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August 4, 2010, Cover Stories, Research

They're Relatively Well-Off

By Kerry Pechter   Sun, Jul 18, 2010

The median annual income for people over age 65 in the United States is only $18,000, including public assistance and financial help from friends and family. The average—skewed upward by the highest incomes—is almost $29,000.

More than half of America’s 37 million elderly, judging by the Census Department’s latest income survey, live on incomes far below the amounts that most of us would consider livable or tolerable or even possible without grim levels of deprivation.  

The median annual income for people over age 65 in the United States is only $18,000, including public assistance and financial help from friends and family. The poorest 20% of the elderly, or more than seven million people, live on less than $9,000 a year. The average elderly income—skewed upward by the highest incomes—is almost $29,000. It ranges from $34,000 (for those ages 65-69) to $21,000 (for those ages 85 and over).

If you live in a suburb of single-family homes, you may rarely encounter the elderly poor at all. If you live or work in a depressed city, or visit a jobless rural area, or pass through towns on certain Native American reservations, or if you work directly with the elderly, you may meet them every day. 


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