S.D.’s household income rose five percent last year

Median San Diego household income jumped five percent to $76,662 last year, but the main reason is that more people per household were working, according to United States Census Bureau data revealed this morning (September 13).

Inflation-adjusted individual earnings dropped for the third straight year, according to the Center on Policy Initiatives. City of San Diego wages are still lower than before the late 2007-early 2009 recession, according to Peter Brownell, research director of the center. “When you factor in inflation, people are still losing ground,” says Brownell. That is consistent with national data showing middle class inflation-adjusted income stagnant for almost four decades.

Older people are making the difference in San Diego. Twenty percent of those over 65 — or 36,571 seniors — worked in 2017, says the center. That was up 26 percent from the number of seniors working in 2007. (The recession began at the end of 2007.) Seniors take low-paying jobs at companies like Walmart. It’s easier for older people to take such jobs, because they may already own a home and have savings.

Last year's poverty rate was unchanged at 13.1 percent.

Separately, Zillow revealed that county home values have risen eight percent since the recession. The peak median home value before the crash was $540,000. Values bottomed out at $342,800 in the slump and are now at $584,100.