| Online: | |
| Visits: | |
| Stories: |
More Than Half of All Americans Make Under 30,000 Dollars a Year According to a Shocking New Report
We can probably all agree now that the wealth gap in the U.S. has pretty much turned into a gaping abyss. Shutterstock
Wage statistics for 2014, recently released by the Social Security Administration, provide proof to the claim we all feared was true: the middle class is actually disappearing. As the online publication Washington’s Blog notes, 51 percent of U.S. workers made less in 2014 than what is required to support a middle class family, with a monthly salary of 2,500 dollars, before taxes. What’s worse is that as the numbers in the original report are parsed, other stunning facts become clear. For instance the fact that nearly 40 percent of Americans aren’t even making 30,000 dollars but rather are earning closer to 20,000. Or that 70 percent of workers made less than 50,000 dollars in 2014.
All of this just illustrates in vivid detail how far the wealth gap in the U.S. has widened. We’ve gotten to the point where the majority of U.S. citizens are barely making enough to make ends meet, and let’s face it, most aren’t even scraping by.
Michael Snyder explains in his post for Washington’s Blog how these numbers don’t even paint the full picture of income inequality in this country:
The federal poverty level for a family of five is $28,410, and yet almost 40 percent of all American workers do not even bring in $20,000 a year.
If you worked a full-time job at $10 an hour all year long with two weeks off, you would make approximately $20,000. This should tell you something about the quality of the jobs that our economy is producing at this point.
And of course [the numbers in the SSA report] are only for those that are actually working. As I discussed just recently, there are 7.9 million working age Americans that are “officially unemployed” right now and another 94.7 million working age Americans that are considered to be “not in the labor force”. When you add those two numbers together, you get a grand total of 102.6 million working age Americans that do not have a job right now.
Below the SSA report is reprinted in full.
Wage Statistics for 2014
October 27, 2015
The national average wage index (AWI) is based on compensation (wages, tips, and the like) subject to Federal income taxes, as reported by employers on Forms W-2. Beginning with the AWI for 1991, compensation includes contributions to deferred compensation plans, but excludes certain distributions from plans where the distributions are included in the reported compensation subject to income taxes. We call the result of including contributions, and excluding certain distributions, net compensation. The table below summarizes the components of net compensation for 2014.
| Compensation subject to Federal income taxes | $6,797,372,805,419.35 |
| Deferred compensation plan Contributionsa Distributionsb |
+ 255,336,805,992.78 - 2,450,397,767.58 |
| Net compensation | 7,050,259,213,644.55 |
| a Wages on which contributions were paid by 53,592,754 workers. b Distributions, to the extent included in reported wages (see text above), paid to 60,572 workers. |
The “raw” average wage, computed as net compensation divided by the number of wage earners, is $7,050,259,213,644.55 divided by 158,186,786, or $44,569.20. Based on data in the table below, about 67.2 percent of wage earners had net compensation less than or equal to the $44,569.20 raw average wage. By definition, 50 percent of wage earners had net compensation less than or equal to the median wage, which is estimated to be $28,851.21 for 2014.
| Wage earners | Net compensation | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net compensation interval | Number | Cumulative number |
Percent of total |
Aggregate amount | Average amount |
| $0.01 — 4,999.99 | 22,574,440 | 22,574,440 | 14.27075 | $46,647,919,125.68 | $2,066.40 |
| 5,000.00 — 9,999.99 | 13,848,841 | 36,423,281 | 23.02549 | 102,586,913,092.61 | 7,407.62 |
| 10,000.00 — 14,999.99 | 12,329,270 | 48,752,551 | 30.81961 | 153,566,802,438.45 | 12,455.47 |
| 15,000.00 — 19,999.99 | 11,505,776 | 60,258,327 | 38.09315 | 200,878,198,035.07 | 17,458.90 |
| 20,000.00 — 24,999.99 | 10,918,555 | 71,176,882 | 44.99547 | 245,317,570,246.88 | 22,467.95 |
| 25,000.00 — 29,999.99 | 10,192,863 | 81,369,745 | 51.43903 | 279,865,461,187.05 | 27,457.00 |
| 30,000.00 — 34,999.99 | 9,487,840 | 90,857,585 | 57.43690 | 307,828,947,411.16 | 32,444.58 |
| 35,000.00 — 39,999.99 | 8,578,215 | 99,435,800 | 62.85974 | 321,200,755,103.44 | 37,443.78 |
| 40,000.00 — 44,999.99 | 7,553,972 | 106,989,772 | 67.63509 | 320,563,569,965.15 | 42,436.43 |
| 45,000.00 — 49,999.99 | 6,542,882 | 113,532,654 | 71.77126 | 310,391,706,424.23 | 47,439.60 |
| 50,000.00 — 54,999.99 | 5,723,269 | 119,255,923 | 75.38931 | 300,016,377,448.51 | 52,420.46 |
| 55,000.00 — 59,999.99 | 4,846,517 | 124,102,440 | 78.45310 | 278,354,367,841.41 | 57,433.90 |
| 60,000.00 — 64,999.99 | 4,201,232 | 128,303,672 | 81.10897 | 262,203,932,128.68 | 62,411.20 |
| 65,000.00 — 69,999.99 | 3,573,471 | 131,877,143 | 83.36799 | 240,948,179,180.40 | 67,426.93 |
| 70,000.00 — 74,999.99 | 3,094,739 | 134,971,882 | 85.32437 | 224,145,278,103.36 | 72,427.85 |
| 75,000.00 — 79,999.99 | 2,684,481 | 137,656,363 | 87.02140 | 207,853,372,824.62 | 77,427.77 |
| 80,000.00 — 84,999.99 | 2,297,338 | 139,953,701 | 88.47370 | 189,370,862,869.17 | 82,430.56 |
| 85,000.00 — 89,999.99 | 1,975,400 | 141,929,101 | 89.72248 | 172,719,042,418.70 | 87,434.97 |
| 90,000.00 — 94,999.99 | 1,714,370 | 143,643,471 | 90.80624 | 158,442,931,588.44 | 92,420.50 |
| 95,000.00 — 99,999.99 | 1,486,636 | 145,130,107 | 91.74604 | 144,858,203,365.61 | 97,440.26 |
| 100,000.00 — 104,999.99 | 1,309,068 | 146,439,175 | 92.57358 | 134,083,282,259.67 | 102,426.52 |
| 105,000.00 — 109,999.99 | 1,117,128 | 147,556,303 | 93.27979 | 120,020,513,136.11 | 107,436.67 |
| 110,000.00 — 114,999.99 | 977,055 | 148,533,358 | 93.89745 | 109,855,105,705.14 | 112,434.93 |
| 115,000.00 — 119,999.99 | 865,889 | 149,399,247 | 94.44483 | 101,693,061,676.62 | 117,443.53 |
| 120,000.00 — 124,999.99 | 773,339 | 150,172,586 | 94.93371 | 94,660,281,091.31 | 122,404.64 |
| 125,000.00 — 129,999.99 | 673,971 | 150,846,557 | 95.35977 | 85,886,152,964.93 | 127,433.01 |
| 130,000.00 — 134,999.99 | 595,827 | 151,442,384 | 95.73643 | 78,899,843,713.01 | 132,420.73 |
| 135,000.00 — 139,999.99 | 527,341 | 151,969,725 | 96.06980 | 72,476,546,845.30 | 137,437.72 |
| 140,000.00 — 144,999.99 | 466,992 | 152,436,717 | 96.36501 | 66,519,743,635.12 | 142,443.00 |
| 145,000.00 — 149,999.99 | 419,003 | 152,855,720 | 96.62989 | 61,787,674,520.19 | 147,463.56 |
| 150,000.00 — 154,999.99 | 384,581 | 153,240,301 | 96.87301 | 58,607,775,121.57 | 152,393.84 |
| 155,000.00 — 159,999.99 | 335,391 | 153,575,692 | 97.08503 | 52,801,735,517.69 | 157,433.37 |
| 160,000.00 — 164,999.99 | 296,048 | 153,871,740 | 97.27218 | 48,087,213,596.86 | 162,430.46 |
| 165,000.00 — 169,999.99 | 265,309 | 154,137,049 | 97.43990 | 44,426,198,104.69 | 167,450.78 |
| 170,000.00 — 174,999.99 | 239,515 | 154,376,564 | 97.59131 | 41,304,379,348.95 | 172,450.07 |
| 175,000.00 — 179,999.99 | 216,255 | 154,592,819 | 97.72802 | 38,370,042,895.27 | 177,429.62 |
| 180,000.00 — 184,999.99 | 200,592 | 154,793,411 | 97.85483 | 36,588,064,085.78 | 182,400.42 |
| 185,000.00 — 189,999.99 | 179,005 | 154,972,416 | 97.96799 | 33,554,727,208.93 | 187,451.34 |
| 190,000.00 — 194,999.99 | 165,277 | 155,137,693 | 98.07247 | 31,807,897,759.84 | 192,452.05 |
| 195,000.00 — 199,999.99 | 154,070 | 155,291,763 | 98.16987 | 30,425,466,536.83 | 197,478.20 |
| 200,000.00 — 249,999.99 | 1,039,897 | 156,331,660 | 98.82726 | 230,863,458,226.21 | 222,006.08 |
| 250,000.00 — 299,999.99 | 565,105 | 156,896,765 | 99.18450 | 153,945,762,663.99 | 272,419.75 |
| 300,000.00 — 349,999.99 | 333,584 | 157,230,349 | 99.39537 | 107,708,119,615.81 | 322,881.55 |
| 350,000.00 — 399,999.99 | 219,923 | 157,450,272 | 99.53440 | 82,117,070,706.61 | 373,390.10 |
| 400,000.00 — 449,999.99 | 151,162 | 157,601,434 | 99.62996 | 63,997,346,472.50 | 423,369.28 |
| 450,000.00 — 499,999.99 | 108,881 | 157,710,315 | 99.69879 | 51,583,042,398.64 | 473,756.14 |
| 500,000.00 — 999,999.99 | 345,935 | 158,056,250 | 99.91748 | 230,331,407,862.96 | 665,822.79 |
| 1,000,000.00 — 1,499,999.99 | 65,548 | 158,121,798 | 99.95892 | 78,672,933,288.58 | 1,200,233.92 |
| 1,500,000.00 — 1,999,999.99 | 24,140 | 158,145,938 | 99.97418 | 41,431,838,733.52 | 1,716,314.78 |
| 2,000,000.00 — 2,499,999.99 | 12,137 | 158,158,075 | 99.98185 | 26,997,226,154.27 | 2,224,373.91 |
| 2,500,000.00 — 2,999,999.99 | 6,871 | 158,164,946 | 99.98619 | 18,747,446,313.27 | 2,728,488.77 |
| 3,000,000.00 — 3,499,999.99 | 4,799 | 158,169,745 | 99.98923 | 15,507,304,422.66 | 3,231,361.62 |
| 3,500,000.00 — 3,999,999.99 | 3,258 | 158,173,003 | 99.99129 | 12,166,741,762.34 | 3,734,420.43 |
| 4,000,000.00 — 4,499,999.99 | 2,353 | 158,175,356 | 99.99277 | 9,970,953,222.98 | 4,237,549.18 |
| 4,500,000.00 — 4,999,999.99 | 1,822 | 158,177,178 | 99.99393 | 8,633,941,395.34 | 4,738,716.46 |
| 5,000,000.00 — 9,999,999.99 | 6,468 | 158,183,646 | 99.99802 | 43,887,775,808.42 | 6,785,370.41 |
| 10,000,000.00 — 19,999,999.99 | 2,230 | 158,185,876 | 99.99942 | 30,065,006,121.19 | 13,482,065.53 |
| 20,000,000.00 — 49,999,999.99 | 776 | 158,186,652 | 99.99992 | 22,450,911,983.01 | 28,931,587.61 |
| 50,000,000.00 and over | 134 | 158,186,786 | 100.00000 | 11,564,829,969.82 | 86,304,701.27 |
Related Entries
- October 26, 2015 Gender Pay Gap Widens: Men’s Earnings Growing Twice as Fast as Women’s
- October 26, 2015 Higher Education: Capitalism at Its Most Despicable
Source: http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/more_than_half_of_all_americans_make_under_30000_dollars_a_year_20151027/
