This case study illustrates some of the economic disparities younger generations of Americans contend with. The data has been extracted from the Bureau of Labor Statistics API using Python, transformed with Polars and loaded into a Postgres database.
Real income has increased modestly over time, but has this increase been evenly distributed across age groups?
You would expect older generations to earn more -- they're more experienced workers, social security kicks in as early as 62,
investment strategies lean more towards income vs growth, etc. You might also expect the percent change in income
to be more or less the same across age groups.
The charts below represent
the overall percent change in median US income by age group from 1979 to 2023, and median US income by age group by year.
To remove the effect of inflation, figures shown are in real terms (constant 2023 USD):
| Demographic Age | Percent Change in Median Income from 1979 to 2023 |
|---|---|
| 16 to 24 years | 5.6% |
| 25 to 34 years | 4.3% |
| 35 to 44 years | 13.6% |
| 45 to 54 years | 15.7% |
| 55 to 64 years | 18.2% |
| 65 years and over | 38.8% |
Younger incomes (ages 16 to 44) have grown at a rate that is approximately a third of older age groups (45+), causing actual incomes for older generations to exceed their younger peers (65 and over surpassed the 25 to 34 group in 2009).