The Census Bureau released its annual report on income and poverty today and things are looking up. Median household income rose for the first time since 2007 by 5.2 percent to $56,516. To put this into context, it’s a pretty big increase:
Big increase in median household income in 2015 -- first increase since 2007. pic.twitter.com/gnGwKoyQxb
— Ben Casselman (@bencasselman) September 13, 2016
Poverty also fell for people of all ages and races, the largest overall drop since 1999, and the uninsurance rate, which tracks the number of people without health insurance, fell from 10.4 to 9.1 percent.
Of course, there is still work to do. A large gap remains in household income by race: $62,950 and $36,898 for white and black Americans, respectively. Women still earn less than men. And children are still the poorest demographic, with 19.7 percent living under the poverty line. But for the first year in the post-recession era, it looks like the country as a whole is recovering: good news for both regular Americans and Obama’s legacy.