According to estimates released today by the Bureau of the Census, Department of Commerce, the average (median) income of families in 1965 was $6,900, a gain of about $310, or 5 percent, over 1964. Since consumer prices also rose during this period, the gain in real purchasing power, however, was approximately 3 percent.¹

An estimated 8.0 million families, or 17 percent, of the 48.3 million families in the Nation received money incomes under $3,000 in 1965. About 7.7 million, or 16 percent, received incomes between $3,000 and $5,000 last year; 9.0 million, or 19 percent, had incomes between $5,000 and $7,000; and 11.6 million, or 24 percent, had incomes between $7,000 and $10,000. The remaining 12.0 million families, or 25 percent, are estimated to have received incomes of $10,000 or more.

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¹ See Monthly Labor Review, March 1966, Vol. 89, No, 3, table D-1, page 358.