What does this measure?

Median household income, inflated to 2021 dollars, broken down by race/ethnicity. Half of incomes are below the median and half are above.

Why is this important?

Median household income is a gauge of overall economic health of the region and the financial resources of households.

How is the region performing?

In 2017-21, Asian residents of the Mid-Hudson Valley had the highest median income, at $95,300, followed by White ($82,700), Hispanic ($76,100), and African American ($63,700) residents. For most groups, regional median income was higher than national and statewide (excluding NYC) figures. Though the general pattern of discrepancies between racial and ethnic groups was similar on the regional, statewide, and national levels, African American residents in the Mid-Hudson Valley had a median household income that was 14% higher than the state median (excluding NYC) and 17% higher than the national median. The medians for Hispanic residents of the region was 13% higher than the national medians for the same group and 3% lower for Asian residents.

Median incomes decreased for all racial and ethnic groups in the region between 2000 and 2017-20. The decline was most pronounced for Asian and White residents, down 44%, followed by African Americans (32%) and Hispanics (35%). However, the median income of African Americans was $12,400 lower than Hispanics, $19,000 lower than Whites and $31,600 lower than Asians. Racist policies in education, housing and labor market help to explain the gaps in incomes, especially for the African American community.

Within the region, racial and ethnic disparities appeared in every county, but groups fared better in some counties than others. Among counties with statistically reliable results, Putnam County had the highest median income for African Americans, at $124,900, while Greene had the lowest, at $24,600. Putnam had the highest median incomes for Hispanic and white residents, at $98,200 and $114,100, respectively, while Dutchess had the highest median income for Asian residents at $113,864. Among communities in the region, median income among white residents ranged from $39,400 in Kiryas Joel to $126,800 in the Village of Woodbury. The populations in most other local areas, when broken down by race and ethnicity, were too small to yield reliable survey results.

Why do these disparities exist?

These large and persistent disparities in income are the result of historic and current policies and practices that disadvantaged people of color. Research has connected slavery and the inability of black Americans even after emancipation to fully participate in economic life to the wealth and income gaps still present today. Structural racism perpetuated by policies and practices that systematically disadvantage African American and Latino communities include inequitable education, low wages, job and wage discrimination, lack of access to capital, and globalization. Even when a recovery from the current economic crisis occurs, it is not expected to make up for the pre-existing racial disparities experienced over time unless policies are enacted to address these gaps.

Notes about the data

Data are presented in 2021 dollars. The multiyear figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined five years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. However, because the information came from a survey, the samples responding to the survey were not always large enough to produce reliable results, especially in small geographic areas. CGR has noted on data tables the estimates with relatively large margins of error. Estimates with three asterisks have the largest margins, plus or minus 50% or more of the estimate. Two asterisks mean plus or minus 35%-50%, and one asterisk means plus or minus 20%-35%. For all estimates, the confidence level is 90%, meaning there is 90% probability the true value (if the whole population were surveyed) would be within the margin of error (or confidence interval). For some small areas, Census did not have enough data to report results at all and N/A is shown in the data table. The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census. Data for this indicator are expected to be released in the fourth quarter.