The U.S. Census Bureau has released the results of the 2009 American Community Survey, which provides data about the nation’s socioeconomic, housing and demographic characteristics. Some of the highlights:
Median Household Income:
· Real median household income in the U.S. fell between 2008 and 2009 – decreasing by 2.9% from $51,726 to $50,221.
· Between 2008 and 2009, real median household income decreased in 34 states and increased in one: North Dakota.
Poverty:
· 31 states saw increases in the number of people living in poverty between 2008 and 2009.
· No state had a statistically significant decline their poverty rate.
Health Insurance:
· Between 2008 and 2009, the percentage of insured children in the U.S. increased from 90.3% to 91.0%, with an additional 1.1 million insured children in 2009. Nevada has the highest percentage of uninsured children, at 18.4%, while Massachusetts had the lowest percentage, at 1.5%.
· Between 2008 and 2009, the percentage of uninsured increased from 14.6% to 15.1%, with 2.2 million more people uninsured in 2009. The percentage of uninsured increased in 26 states, decreased in three states (Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico) and did not change in 22 states.
Industry and Occupation:
· Work hours in the U.S. fell by about 36 minutes per week from 39.0 hours in 2008 to 38.4 hours in 2009.
· Work hours fell in 46 of the 50 most populous U.S. metro areas between 2008 and 2009.
· Self-employed workers experienced a greater reduction in work hours between 2008 and 2009 than workers who worked for an employer.
Journey to Work:
· In 2009, the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island metropolitan area had the highest percentage of workers who commuted by public transportation (30.5%), followed by the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro areas, where 14.6% of workers commuted by public transportation.
