Household Income

Median Household Income Trends

Pinellas County’s median household income in 2008 (inflation-adjusted) is estimated at $45,895 (margin of error (MOE) +/- $1,070 at 90% confidence interval), a gain of 3.6% over 2007 but 3.9% below the state average of $47,778 (MOE +/- $351). Pinellas also lags behind the U.S. average and other Florida counties of similar size. In spite of the economic recession, 2008 marked the 6th consecutive year of growth in Pinellas’ median household income since the prior recession low in 2002. Click here for additional information on the margin of error and the confidence interval.

Median Household Income by Race/Ethnicity

• Based on the combined 2006-08 American Community Surveys, the estimated median household income of Pinellas County households headed by a black householder averaged $31,679 (MOE +/- $2,107), 30.6% below the county’s overall median household income of $45,650 (MOE +/- $828) and 33.2% below the median household income of $47,456 (MOE +/- $792) for households led by a white householder. The wide disparity between median household incomes of black and white households occurs throughout Florida.
  • The median household income of Pinellas County’s Hispanic led households was $40,530 (MOE +/- $2,629), 11.2% below the county’s overall median household income.

Affordable Housing Guideline

"The generally accepted definition of affordability is for a household to pay no more than 30 percent of its annual income on housing. Families who pay more than 30 percent of their income for housing are considered cost burdened and may have difficulty affording necessities such as food, clothing, transportation and medical care. An estimated 12 million renter and homeowner households now pay more then 50 percent of their annual incomes for housing, and a family with one full-time worker earning the minimum wage cannot afford the local fair-market rent for a two-bedroom apartment anywhere in the United States. The lack of affordable housing is a significant hardship for low-income households preventing them from meeting their other basic needs, such as nutrition and healthcare, or saving for their future and that of their families".

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) website: http://www.hud.gov/offices/cpd/affordablehousing/index.cfm

Household Rent Burden – Pinellas County

The U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) contains data on gross rent as a % of household income by income group for renter occupied housing units. Gross rent is defined as "the amount of the contract rent plus the estimated average monthly cost of utilities (electricity, gas, and water and sewer) and fuels (oil, coal, kerosene, wood, etc.) if these are paid for by the renter or paid for the renter by someone else."

According to the combined ACS surveys for 2006-08, more than 90% of Pinellas County households with incomes below $20,000, approximately 31,000 households, spent 30% or more of their income on gross rent, thus making it difficult to provide their families with basic necessities such as food and healthcare. For all income groups, more than 60,000 Pinellas households, 55% of total renter occupied housing units, spent 30% or more of their household income on gross rent. Approximately 29,000 households, 26% of renter occupied housing units, spent 50% or more of their income on gross rent.

Read More About It:

Low Income and Impoverished Families Pay More Disproportionately for Child Care

Low Income Working Families: http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/412000_work_and_income_security.pdf

Women in the Labor Force: A Data Book (2009 edition): http://www.bls.gov/cps/wlf-databook2009.htm

The Growing Divide Income Inequality and its Effects on Florida’s Families: http://www.risep-fiu.org/reports/Growing_Divide_2008.pdf

Florida: Demographics of Low-Income Children: http://nccp.org/profiles/FL_profile_6.html

Working Poor, 2006: http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswp2006.pdf

Working Poor Families Project: http://www.workingpoorfamilies.org/still_working.html 

Budgeting for Basics: http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_858.html?utm_source=NCCP+Update&utm_campaign=714eac4d9f-Update_2_18_2009&utm_medium=email

Family Economic Security: http://www.nccp.org/profiles/US_profile_48.html?utm_source=NCCP+Update&utm_campaign=714eac4d9f-Update_2_18_2009&utm_medium=email

State Personal Income 2008: http://www.bea.gov/newsreleases/regional/spi/2009/spi0309.htm