the 20 percent of 2018. The 25 percent of husbands and wives who earn within $4,999 of one another in 2018 is almost identical to the 26 percent of 2000.

Source: Demo Memo analysis of the Census Bureau's Families and Living Arrangements 2018

How Was Your Winter?

Colder than normal? Warmer than normal? It's hard to tell.

Gallup asked a nationally representative sample of Americans in early March whether the winter had been warmer or colder than usual. Then it compared their answers to the February 2019 temperature mean and the historic mean (based on 1900 to 2000 NOAA data). Here are the findings by region...

• In the East: It was 4.4 degrees warmer than average in the East. But 34 percent of the region's residents told Gallup it was colder than usual. Another 42 percent said it was about the same. Only 22 percent reported it being warmer than usual.
• In the Midwest: Midwesterners did better. The Midwest was 4.9 degrees colder than average, and 62 percent of residents reported that it was colder than usual. 
• In the South: It was 3.6 degrees warmer than usual in the South, but only 32 percent of residents felt that way. The 43 percent plurality said it was about the same as usual and 23 percent said it was colder than usual.
• In the West: It was cold in the West, with the average February temperature 6.1 degrees below normal. Western residents felt it, with 64 percent reporting a colder than usual winter. 

How good are we at noticing climate change? Gallup's results show that we get it right only about half the time.

Source: Gallup, More Attributing Colder and Warmer Weather to Climate Change than in Past

The Lost Men

The labor force participation rate of prime-age men (25 to 54) has declined over the past few decades. No one is sure why this has happened, although many have tried to explain it. A National Bureau of Economic Research paper by Ariel J. Binder and John Bound offers an intriguing theory.

First, some context. Most of the decline in men's labor force participation has occurred among men without a college degree. To determine why this is, Binder and Bound examined a number of factors such as a decline in wages for less-educated men, the availability of disability benefits, and the rise of mass incarceration. None of these factors alone is enough to explain the decline. So the researchers suggest that the disruption of the marriage market among less-educated men is also at work. "We claim that the prospect of forming and providing for a new family constitutes an important male labor supply incentive." This incentive has disappeared among less-educated men because "fewer men are actively involved in family provision or can expect to be involved in the future. This removes a labor supply incentive."

The researchers provide data that show just how elusive marriage has become for prime age men without a college degree. This is just one set of data points from their research...

Percent of white men aged 25 to 54 with a high school diploma and no further education who are currently married, 1970 and 2015

Currently married	2015	1970
Aged 25 to 34	38%	83%
Aged 35 to 44	58	90
Aged 45 to 54	61	89

The marriage rate among white men aged 25 to 34 with no more than a high school diploma has fallen by a stunning 45 percentage points since 1970. The decline is a steep 28 to 32 percentage points for those aged 35 to 54. While marriage rates have fallen for college-educated men as well, the decline has been much more modest, say the researchers.

Without the pressure to support a family, some men simply drop out of the labor force. How do they survive? A growing share of prime age men without a college degree survive by living with their parents. Here are some stats from the study...

Percent of white men aged 25 to 54 with a high school diploma and no further education who are living with their parents, 1970 and 2015

Live with parents	2015	1970
Aged 25 to 34	25%	10%
Aged 35 to 44	13	4
Aged 45 to 54	9	3

One in four white men aged 25 to 34 with no more than a high school diploma lives with his parents, as do roughly 1 in 10 of his older counterparts. "The possibility of drawing support from one's existing family...creates a feasible labor-force exit," conclude the researchers.

Source: National Bureau of Economic Research, The Declining Labor Market Prospects of Less-Educated Men, NBER Working Paper 25577 ($5)

Many College Students Do Not Earn a Degree

Most high school graduates enroll in college. Many take on student loans to pay for their education. But how successful are they in earning the credentials that will help them boost their earnings for a lifetime? A longitudinal study by the National Center for Education Statistics reveals the not-so-pretty picture.

Through its 2012/17 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study, the NCES tracked first-time students who entered postsecondary institutions in 2011–12 to determine how many had earned an educational credential six years later in 2017. Here are the findings...

Highest educational credential attained by Spring 2017

  8.5% had earned a certificate

10.9% had earned an associate's degree

36.8% had earned a bachelor's degree

43.8% had no educational credential 

  

Among the 44 percent who had yet to earn an educational credential, 28 percent were still in school and 72 percent were no longer enrolled in any institution.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Persistence, Retention, and Attainment of 2011–12 First-time Beginning Postsecondary Students as of Spring 2017

Age at which Americans Will Stop Driving

Most automobile owners in the United States do not plan on giving up driving—ever. Sixty-two percent of the nation's drivers say they will continue to drive for the rest of their life, according to an AARP survey...

"At what age do you think you will stop driving?"
Age 60 to 75: 12%
Aged 76-plus: 24%
Never stop driving: 62%
Refused to answer: 2%

Among drivers who say they will stop driving, the average age at which they will turn in their keys is 78 for both Millennials and Gen Xers. Boomers say they will stop driving at an average age of 82.

Source: AARP, Boomers Going the Distance: 2018 Consumer Insights on the Driving Experience

Dementia: the 3rd Leading Cause of Death?

Dementia is a major cause of death. We know that. The government's mortality reports show Alzheimer's disease to be the 6th leading cause of death in the United States. In 2017, Alzheimer's disease killed 121,000 Americans.

But Alzheimer's disease accounts for only a portion of dementia deaths. A much larger 262,000 people died of dementia in 2017, according to a report by the National Center for Health Statistics. If all types of dementias were considered a single cause of death (as they are in some countries), then dementia would be the third leading cause of death in the United States, following heart disease and cancer.

The NCHS report provides a detailed look at dementia deaths by type. Alzheimer's disease is most common, accounting for 46 percent of dementia deaths in 2017. Vascular dementia deaths are another 6 percent, and other types or unspecified dementias account for the rest. Regardless of the type, all dementias have one thing in common—they are debilitating for the individual and devastating for the family. One table in the report reveals the debilitation and devastation: place of death. Most dementia deaths occur in a nursing home, long-term care facility, or hospice. In other words, most patients and families are unable to deal with the consequences of dementia on their own or at home. Among all deaths in the U.S., just 27 percent occur in a nursing home, long-term care facility, or hospice. Among dementia deaths, the figure is 60 percent.

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, Mortality Data, Dementia Mortality in the United States, 2000–2017

Average Household Spending on Travel Tops $1,800

Americans are spending more on travel than ever before. The average household spent $1,852 on travel in 2017, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Expenditure Survey. This is 7 percent more than it spent in 2007, after adjusting for inflation. A 7 percent increase doesn't sound like much, but consider this: travel spending fell 15 percent between 2007 and 2010, in the aftermath of the Great Recession. Between 2010 and 2017, average household spending on travel grew 26 percent.

Average household spending on travel, 2007 to 2017 (in 2017 dollars)
2017: $1,852
2010: $1,468
2007: $1,735

The single biggest item in the average household's travel budget is lodging, which accounts for 27 percent of total travel spending. Airline fares are second at 24 percent of the budget, and restaurant meals (17 percent) are third. Together, these three items account for two-thirds of household spending on travel. The remaining one-third of the budget is accounted for by a range of items listed here in rank order: recreational expenses on trips, gasoline on trips, alcohol on trips, ship fares, groceries purchased while traveling, local transportation on trips, train fares, luggage, vehicle rentals, parking fees and tolls on trips, and intercity bus fares.

Between 2010 and 2017, average household spending increased on all but two travel budget items, after adjusting for inflation. Average household spending on gasoline fell 18 percent because of lower gas prices. Spending on vehicle rentals fell by a larger 30 percent because of competition from ride-sharing services such as Uber and Lyft.

One of the biggest gains in travel spending was experienced by the category "local transportation on trips," which includes spending on ride-sharing services. Between 2010 and 2017, average household spending on local transportation on trips climbed 45 percent, after adjusting for inflation. In 2010, the average household spent 52 percent more on rented vehicles than on local transportation when traveling. Ride-sharing has reversed this pattern. In 2017, the average household spent 36 percent more on local transportation than on rented vehicles when traveling.

Source: Demo Memo analysis of the Consumer Expenditure Survey

Driving Alone to Work: Top and Bottom Metros

Most Americans drive alone to work, according to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. Nationwide, the percentage of workers aged 16 or older who commute alone in an automobile stood at 76 percent in 2017. The figure varies by metropolitan area.

The five metros with the most lone drivers
The five metropolitan areas with the largest share of lone drivers are all in the South: Dothan, AL (89 percent); Wheeling, WV (89 percent); Owensboro, KY (88 percent); Huntsville, AL (88 percent); and Florence-Muscle Shoals, AL (88 percent). One reason for these above-average figures is a lack of public transportation. The percentage of workers in these metros who use public transportation to get to work ranges from 0.0 to 0.5 percent.

The five metros with the fewest lone drivers
All five metropolitan areas with the smallest share of lone drivers are in the Northeast or West: New York (50 percent); San Francisco (57 percent); Ithaca, NY (58 percent); Boulder, CO (64 percent); and Corvallis, OR (66 percent). In New York and San Francisco, the availability and popularity of public transportation is the biggest factor reducing the percentage of workers who drive alone. In the New York metro, 31 percent of workers commute on public transportation. In San Francisco, the figure is 17 percent. Among metropolitan areas, New York and San Francisco are the ones with the highest use of public transportation.

Driving to work alone is relatively low in the other three metropolitan areas for different reasons.

• Ithaca, NY, distinguishes itself as the metropolitan area with the largest share of workers who walk to work—12.5 percent did so in 2017. Additionally, a relatively large 10 percent of Ithaca workers work at home. 
• Boulder, CO, is the metropolitan area with the largest share of workers who work at home—13.6 percent. Also, Boulder ranks second among metropolitan areas in the percentage of workers who commute to work by bicycle (4.6 percent). 
• Corvallis, OR, is the metropolitan area with the largest share of workers who bicycle to work—6.8 percent in 2017. Additionally, it has a relatively large share of workers who walk to work (7.6 percent) or who work at home (8.7 percent). 

Source: Demo Memo analysis of the 2017 American Community Survey

"No Religious Preference" Now and in Childhood

Only 9 percent of Americans were raised without a religious preference, according to the General Social Survey. But a substantial 22 percent now say they have no religious preference. In each generation, the percentage who currently have no religious preference is at least twice as large as the percentage who were raised without a religious preference...

Percent with no religious preference today (and in childhood)
iGeneration: 28% (11%)
Millennials: 32% (13%)
Gen Xers: 21% (10%)
Boomers: 15% (5%)
Older: 11% (3%)

Note: In 2016 the iGeneration was 18 to 21, Millennials were 22 to 39, Gen Xers were 40 to 51; Baby Boomers were 52 to 70, and older Americans were 71 or older.

Source: Demo Memo analysis of the 2016 General Social Survey

Baby Food Spending Plunges

The ongoing baby bust is being felt in at least one grocery store aisle. Average household spending on baby food fell 64 percent between 2007 (the year births peaked in the U.S.) and 2017, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Expenditure Survey.

Average household spending on baby food (in 2017 dollars)
2017: $18.16
2010: $40.19
2007: $50.05

Beyond the decline in births, the other factor dragging down spending on baby food is the greater propensity of parents to make their own rather than relying on the store bought variety. That helps to explain why spending on baby food fell more than twice as much as spending on infants' clothes during the past decade. Between 2007 and 2017, average household spending on clothes for children under age 2 fell from $110 to $77, after adjusting for inflation—a 30 percent decline.

Source: Demo Memo analysis of the Consumer Expenditure Survey

Slowdown Ahead for College Enrollment

The nation's colleges should prepare for slower growth, according to a new set of projections by the National Center for Education Statistics. Enrollment in post-secondary institutions grew 9 percent between 2007 and 2017. Between 2017 and 2027, the gain should be only 3 percent. Enrollment growth will slow in every age group and for both men and women.

Some enrollment declines are forecast as well. NCES projects enrollment by race and Hispanic origin only for U.S. residents and not for foreign students. Among U.S. residents enrolled in college, NCES projects a decline in non-Hispanic Whites and growth for Asians, Blacks, and Hispanics in the decade ahead...

Percent change in college enrollment of U.S. residents, 2017 to 2027
Asians: 8.7%
Blacks: 5.8%
Hispanics: 13.3%
Non-Hispanic Whites: –6.9%

By 2027, non-Hispanic Whites will account for 48 percent of the nation's college students, down from 53 percent in 2017.

Source: National Center for Education Statistics, Projections of Education Statistics to 2027

Characteristics of Nursing Home Residents

More than 1.3 million Americans lived in the nation's 15,600 nursing homes in 2015–16, according to the National Center for Health Statistics' National Study of Long-Term Care Providers. Despite the aging of the population, the nursing home population is shrinking. There were a larger 1.5 million nursing home residents in 2000 compared to the 1.3 million counted by the latest survey. Here are the characteristics of nursing home residents in 2015–16...

• 65 percent are women
• 84 percent are aged 65 or older, and 65 percent are aged 75 or older
• 75 percent are non-Hispanic White, 14 percent Black, and just 5 percent Hispanic
• 48 percent have been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or another dementia
• 60 percent need help eating, 87 percent need help transferring in and out of a chair or bed, 89 percent need help toileting, and more than 90 percent need help bathing, dressing, and walking
• 62 percent are dependent on Medicaid to pay their nursing home costs

Source: National Center for Health Statistics, Long-Term Care Providers and Services Users in the United States, 2015–2016

Highest Paying Occupation by Education, 2017

Want your children or grandchildren to make a lot of money? The Bureau of Labor Statistics has suggestions for them, depending on how long they want to stay in school. It has identified the occupations with the highest annual wage for each educational attainment category. Not only that, the BLS has projected the number of job openings for those occupations during the 2016 to 2026 time period.

Doctoral or professional degree: Anesthesiologist
Mean annual wage: $265,990
Job openings 2016–26: 1,400

Masters degree: Nurse anesthetist
Median annual wage: $165,120
Job openings 2016–26: 2,800

Bachelor's degree: Chief executive
Median annual wage: $183,270
Job openings 2016–26: 20,000

Associate's degree: Air traffic controller
Median annual wage: $124,540
Job openings 2016–26: 2,400

Postsecondary nondegree award: Electricial repairer, powerhouse, substation, and relay
Median annual wage: $78,140
Job openings 2016–26: 2,100

High school diploma: Nuclear power reactor operator
Median annual wage: $93,370
Job openings 2016–26: 500

No formal educational credential: Mine shuttle car operator
Median annual wage: $56,890
Job openings 2016–26: 100

Note that many of these occupations do not have a lot of openings projected for the decade ahead. Not to worry. The BLS has alternatives. Here are the occupations near (but not at) the top of the pay scale in each educational attainment category that will have the most job openings in the decade ahead, from highest educational attainment to lowest: family practitioner (5,600 openings, $208,560); physician assistant (10,600 openings, $104,860); financial manager (56,900 openings, $125,080); dental hygienist (17,500 openings, $74,070); aircraft mechanic and service technician (10,900 openings, $61,020); detective (7,500 openings, $79,970); service unit operator, oil, gas, and mining (6,400 openings, $48,290).

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, High-Wage Occupations by Typical Entry-Level Education, 2017

First-Time Homebuyer Watch: 4th Quarter 2018

Homeownership rate of householders aged 35 to 39, fourth quarter 2018: 58.9%

After a month's delay because of the government shutdown, the Census Bureau has released the 4th quarter 2018 homeownership statistics. They show an uptick in the homeownership rate of younger adults. The homeownership rate of 35-to-39-year-olds—the nation's first-time home buyers—increased in the fourth quarter of 2018, rising above 58 percent for the first time since 2011. Post Great Recession, the homeownership rate of the age group dipped as low as 54.6 percent in 2015. It peaked at 65.7 percent in 2007. Clearly, there is an upward trend in the homeownership rate of this age group, likely due to the full-employment economy.  

What about their younger counterparts, householders aged 30 to 34, who were once the nation's first-time home buyers? Their homeownership rate rose to 48.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018, up from 47.1 percent a year earlier. Before the Great Recession, 30-to-34-year-olds were the nation's first-time home buyers (defined as the age group in which the homeownership rate first surpasses 50 percent). But their rate fell below 50 percent in 2011 and has been stuck there ever since. With the recent gains, 30-to-34-year-olds may be on their way to reclaiming first-time homebuyer status.


Nationally, the homeownership rate was 64.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018, up from 64.2 percent one year earlier. The difference is not statistically significant.

Source: Census Bureau, Housing Vacancy Survey

Median Household Income Rises in January 2019

Median household income continues to rise, according to Sentier Research, climbing to $63,688 in January 2019. This was 4.6 percent higher than the January 2000 median, after adjusting for inflation. It was the highest median yet measured by Sentier's household income series, which began in January 2000. Sentier's estimates are derived from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey and track the economic wellbeing of households on a monthly basis.

The January 2019 median was 3.0 percent higher than the January 2018 median, after adjusting for inflation. It was 15.7 percent higher than the post-Great Recession low reached in June 2011 ($55,038)—a bottom hit two years after the official end of the Great Recession.

Sentier's Household Income Index in January 2019 was 104.6 (January 2000 = 100.0). To stay on top of these trends, look for the next monthly update from Sentier.

Source: Sentier Research, Household Income Trends: January 2019