What is Merit?

[ucbalumnus]

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@Beliavsky

Median household income includes households with one adult and with retirees. I think it make sense to compare a household with two adults in their early 50s (peak earning years, and a common age for parents of college students) with other households with two middle-aged adults. For that group an income of $140K may not be such a high percentile, although it is still above average.

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<p>According to <a href=“http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/data/historical/household/2011/H10AR_2011.xls[/url]”>http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/data/historical/household/2011/H10AR_2011.xls&lt;/a&gt; , the median income in 2011 for households headed by someone age 45-54 was $63,861. Note that this is down from 1999’s peak of $76,806 in inflation-adjusted dollars.</p>

<p>Someone seems to have made some charts on the subject: [U.S&lt;/a&gt;. Household Incomes By Age Brackets](<a href=“http://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/Household-Incomes-by-Age-Brackets.php]U.S”>http://www.advisorperspectives.com/dshort/updates/Household-Incomes-by-Age-Brackets.php)</p>

<p>But $140,000 or $230,000 is still far above median for this age group.</p>