The Average American: 1967 And Today
Fascinating data points in a Forbes magazine looking at "Mr. And Mrs. Median over the decades."
Median Income (Men)*
1965 $28,599
1975 $33,148
1985
$42,847
1995 $39,186
2005 $41,386
* All figures in 2005 inflation-adjusted dollars, except where noted. Source: Census Bureau
~~~
Median Income (Women)
1965 $9,533 (33% of men)
1975 $12,697 (38% of
men)
1985 $27,720 (65% of men)
1995 $27,990 (71% of
men)
2005 $31.858 (77% of men)
Source:Census Bureau
~~~
Income Share of Middle 60% of Wage Earners
1965 52.3%
1975 52.1%
1985 50.4%
1995
47.6%
2005 46.2%
Source:Census Bureau
~~~
Household Net Worth
1965 $254,740
1975 $268,234
1985
$292,143
1995 $345,321
2005 $465,970
Source: Moody's Economy.com
~~~
Personal Savings Rate
1965 8.5%
1975 10.5%
1985 11%
1995
5%
2005 -0.4%
Source:Commerce Department
~~~
Misery Index (Inflation Plus Unemployment)
1965 6.1%
1975 17.7%
1985 10.7%
1995
8.4%
2005 8.5%
Source: miseryindex.us
~~~
Top Federal Tax Rate
1965 70%
1975 70%
1985 31%
1995
40%
2005 35%
Source:taxpolicycenter.org
~~~
Changes in Purchasing Power
1965 -
1975 10 years: -1.3%
1985 10 years: 0.1% 20
years: -1.2%
1995 10 years: 1.8% 20 years: 1.9% 30 years:
0.6%
2005 10 years: 5.7% 20 years: 8.0% 30 year: 7.5% 40 years:
6.2%
Sources:Census Bureau, miseryindex.us
~~~
Home Ownership Percentage
1965 63%
1975 68%
1985 64%
1995
65%
2005 69%
Source: St. Louis Fed
~~~
Productivity Increases Since 1965
1965 (baseline)
1975 +24%
1985 +42%
1995
+66%
2005 +220%
Sources: Moody's Economy.com
~~~
Percentage of Women in Workforce
1965 34%
1975 39%
1985 44%
1995
46%
2005 46%
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics
~~~
Compensation of CEO of largest U.S. Corporation vs. Median Household
In actual dollars for each year
1965 Frederick Donner/General Motors 3.9 million (med. household
income = 0.2%)
1975 Ken Jamieson/Exxon $469,550 (med. household income
= 3%)
1985 Clifton Garvin/Exxon $1.5 million (med. household income =
2%)
1995 John Smith/General Motors $7 million (med. household income =
0.6%)
2005 Lee Scott/Wal-Mart $19 million (med. household income =
0.2%)
Sources: Census Bureau, General Motors, Exxon Mobil, Wal-Mart
~~~
Compensation of highly paid athlete vs. Median Household
In actual dollars for each year
1965 Joe Namath/football $142,333 (med. household income =
5%)
1975 Pele/soccer $1.5 million (median household income =
0.8%)
1985 Mike Schmidt/baseball $2.1 million (median household income
= 1.1%)
1995 Michael Jordan/basketball $40 million (median household
income = 0.1%)
2005 Tiger Woods/golf $87 million (median household
income = 0.1%)
Sources: Forbes
Source:
The Average American: 1967 And Today
Tom Van Riper,
Forbes10.17.06, 6:00 AM ET
http://tinyurl.com/y9b3og
Wednesday, October 18, 2006 | 03:00 PM | Permalink
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Trends: Some signficant changes: the top federal tax rate in 1975 was 70%; in 2005, it was 35%. The personal savings rate was 10.5% in 1975; in 2005, it was -0.4%. Barry Ritholtz at The Big Picture provides some data points from a Forbes magazine artic... [Read More]
Tracked on Oct 19, 2006 8:59:26 AM
Comments
Pretty astonishing "productivity" gains from '95 (up 65%) to 2005 when we turned into Robbie the Freaking Robot at 220%. Easily the freakiest # in the list and mostly attributable to the rise of the Internets yes?
Posted by: brion | Oct 18, 2006 4:34:45 PM
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