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Family Income Advances, Poverty Reduced in 1967 (Preliminary data from March 1968 sample survey)

Report Number P60-55

Family income continued its upward trend in 1967. The estimated median income of families in the United States reached $8,000 for the first time, up by 6 ½ percent from $7,500 the previous year.1 With prices also rising between 1966 and 1967,2 the gain in real purchasing power averaged about 4 percent, in line with the trend of recent years. Even after allowance for changes in consumer prices, family income has risen by 3 ½ to 4 percent in each of the last 4 years.

An estimated 5.3 million families, or 10 ½ percent of the 49.8 million families in the Nation had incomes below the poverty line in 1967. This was 600,000 fewer poor families than in 1966. The decade of the 1960's has witnessed a sizable reduction in the proportion of families living in poverty. The ratio of poor families to all families has been reduced on the average by about one percentage point per year since 1960.

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1 The 1966 and 1967 statistics cited in this report are based an an improved methodology for processing the income data; see explanation an page 2. The figures were obtained from preliminary tabulations of the March 1967 and March 1968 Current Population Survey supplements, and may be revised when final tabulations become available later this year.

2 See Monthly Labor Review, March 1968, U.S. Department of Labor, table D-1, page 167.

A Note on Language

Census statistics date back to 1790 and reflect the growth and change of the United States. Past census reports contain some terms that today’s readers may consider obsolete and inappropriate. As part of our goal to be open and transparent with the public, we are improving access to all Census Bureau original publications and statistics, which serve as a guide to the nation's history.

Page Last Revised - October 8, 2021
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