[US] household income rises a bit, but poverty rate maintains its grip

from The San Francisco Chronicle

Median household income rose about 1 percent between 2004 and 2005, but the nation's poverty rate remained unchanged, according to a survey released Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The American Community Survey for 2005, the Census Bureau's new annual demographic study, also estimated that the median income for individuals nationwide dropped -- men's about 1.8 percent and women's about 1.3 percent.

Advocates for the poor were frustrated by the good news-bad news announcement. It's proof that there have been too few gains during a time of economic recovery, said Jean Ross, executive director of the California Budget Project, a nonpartisan policy research group.

"What you'd expect to see during a recovery is poverty going down and income going up. It's disturbing," Ross said. "Corporate profits are up by record levels, but it's not trickling down to working families."

Based on its survey of 800,000 households across the country, the Census Bureau estimates that 37 million people were living in poverty in 2005, or 12.6 percent of Americans. About 13.3 percent of Californians, or 4.7 million, were estimated to be living in poverty in 2005.

The California Budget Project and other watchdog groups pointed out that even though the poverty rates stabilized between 2004 and 2005 -- the headline that the Census Bureau used on its news release Tuesday -- the rate in 2005 was well above 2001's 11.7 percent.

These groups used Tuesday's announcement to complain about federal policies, including tax cuts for the wealthy and Medicaid changes.

"We're seeing a general theme of divergences (between the economic classes), and we can't say the country as a whole is doing better," said Arloc Sherman, a senior researcher with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a think tank.

Tuesday's good news -- that median household income increased from $45,817 in 2004 to $46,326 in 2005 -- raised more questions than it answered about the nation's working population. For California, the figure was $53,629.

How could household income go up and individual income drop? Men's income fell to $41,386 and women's to $31,858.

David Johnson, chief of the Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division of the U.S. Census Bureau, suggested there were more people working per household to make ends meet, but working at individual jobs that pay less.

"It's clear that the income increase that happened in 2005 is attributable to elderly households," Sherman said, because their investments paid off well. But "working-age households saw a decline."

The findings released Tuesday came from the Census Bureau's Current Population Survey, which tracks a panel of households for several years, and its American Community Survey, a new annual survey of 800,000 households.

Other findings include:

-- Nationwide, Asian American households had the highest median income, $61,094, followed by non-Hispanic white households at $50,784, Hispanic households of any race at $35,967, and black households at $30,858.

-- In California, the median household income was $53,629 in 2005. And five California cities were among the 10 wealthiest nationwide: San Jose's median household income was $70,560, San Francisco's $57,496, San Diego's $55,637, Anaheim's $52,158 and Riverside's $50,416.

-- California also was home to seven of the nation's 10 wealthiest suburbs, cities of 65,000 to 249,999 residents, including No. 1 Pleasanton, where the median household income was $101,022, and Newport Beach (Orange County), Livermore, Chino Hills (San Bernardino County), Mission Viejo (Orange County), Thousand Oaks (Ventura County) and Redondo Beach (Los Angeles County).

-- The poorest counties with 250,000 or more people in 2005 were Cameron and Hidalgo counties in Texas, where 41 percent of people live below the federal poverty level, which for a family of four was $19,971.

-- Nearly 18 percent of people in poverty in 2005 were children under 18. That's 12.9 million children.

-- More seniors over 65 were poor in 2005 -- 3.6 million -- than in 2004, when 3.5 million seniors were poor, according to the federal standard.

-- Among the poor in 2005, 43.9 percent were non-Hispanic white, 24.9 percent black, 11.1 Asian American, 21.8 percent Hispanic of any race.
State leads in household income, uninsured

Though median household incomes in the state were higher than the U.S. median in 2005, Californians were more likely to be uninsured.

Percentage of households in poverty, 2005

National average: 12.6%

Highest rate: Mississippi: 21.3%

Lowest rate: New Hampshire, 7.5%

California: 13.3%

Number of people without health insurance, 2005

Nationally: 46.6 million

Most uninsured: California, 7 million

Fewest uninsured: Vermont and D.C., 73,000

Median household income, in thousands of dollars, 2005

National average: $46,326

Highest: N.J., $61,672

Lowest: Mississippi, $32,938

California: $53,629

Source: U.S. Census Bureau estimates

E-mail Ilene Lelchuk at ilelchuk@sfchronicle.com.