Households Are Getting Richer; Not Stagnating

Read the post by St. Lawrence University Economics Professor Steve Horwitz, "More Evidence That We're All Getting Richer" on The Austrian Economists Blog. (HT: Don Boudreaux).

From 1980 to 2006, the percentage of US households earning $100,000 or more (in constant 2006 dollars) grew from 8.6% to 19.1%. The percentage between $75k and $100K grew from 10.3 to 11.3 percent. At the other end, the percentage under $15K fell from 16.6% to 13.4% and the percentage between $15K and $34K fell from 26.2% to 23.3%. Thus all three categories below $35K fell a total of 6.1 percentage points.

Read the entire blog post here.

Of course, the most recent numbers will show some set back due to the current recession, but Horwitz's numbers show that the long-term trend for the improvement in the standard of living in the US is still positive. Most likely, the US will resume improving the household standard of living once this recession ends.