The Brookings Institution uses data from the IRS to construct a broad database of tax return data, available by ZIP code, city, county, metropolitan area, state, state legislative district, and congressional district, for every year from 2000 to 2006. The data is available in PolicyMap in the "Money & Income" tab, in the "Federal Tax Returns" section. Due to privacy concerns, some areas with very low counts have suppressed data. Listed here are the top 10 zip codes that do not contain suppressed data.
(more…)
Money tends to be a taboo subject generally – except when it is election time. Then, everyone starts talking about money, and more importantly, taxes. With today’s turbulent economy, the topic seems ever more relevant, so we ask “What do these swing spots look like when it comes to money and taxes?”
If we’ve learned one thing as we publish this fourth blog posting, it is that Fairfax County is always at one end of the spectrum along any indicator – and Youngstown is at the other. It’s no exception when it comes to income. In Fairfax County, the estimated median income in 2007 was $95,590. In Youngstown, it was only $27,438. While 6.64% % of households nationwide are estimated to earn more than $150,000 per year, almost a quarter of all households do in Fairfax. Significantly fewer households fall into this higher income bracket across the other swing spots.
Incomes
| Area |
Median Household Income |
Median Family Income |
% of Households earning less than $25,000 |
% of Households earning more than $150,000 |
| Fairfax County, VA |
$95,590 |
$111,740 |
6.80% |
23.73% |
| Elko, NV |
$54,776 |
$63,957 |
20.61% |
2.87% |
| Las Cruces, NM |
$34,970 |
$44,659 |
37.28% |
2.07% |
| Pueblo City, CO |
$33,996 |
$41,551 |
36.71% |
2.38% |
| Youngstown, OH |
$27,438 |
$33,288 |
46.28% |
1.05% |
PolicyMap allows users to consider where people are contributing to their IRA accounts. By looking at the most recent data issued from the IRS for the 2005 tax year, users can view the percent of all IRS Tax Returns with IRA contributions at a state or zip code level. Among the states, Vermont leads the country with the highest percent of returns claiming an IRA contribution.
Maine follows at 3.24%, with Montana at a close 3.23%. The states with the lowest percentage of people contributing to their IRA accounts are Alabama, at 1.71% and Mississippi at 1.57%. Nationally, 2.63% of income tax filers made an IRA contribution in 2005.
New Jersey leads the country with an average IRA contribution of nearly $4,000 in 2005; up from $3,270 in 2004.
Washington, DC lags behind all the states in the average amount of IRA contributions at $3,041.
(more…)
