March, 2013
PIE TOO SMALL
Statement from Bureau of Economic Analysis, US Department of Commerce on Monday, November 26, 2012:
“Per capita personal income (personal income divided by population) in counties in 2011 ranged from $121,301 in New York County (Manhattan) to $16,752 in Crowley County, Colorado. Of the nation’s 3,113 counties, 609 (19.6 percent) had 2011 per capita personal income levels that exceeded the nation’s average of $41,560.”
Although no one expects or suggests that national income should be divided equally, it is informative to determine what it would mean if it was.
Here is that information:
SIZE OF HOUSEHOLD………… 1
ANNUAL INCOME……………… $41,560
MONTHLY INCOME…………… $ 3,463
SIZE OF HOUSEHOLD………. 2
ANNUAL INCOME……………… $83,120
MONTHLY INCOME…………… $ 6,926
SIZE OF HOUSEHOLD………… 3
ANNUAL INCOME……………… $124,680
MONTHLY INCOME…………… $ 10,390
SIZE OF HOUSEHOLD………… 4
ANNUAL INCOME……………… $168,240
MONTHLY INCOME……………. $ 13,853
Question is: How does your household stack up against these equally divided averages?
A wage worker employed 40 hours a week earning the federal minimum wage gets $15,080 per year.
Before deciding to meet our national debt problems by cutting benefits to the poorest among us, we should consider how rich we truly are.
