Older Americans Are Richer Than Thought: Census Bureau

The new data also changes the picture of income measured by racial and ethnic groups.

It found that the median income among Hispanic Americans was 12% higher than in the older data set, while whites got a 6.6% boost. The increases among Black and Asian Americans were smaller.

The Census Bureau emphasizes that the new analysis is an “experimental data product” that’s at an early stage, with much work remaining to be done.

The reason for the changes, according to the Bureau, is that sources of income vary according to age cohorts. Older surveys tended to overweight wage and salary earnings — the key source of income for the working-age population — while not fully capturing pensions and withdrawals from Defined Contribution plans such as 401(k)s, which play a bigger role among the 65 -and-over group.

Changes in how administrative records are gathered by other agencies now allow the Census Bureau researchers better access to a wider range of data, enabling them to develop an updated methodology.

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