Middlesex County Median Income Increases Slightly, According To US Census Data

The median income in Middlesex County increased about $1,000 per household, U.S. Census data released on Thursday shows.

The 2015 median of $78,643 is up slightly over the 2014 median of $77,682, over $22,127 above the national median.

The increase was not seen equally along racial lines. Latino households saw the greatest increase, up to $57,353 in 2015 from 2014's median of $52,398.

African-American families did not feel the benefit of this average increase at all; instead, they saw their median household income decrease more than $9,000. In 2014, an African-American household has a median income of $70,887; in 2015, that median sank to $61,871.

White families saw a modest increase of $1,337 above 2014's median of $71,620 to a 2015 median of $72,957. Asian households remained virtually unchanged: median income in 2014 was $111,377, and in 2015 it was $111,159, for a slight decrease of $218.

Median household income in the United States in 2015 was $56,516, an increase of 5.2 percent from 2014. The median household income increased in 39 states and the District of Columbia — the highest increase was Montana, with 6.8 percent. Maryland and D.C. have the highest median household incomes at $75,847 and $75,628, respectively. The lowest is Mississippi — at $40,593, it was statistically unchanged from 2014's rate.

No state saw a poverty rate increase, according to Census figures, and nearly half saw poverty rates decrease between 2014 and 2015. Poverty rates in 2015 ranged from a low of 8.2 percent in New Hampshire to a high of 22.0 percent in Mississippi, according to survey numbers.

Some of the highest poverty rates were found in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi and New Mexico. Some of the lowest poverty rates were found in Alaska, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Vermont.

"The American Community Survey allows us to track incremental changes across our nation on how Americans live and work, year­-to­-year," Census Bureau Director John H. Thompson said in a statement. "It helps people, businesses and governments in all of our states and local communities better understand the needs of their populations, the markets in which they operate and the challenges and opportunities they face."

Image via Shutterstock