What does this measure?

Median household income, inflated to 2010 dollars. Half of incomes are below the median and half are above.

Why is this important?

Median household income is a gauge of overall economic health of the region and the financial resources of households.

How are Cayuga and Seneca counties performing?

In 2006–10, median household income was about $48,400 in Cayuga and $46,700 in Seneca, less than $64,000 in the state (excluding NYC) and $52,000 in the nation. All but one of the comparison counties (Oswego) had higher incomes. Since 2000, inflation–adjusted household incomes have declined 1% in Cayuga and 4% in Seneca, compared to declines of 3% in the state and 6% in the nation.

In Cayuga, Auburn had the lowest median income, less than $37,000, while Niles, Owasco and Cayuga Village had incomes close to $68,000. In Seneca, Lodi had the lowest income at about $38,000, while Fayette, Romulus and Varick were all above $50,000.

Notes about the data

Data are presented in 2010 dollars. The 2006–10 figures are from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. The bureau combined five years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. However, because the information came from a survey, the samples responding to the survey were not always large enough to produce reliable results, especially in small geographic areas. CGR has noted on data tables the estimates with relatively large margins of error. Estimates with three asterisks have the largest margins, plus or minus 50% or more of the estimate. Two asterisks mean plus or minus 35%–50%, and one asterisk means plus or minus 20%–35%. For all estimates, the confidence level is 90%, meaning there is 90% probability the true value (if the whole population were surveyed) would be within the margin of error (or confidence interval). The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census.