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Income of Today’s Older Adults

As concern about the adequacy of the nation's retirement income programs moves to the forefront of public debate, policymakers and the public are looking to statistics to argue for or against the need for reform. Because there is a wide range of data from a variety of sources, the statistics can be confusing.

To help individuals understand the numbers, the Pension Rights Center is working with the Pension Policy Center to summarize government data on a series of related topics. The following information focuses on the income of today's older adults.

Income of All Older Adults from All Sources

In 2008, 38.9 million Americans were age 65 and older. Half of all older adults had less than $18,208 in yearly income from all sources.

In 2008, half of all older households received less than $31,157 in yearly income from all sources.

Income for older adults is also measured in terms of aged units. According to the most recent available numbers, half of all aged units had less than $24,857 in 2008. Read about the different measures of income.

Table 1. Median annual income of the population, age 65 and older

Demographic unit
Income
Year

Individuals 

$18,208

2008

Households

$31,157

2008

Aged units

$24,857

2008

These statistics are “median” income figures. “Median” is a half-way point, where half of a group has more income and half has less.

There are also statistics for the “average” income of older adults. This measure, which is less widely used, adds up all of the incomes of the people surveyed and divides that figure by the number of people counted. The average or “mean” income of persons age 65 and older is higher than the median income because a significant number of older adults have very high incomes. Read about average income figures.

Income of Older Adults without Earnings

One out of five older adults have income from earnings. In 2009, the median income of the four-fifths of people age 65 and older who are fully retired was $16,415. The amounts were similar among all older age groups.

Table 2. Median income, by age, with no earnings, 2009

Age

65+

$16,415

65-74

$16,355

65-69

$16,019

70-74

$16,697

75+

$16,459

For More Statistics on the Income of Older Adults:

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