No Surprise: Michigan incomes lag nation; poverty rising

It is going to take years for the Michigan economy to recover. Families are being forced to split up; husbands are going to different states for work and sending the money home.

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WASHINGTON -- Incomes in Michigan continued to lag the nation in 2006, remaining essentially unchanged and continuing the state's slide down national rankings, according to Census Bureau data released today.
Median household income in Michigan last year was an estimated $47,182, virtually unchanged from 2005, according to figures from the American Community Survey. Michigan fell from 22nd to 24th among states.
Nationally, household median income, adjusted for inflation, rose about 1.6 percent last year to $48,200. Michigan saw an estimated dip of about 0.5 percent, within the survey's margin of error.
The survey found a slight increase in the state's poverty rate, from 13.2 percent in 2005 to 13.5 percent this year, though that also was within the survey's margin of error. Another study, also released today by the Census Bureau and using slightly different methodology, found a larger increase in the state's poverty rate, from about 12 percent in 2005 to 13.3 percent in 2006, among the largest increases in the nation.
That second set of data, from the Current Population Survey, found the nation's poverty rate fell substantially for the first time since President Bush took office.


The article can be found at the DetroitNews.