Monday, March 10, 2008  Income is not income  Money: A song
written by Berry Gordy, first recorded by Barrett Strong, then a
bit later by a British band called the Beatles.  But income is
not income. If you check the results of the Census/ACS and BEA
for similar time frames, you'll see two different definitions of
income. The Census/ACS definition is MONEY income. BEA measures
PERSONAL income.  Data Detective Lenny explains: Money income is
essentially gross cash received on a regular basis (inheritence,
etc. are not included). So wages and salaries are measured
before taxes are removed.  According to the BEA web site:   This
includes such income as housing subsidies, Medicare/Medicaid
payments to hospitals on behalf of individuals, etc. even though
the individual does not personally see it. The idea is that this
is money supporting individuals. So the BEA figures will be
significantly different ($10k higher) then the Census Bureau's.
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