Median Household Income
Household income is the sum of incomes for all inhabitants in a household. It provides an indication of how well households - instead of individual earners - are doing financially, which many service providers and retailers look at to help them locate their services. Incomes are closely related to levels of educational attainment and unemployment rates, and also vary significantly by household type and size, age, race, and ethnicity. Improvements in neighborhood income over time may indicate that residents' incomes have improved, or that a neighborhood's demographic composition has changed, with higher income households moving in or lower income households moving out.
As of 2015, the median household income in Mecklenburg County was $56,854, compared to $46,868 in North Carolina and $53,889 in the United States. The Charlotte metropolitan area ranks 23rd out of the 25 most populous metro areas in median household income, though these numbers are not adjusted for regional variations in cost of living. Median household income in Mecklenburg County was $50,579 in 1999, representing $71,957 in 2015 dollars, a real decline of 30% when adjusting for inflation. This decline reflects two national recessions as well as changing household composition.
Note: In order to make equal comparisons to the smaller areas, the values for Mecklenburg County, North Carolina and the United States in the previous paragraph are also from the American Community Survey 5-Year estimates. While more current 1-year estimates are available for the larger areas, it is important to use the most precise and most comparable 5-year estimates. Due to margins of error, the county-wide calculated sum of NPA values may not align with the county value. Click here to learn more on the difference between 1-and 5-year estimates.
Median household income is used to determine eligibility for the City of Charlotte's Neighborhood Matching Grants Program. Please contact the Program Manager to determine your eligibility at Philip.Freeman@ci.charlotte.nc.us.
Employment Rate
Education Level - Bachelor's Degree
Education Level - High School Diploma
Population Density
Rental Costs
The median household income as estimated in the American Community Survey (ACS).
Median household income is inflation-adjusted to the most recent year of the five-year estimate. When a Neighborhood Profile Area (NPA) is comprised of more than one block group, the median household income is calculated by linear interpolation from the Household Income range tables published in the ACS; the margin of error is not calculated for the re-calculated median and will show as blank in the data table. When combining NPAs into larger geographies, the median household income is estimated by averaging the median household income for each NPA weighted by the total number of households in each NPA. When combining NPAs into larger geographies, this variable should be used with caution.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau. American Community Survey. The Census collects ACS data from only a small sample of households every month. For reliable small-area estimates, the Census compiles five years of ACS data, which are used in the Quality of Life Explorer, 5-Year Estimates: B19001
| Resource | Learn More and Take Action |
|---|---|
| Matching Grants | Charlotte's Neighborhood Matching Grant Program. |
| Charlotte metro income | Analysis of income change in the Charlotte metropolitan area from the The UNC Charlotte Urban Institute. |
| Smart metros | Maps and analysis from the The UNC Charlotte Urban Institute showing the relationship between income, education levels, and poverty. |
| Income and Poverty in the U.S. | See changes in real median household income in the U.S. since 1967, and learn more about income, wages and poverty in these slides from the U.S. Census (PDF Download). |
| Charlotte Works | Resources including coaching, training and networking opportunities to develop, align and connect job seekers to employers. |