The Coasts Keep Getting Richer

It took 17 years, but the median household income in the U.S. last year finally topped the inflation-adjusted record set in 1999.

This bit of happy news was contained in the Census Bureau's annual reports on income, poverty and health insurance coverage in the U.S., which came out Tuesday. When you annualize the median income gains since 1999, they really don't amount to much -- just 0.04 percent a year, compared with a 1.2 percent growth rate over the previous 17 years. Also, a 2013 change in the income questions asked by the Census Bureau boosted the median somewhat, meaning that in reality incomes may still be slightly lower than in 1999. Still, the ground lost has for the most part been recovered, and the increase since 2013 (3.3 percent a year) has been pretty impressive.1505234095459

It's been much more impressive in some parts of the country than others, though. When you look at median household incomes in the Census Bureau's four regions, the differences are pretty striking.