Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 09:10 pm
The Republican argument that America needs Donald Trump and a GOP controlled Congress was dealt a possible death blow as new Census data revealed that Democrats had delivered the largest median household income increase in 17 years.
According to the Census Bureau:
Estimates released today from the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC) show real median household income in 2015 was $56,516, a 5.2 percent increase from the 2014 median in real terms. This is the largest year-to-year increase since 1997 to 1998 when median household income increased 3.7 percent — making this the largest increase over the past 17 years.
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Median household income in 2015 increased for many different demographic groups, including for Hispanic (6.1 percent), non-Hispanic white (4.4 percent) and black (4.1 percent) households.
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Households across the country experienced growth in median household income, with an increase of 6.4 percent in the West, 5.1 percent in the Midwest, 4.9 percent in the Northeast and 2.9 percent in the South….Further, the increase was experienced by householders in nearly all age groups.
The numbers also suggest that Republican economic policies may not be working at the state and local levels. The income increase was smaller in the Republican-dominated South, and it completely missed the heavily Republican rural areas of the country.
The data raises a chicken and egg question.
Is the slower income increase caused by Republican policies, or is the fact that incomes are lower causing these voters to elect more Republicans? Either way, it is easy to see why the Trump and GOP change argument plays best in the states and regions that aren’t experiencing the same level of economic growth as the rest of the country.
The median household income increase blows the Trump economic change argument to shreds. Republicans may also want to retire the line about electing Hillary Clinton equaling four more years of President Obama, because right now, another four years of the current progress is looking pretty good to most Americans.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
