The median income of families in the United States was $8,630 In 1968, according to estimates recently released by the Bureau of the Census, Department of Commerce. This was about $660, or 8.3 percent, higher than the 1967 figure of $7,970. The gain in real purchasing power, however, between 1967 and 1968 was only about 4 percent, as prices also rose during this period.¹

An estimated 5.2 million families, or 10.3 percent, of the 50.5 million families in the Nation, received money incomes under $3,000 in 1968. The number of families in this income range declined by approximately 1 million from the previous year. Another 6.1 million, or 12.1 percent, received incomes between $3,000 and $5,000; 7.3 million, or 14.5 percent, had incomes between $5,000 and $7,000; and 11.8 million, or 23.4 percent had incomes between $7,000 and $10,000. The remaining 20.1 million families, or 39.7 percent, received money incomes of $10,000 or more.

In 1968, the median incomes of men and women were about $6,000 and $2,000, respectively. Median earnings of men working year round full time were $7,660 in 1968, while the median earnings of women working year round full time were $4,460.

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¹ See Monthly Labor Review, March 1969, U.S. Department of Labor, table D-1, page 122.