Working Paper
Suitability of a County-Level Income Definition for Analysis of Lower-Income Communities
Abstract: This paper examines the costs and benefits of using a straightforward county-level income definition in the classification and study of lower-income communities. A definition based on population-weighted distribution of county-level median household incomes does a good job of identifying the most economically disadvantaged communities across a wide range of indicators. We show robustness to the use of different thresholds, levels of geography, and cost-of-living adjustments.
https://doi.org/10.17016/FEDS.2025.039
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File(s): File format is application/pdf https://www.federalreserve.gov/econres/feds/files/2025039pap.pdf
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Bibliographic Information
Provider: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.)
Part of Series: Finance and Economics Discussion Series
Publication Date: 2025-06-02
Number: 2025-039