The median income of married Vermont tax filers was virtually unchanged in 2011, according to The Vermont Economy Newsletters analysis of just-released Vermont Tax Department data. After adjusting for inflation, median family income fell in 2011 by $130, or 0.2%, compared to 2010. Fifty percent of families earn more than the median and fifty percent earn less.
Median family income has been essentially stagnant for the past four years, noted Art Woolf, co-author of the study and editor of The Vermont Economy Newsletter. During the recession real median income fell by nearly five percent and has not recovered, noted Woolf.
We are surprised that income growth was as weak as it was, said Richard Heaps, the studys co-author. Vermonts jobs picture was positive in 2011 and we expected that would translate into higher incomes for the average Vermont family. It did. However, inflation was slightly higher than nominal income gains, causing a reduction in inflation-adjusted income.
Woolf and Heaps forecast that when the 2012 numbers are in, they will show healthy growth in median family income. Our forecast for 2012 is an inflation-adjusted gain of 1.9%. The median income Vermont family will earn $70,000 in 2012, said Woolf, but after adjusting for inflation, it will still be about $1,000 below the 2007 peak level. We wont be able to confirm this until the 2012 income tax returns are processed at the end of this year.
The Vermont Tax Department data are the most comprehensive data available on Vermont family income, said Heaps. All other government data sources are based on a small sample of Vermonters whereas the Tax Department data is based on the complete universe of more than 124,000 Vermont families with both a husband and wife present.
The Vermont Economy Newsletter 1.7.2013