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Section 5.8.2.1

5.8.2.1 - Household Income for the Previous Month

Clients were asked to report the amount of their total household income for the previous month or to choose from a set of predefined income brackets. The results are provided in Table 5.8.2.1.

 

Table 5.8.2.1
HOUSEHOLD INCOME FOR THE PREVIOUS MONTH

  Pantry Client Households Kitchen Client Households Shelter Client Households All Client Households
Total Monthly Income        
No income 5.1% 12.1% 28.7% 7.3%
$1-$500 14.3% 22.5% 25.4% 15.9%
$500-$999 40.8% 33.0% 21.9% 38.8%
$1,000-$1,499 16.2% 12.8% 7.0% 15.3%
$1,500-$1,999 6.8% 4.1% 2.1% 6.2%
$2,000-$2,499 2.8% 2.6% 1.5% 2.8%
$2,500-$2,999 1.1% 1.0% 1.6% 1.1%
$3,000 or more 1.3% 2.3% 1.5% 1.5%
Unknown 11.5% 9.5% 10.4% 11.2%
TOTAL 100% 100% 100% 100%
         
Average monthly income among valid responses (in dollars) 868 742 508 833
Median monthly income among valid responses (in dollars) 750 587 280 710
         
Income as Percentage of the Federal Poverty Level        
0% (No income) 5.2% 12.1% 28.7% 7.3%
1-50% 20.3% 21.9% 23.9% 20.7%
51-75% 19.1% 17.7% 13.0% 18.6%
76-100% 18.3% 13.6% 7.9% 17.1%
101-130% 12.4% 9.4% 5.5% 11.7%
131-150% 4.0% 3.4% 2.7% 3.8%
151-185% 3.7% 4.4% 3.0% 3.8%
186% or higher 3.7% 7.2% 4.8% 4.2%
Unknown 13.4% 10.4% 10.5% 12.9%
TOTAL 100% 100% 100% 100%
         
Average monthly income as percentage of the poverty level among valid responses 81% 83% 60% 80%
Median monthly income as percentage of the poverty level among valid responses 74% 67% 31% 71%
SAMPLE SIZE (N) 24,436 5,441 2,882 32,759

Source
This table was constructed based on all responses to Questions 29 and 29a of the client survey.

Notes
The percentages presented in this table, unlike those in most other tables, were calculated without leaving out item nonresponses (labeled "unknown"). To ensure that key percentages, such as that for no income, appear consistent within this table and across related tables, a constant denominator, which includes item nonresponses, was used. All responses were weighted as described in Chapter 3 and in the Technical Appendix volume to represent all emergency food clients or households of the A2H network.

For total monthly income, missing, don't know, and refusal responses combined are 11.5% for pantry clients, 9.5% for kitchen clients, 10.4% for shelter clients, and 11.2% for all clients. The missing rates we report here were obtained after we cross-imputed missing responses for monthly and yearly income variables.

For income as percentage of federal poverty level, missing, don't know, and refusal responses combined are 13.4% for pantry clients, 10.4% for kitchen clients, 10.5% for shelter clients, and 12.9% for all clients. This table was constructed based on all responses to Questions 29 and 29a of the client survey.

 

According to Table 5.8.2.1, 7.3% of all client households had no income at all for the month prior to the interview. More details on income follow:

  • 5.1% of the pantry client households had no monthly income.
  • 12.1% of the kitchen client households had no monthly income.
  • 28.7% of the shelter client households had no monthly income.
  • 62.0% of all client households had monthly household income less than $1,000.
  • Average household income among all clients during the previous month was $833 (median: $710). By contrast the mean for the U.S. population as a whole in 2000 was $4,754 (median: $3,512).14
  • Average monthly household income among the pantry clients was $868 (median: $750).
  • Average monthly household income among the kitchen clients was $742 (median: $587).
  • Average monthly household income among the shelter clients was $508 (median: $280).
  • 75.4% of client households had an income of 130% or below the federal poverty level during the previous month.
  • Average monthly household income among all client households as a percentage of the federal poverty level was 79.9% (median: 71.0%).
  • Average monthly household income among pantry client households was 80.8% (median: 74.0%) of the federal poverty level.
  • Average monthly household income among kitchen client households was 82.5% (median: 67.0%) of the federal poverty level.
  • Average monthly household income among shelter client households was 59.8% (median: 31.0%) of the federal poverty level.