Income data for the top metropolitan areas (using 2008 American Community Survey numbers) (living, cost)

[Lifeshadower]

I got this idea for this thread from an other poster, Bunjee

Originally Posted by Bunjee

To be fair to the direction the thread inevitably has flowed, data collected as "information" has no real meaning, by the same token, except that which is applied. What does it mean that in one region two people of different races/ethnicities have a certain probability of meeting? That question is ultimately the purpose of the study, since an index can't stand alone to amorphous end.

As a personal value judgment, diversity is to be celebrated, yeah definitely. I only suggested the study of economic diversity because that would offer an inarguably informative, material finding--not least for C-D purposes. If people in a region of two different economic classes are often found meeting at random then one can assume that certain, some or all economic classes are well settled there, setting any value judgments about livability aside (but incidentally correlating to racial/ethnic diversity too). I Am American And So Can You!

Basically, in this thread, I want to see what the income breakdown of the top metropolitan areas of this country looks like. I'll be looking at five things:
1) Which primary census statistical areas has the highest percentage of low income (below $25,000) households?
2) Which primary census statistical areas has the highest percentage of lower-middle income households? ($25,000-$50,000)
3) Which primary statistical areas has the highest percentage of middle income households? ($50,000-$100,000)
4) Which primary statistical areas has the highest percentage of high-income households? ($100,000+)


All data is from American FactFinder

Here's the top 11 United States primary census areas by population: Table of United States primary census statistical areas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1 New York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA CSA
2 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA CSA
3 Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City, IL-IN-WI CSA
4 Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV CSA
5 Boston-Worcester-Manchester, MA-RI-NH CSA
6 San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA CSA
7 Dallas-Fort Worth, TX CSA
8 Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland, PA-NJ-DE-MD CSA
9 Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, TX CSA
10 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Gainesville, GA-AL CSA
11 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL MSA

Keep in mind, I don't adjust any of these numbers for Cost of Living, but rather raw census data.

1. New York CSA (New York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA CSA - Selected Economic Characteristics: 2006-2008)

Lower Income Households (below $25K): 20.1% of all households
Lower Middle Income Households ($25-50k): 19.4% of all households
Middle Income Households ($50k-$100k): 29.2% of all households
High Income Households ($100k+): 31.3% of all households

2. Los Angeles CSA (Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA CSA - Selected Economic Characteristics: 2006-2008)

Lower Income Households (below $25k): 19.9% of all households
Lower Middle Income Households ($25-$50k): 22.3% of all households
Middle Income Households ($50-$100k): 30.8% of all households
High Income Households ($100k+): 27% of all households


3. Chicago CSA (Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City, IL-IN-WI CSA - Selected Economic Characteristics: 2006-2008)

Lower Income Households (below $25k): 19.5% of all households
Lower Middle Income Households ($25-$50k): 21.7% of all households
Middle Income Households ($50-$100k): 32.6% of all households
High Income Households ($100k+): 26.2% of all households


4. Washington-Baltimore CSA (Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV CSA - Selected Economic Characteristics: 2006-2008)

Lower Income Households (below $25k): 13.4% of all households
Lower Middle Income Households ($25-$50k): 17.8% of all households
Middle Income Households ($50-$100k): 31.4% of all households
High Income Households ($100k+): 37.4% of all households


5. Boston CSA (Boston-Worcester-Manchester, MA-RI-NH CSA - Selected Economic Characteristics: 2006-2008)

Lower Income Households (below $25k): 19.2% of all households
Lower Middle Income Households ($25-$50k): 19.2% of all households
Middle Income Households ($50-$100k): 31.5% of all households
High Income Households ($100k+):30.1% of all households
6. San Jose-San Francisco CSA (San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA CSA - Selected Economic Characteristics: 2006-2008)

Lower Income Households (below $25k): 15.8% of all households
Lower Middle Income Households ($25-$50k): 17.3% of all households
Middle Income Households ($50-$100k): 29.3% of all households
High Income Households ($100k+): 37.6% of all households

7. Dallas CSA (Dallas-Fort Worth, TX CSA - Selected Economic Characteristics: 2006-2008)

Lower Income Households (below $25k): 19.9% of all households
Lower Middle Income Households ($25-$50k): 25% of all households
Middle Income Households ($50-$100k): 31.5% of all households
High Income Households ($100k+): 23.7% of all households

8. Philadelphia CSA (Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland, PA-NJ-DE-MD CSA - Selected Economic Characteristics: 2006-2008)

Lower Income Households (below $25k): 20.7% of all households
Lower Middle Income Households ($25-$50k): 21.6% of all households
Middle Income Households ($50-$100k): 31.4% of all households
High Income Households ($100k+): 26.4% of all households

9. Houston CSA (Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, TX CSA - Selected Economic Characteristics: 2006-2008)

Lower Income Households (below $25k): 21.6% of all households
Lower Middle Income Households ($25-$50k): 24.5% of all households
Middle Income Households ($50-$100k): 30% of all households
High Income Households ($100k+): 24% of all households

10. Atlanta CSA (Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Gainesville, GA-AL CSA - Selected Economic Characteristics: 2006-2008)

Lower Income Households (below $25k): 13.6% of all households
Lower Middle Income Households ($25-$50k): 21.2% of all households
Middle Income Households ($50-$100k): 35% of all households
High Income Households ($100k+): 30.3% of all households

11. Miami MSA (Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL Metro Area - Selected Economic Characteristics: 2006-2008)

Lower Income Households (below $25k): 17.7% of all households
Lower Middle Income Households ($25-$50k): 24.5% of all households
Middle Income Households ($50-$100k): 32.1% of all households
High Income Households ($100k+): 25.6% of all households

List 1: Highest Percentage of Lower Income Households
1. Houston (21.6%)
2. Philadelphia (20.7%)
3. New York (20.1%)
4. TIED-Los Angeles (19.9%)
TIED-Dallas (19.9%)
6. Chicago (19.5%)
7. Boston (19.2%)
8. Miami (17.7%)
9. San Francisco (15.8%)
10. Atlanta (13.6%)
11. Washington (13.4%)

List 2: Highest Percentage of Lower Middle Income Households
1. Dallas (25%)
2. TIED- Miami (24.5%)
TIED- Houston (24.5%)
4. Los Angeles (22.3%)
5. Chicago (21.7%)
6. Philadelphia (21.6%)
7. Atlanta (21.2%)
8. New York (19.4%)
9. Boston (19.2%)
10. Washington (17.8%)
11. San Francisco (17.3%)

List 3: Highest Percentage of Middle Income Households
1. Atlanta (35%)
2. Chicago (32.6%)
3. Miami (32.1%)
4. TIED-Boston (31.5%)
TIED-Dallas (31.5%)
6. TIED- Philadelphia (31.4%)
TIED- Washington (31.4%)
8. Los Angeles (30.8%)
9. Houston (30%)
10. San Francisco (29.3%)
11. New York (29.2%)

List 4: Highest Percentage of High Income Households
1. San Francisco (37.6%)
2. Washington (37.4%)
3. New York (31.4%)
4. Atlanta (30.3%)
5. Boston (30.1%)
6. Los Angeles (27%)
7. Philadelphia (26.4%)
8. Chicago (26.2%)
9. Miami (25.6%)
10. Houston (24%)
11. Dallas (23.7%)

What is clear is that living in a metropolitan area is expensive, because all of these areas have higher median/mean incomes than the US average. It's also clear that there is a near even spread of all income levels across metropolitan areas.

[18Montclair]

Its like ur me.

Only more detailed(and less of homer)

LOL...

[Bunjee]

It is interesting, especially if you follow the links to even tighter breakdowns of income levels. I've been curious about this as we've heard many admonishments about the impossibility of living in a major CSA without an astronomical income, or that only the rich and poor and nothing in-between reside there. My personal experience found that untrue too, and now numbers belie the claim.

OF COURSE...there will be caveats about QOL, the fact that a CSA covers a massive geographic area, etc. Those can be addressed case-by-case moving forward from the basic fact that cities can indeed sustain all income levels, and have to.