More Seattle families earn $200K than those earning less than $50K
Sep 17, 2018, 3:23 PM
(File, Associated Press)
(File, Associated Press)
It can be slightly fatiguing to regularly hear how expensive it is to live in Seattle. But a new Census Bureau statistic is shedding light on the economic landscape and the shifting definition of middle class.
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Married couples with kids in Seattle with an income upwards of $200,000 now outnumber those earning less than $50,000, reports The Seattle Times. This leaves the median income for families at $161,000.
“That definitely makes you feel like you’re on the outside looking in if you’re not making $200,000,” said KIRO Radio’s Drew Barth.
In Seattle proper, approximately 38,000 households (one in four families) cleared an income of $200,000 or higher, whereas 25,000 reported an income of $50,000. Seattle trails only Washington, D.C. and San Francisco for the percentage of families making over $200,000.
On the low end of the spectrum, merely 1.4 percent of Detroit families earned over $200,000.
“I’m a little embarrassed that I get confused with the terms median and mean and average. Not a math guy,” joked co-host Aaron Mason. “There is the idea that these numbers can get a little skewed. Like Michael Jordan and I have an average of three NBA championship rings between the two of us. But to see this disparity written down here is kind of sad.”
Nationally, the median household income was $61,372 in 2017, an increase of 1.8 percent from the 2016 median of $60,309. That’s the third consecutive annual increase in median household income.
