Income in America (JRN 203 Project)
Sheldon Krause
TEXT DESCRIPTION: For this project, I decided to use data from the U.S. Census to examine wealth distribution with several different factors in mind - income inequality, race, time, and geography. The pie chart depicts the portion of the population that makes up various income ranges, illustrating how a majority of individuals fall between the $35,000-$149,999 range, while around the same amount make less than $15,000 as those who make above $200,000. The bar chart further examines this upper range by looking at what percent of each Census-designated racial group earns $200,000 or over annually, illustrating the wide gaps between race (obviously there are countless factors at play that go into this dataset, but those are beyond the scope of this assignment). The line chart examines how median income has changed since the late 1960s, and shows that not only have earnings increased due to inflation, but when adjusted to modern dollars also shows that earnings have increased overall. Finally, the map uses data from 2000 about the mean income in each county across the U.S. - darker areas represent higher income, and lighter represent lower. While this map lacks much relevant context, such as population and rural/urban divide, the information displayed conveys important information about income across communities. The link to each intractable graphic is found under each graphic (embedding is a premium feature on Squarespace).
ASF (fast facts):
The most common range of income distribution is $50,000-$74,999, with the last common being $15,000-$24,999.
The race with the highest percent making $200,000 or over are “Asian alone” Americans, while the lowest percent are “Black alone” Americans.
The median annual income in 2019 was $68,703, an increase from $47,938 in equivalent dollars from 1967.
In terms of inflation combined with income change, the 2019 median income of $68,703 increased from $7,143 in 1967.
The highest mean income in a single county in 2000 was Marin County, California, with an average of $108,756.
The lowest mean income in a single county in 2000 was Kalawao County, Hawaii, with an average of $15,174.
The mean county average in 2000 (extrapolated by finding the non-weighted average of each county income, therefore not accounting for population) was $44,936.73.
