California Residents Saw Income Drop During Pandemic

CALIFORNIA — One major California city saw the nation's largest drop in median household income during the pandemic, according to a new report from the Census Bureau. And overall, the median household income slightly decreased across California in 2021, compared with two years earlier before the start of the pandemic, according to the Census Bureau.

Nationally, median household income remained about the same in 2021 versus pre-pandemic 2019, increasing a meager $78 to $69,717, according to American Community Survey responses. The last time median household income flatlined or went down was in 2013.

At the same time, the so-called “Gini index,” which measures wealth and income inequality, increased by 0.8 percent nationally. The wealth gap also widened in 21 states and the District of Columbia.

Survey responses from 2020 were thrown out of the comparison. Responses were down during pandemic disruptions, and those who did respond had statistically different social, economic and housing situations than those who did not, leading to “unreasonable estimates,” the Census Bureau said.

California's median household income stayed relatively the same with a difference of $341 less in 2021 compared to 2019, following the national trend line.

The median household income in the state was $84,907 in 2021, compared with $85,248 in 2019.
The Gini index in California increased by 1.2 percent.

The Los Angeles metropolitan area mirrored the state's trend, staying relatively the same seeing a less than one percent increase from $82,422 in 2019 to $82,503 in 2021. In the San Diego metro area, income increased by 2.2 percent, with median incomes at $89,005 in 2019 and $91,003 in 2021.

San Francisco saw the biggest decrease in median income of all metro areas in the nation— with a 4.6 percent decrease in median income, seeing $121,551 in 2019 which dropped to $116,005 in 2021.

Notably, the report looked at median rather than average income. The median is the middle point in the data set that includes income distribution above and below it, including those without income.

The Gini index ranges from 0 to 1, with 0 representing perfect equality with a proportional distribution of income, and 1 representing perfect inequality, according to the report.

Some other findings:

• White, Asian and Hispanic households saw the greatest increase in median household income between 2019 and 2021. Income remained about the same in Black households.
• Households headed by people aged 25 to 44 experienced an increase in median household income between 2019 and 2021 while households maintained by householders 65 years and older experienced a decrease.
• The other age groups saw no significant change in median household income.

Read the full report here.