Statistical Handbook on Consumption and Wealth in the United States

Section B makes the transition from Section A's broadscale macroeconomic investigation to a more tightly focused portrait of personal wealth. The statistics in this section focus at the micro level on personal, family, and household data. The analysis includes information on income, salary, and earnings, on a personal and household basis, along with information on savings and investment. While many of the indicators are aggregated totals, the targeted analysis breaks into detailed categories, in many cases presenting subcategories of income and wealth based on both geographic and demographic variables. Examples of these variables are race and ethnicity, age of householder, size of household, and location of household.

B1. Personal Income Totals and Analysis of Personal Income, Seasonally Adjusted at Annual Rates: The first chart and first two tables represent the total personal income in the United States and analyze the components that make up aggregate personal income from 1996 through 1998. Breaking the data down into such items as wages, rental income, and government transfer payments, the tables allow the user to understand the detailed sources of personal income. Government reporting systems, primarily the U.S. Bureau of the Census, from which much of this data is taken, define personal income as all income to persons less deductions for social insurance. "Persons" include individuals, non-profit organizations serving individuals, private trust funds, and private welfare funds.

B2. Households and Median Income, by Selected Characteristics: The next table and supporting charts represent current information on the median household income in 1997 and 1996, and a reference point in the past ( 1989). Median household income is the income that falls directly in the middle of the spread of household income data; in other words, it represents the midpoint in the full range of reported household incomes. The table shows aggregate totals, along with detailed median information according to several variables, such as type of household, race or ethnic origin of householder, age of householder, and region of household. The supplemental charts show the percent change in real income for these variables over two time spans: 1996-1997 and 1989-1997, the latter giving a broader timeframe to measure the smaller incremental change ( 1996-1997) against.

B3. Analysis of Personal Income and Its Disposition: The next chart and two tables present data detailing the relationship between personal income and disposable income and consumption. On an aggregate basis, it shows both the sources of income and its uses. The tables span eight years, from 1990-1997, giving a picture of the most recent trends in personal income and consumption.

B4. Personal Income, by State: The next three tables present aggregate personal income data on a state- by-state basis from 1990 through 1997. The data in the first table are in current dollars, showing the full effects of inflation, and the data in the next table are in constant dollars, adjusting for the effects of inflation. The last of the three tables in this group shows the percent distribution and average annual change of each state's personal income.

B5. Projections of Personal Income in Constant (1987) Dollars, by State: This table projects personal income data to 2010, using a touchstone of 1993 to give a historical anchor to the projections. It uses constant dollars based on a 1987 valuation.

B6. Personal Income and Expenditures, per Capita, in Current Dollars: This table presents personal income, disposable income, and expenditures per capita, thereby relating total aggregate income and consumption figures to the total population. The per person figures cover the years from 1960 through 1997, providing a picture of long-term trends in the second half of the 20th century. The data are in current dollars and show the full effect of inflation across the decades.

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