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I work in Onondaga County. The MHI here is very low, according to the Fed it's $65,500 [1]. But that's household income, which includes families with two earn

I work in Onondaga County. The MHI here is very low, according to the Fed it's $65,500 [1]. But that's household income, which includes families with two earners. So the median income in this county is lower than the livable wage MIT calculates for an individual ($33.75 x 2080 = $70,200). These two things don't seem to line up. We should expect MHI to be greater than living wage - or else we are expecting the median household to be falling behind. Should we conclude that median households are falling behind? [1] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MHINY36067A052NCEN https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MHINY36067A052NCEN

runako 4y ago
> that's household income, which includes families with two earners If you have a "very low" median income that includes families with two earners, then likely there are many single-earner households in that county that are doing far worse. Many will fall below the living wage threshold. > Should we conclude that median households are falling behind? Also, yes.
lotsofpulp 4y ago
>Should we conclude that median households are falling behind? I thought this was the structural change undergirding the changes in US society for many decades now.
ctoth 4y ago
Rather than asking, why not do the math yourself? Since you want to talk about medians, what is the median take-home pay? What is the median rent? What percent of pay should rent be? What is it actually?