The median income of families in the United States was $6,600 in 1964, according to estimates released today by the Bureau of the Census, Department of Commerce. This was about $320, or 5 percent, higher than in 1963. The gain in real purchasing power between 1963 and 1964 was approximately 4 percent, since prices also rose during this period.¹

An estimated 8.4 million families, or 18 percent of the 47.8 million families in the Nation, received money incomes under $3,000 in 1964. The number of families in this income range declined by approximately 450,000 from the previous year. Another 8.1 million, or 17 percent, received incomes between $3,000 and $5,000 last year; approximately 9.4 million, or 20 percent, had incomes between $5,000 and $7,000; and 11.1 million, or 23 percent, had incomes between $7,000 and $10,000. The remaining 10.8 million families, or 22 percent, received incomes of $10,000 or more.

For men, last year's median income advanced to $4,600, up 3 percent, from the preceding year. The median income of women in 1964 was $1,400, a gain of about $80 over the 1963 median.

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¹ See Monthly Labor Review, February 1965, Vol. 88, No. 2, table D-1, p. 242.