Interesting that this comes up because this weekend my daughters and I got into a discussion about the different kinds of averages -- mean, median, and mode. I said let's consider the example of the 9 houses on my cul de sac. In fact I don't know anyone's income but my own but for the purpose of the example I said let's say 8 of us make 50K and one makes $1 million. Is our "average" income over $150K, which is the mean average? Of course not. None of us would have an income anywhere near that. One way high, eight way low.

So when you made your original comment, "Interesting that the average income in 2005 was 46,000/yr", did that number seem too high or too low to you?


>Look at the breakdown:
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Income-curve-%2410k.jpg
>Yet, if you average it out, the median income was 46,000. That statement makes it appear that most Americans make 46,000 a year. Not true.
>
>
>>>Article:
>>>http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18098378/
>>>Spreadsheet:
>>>http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy08/sheets/hist03z2.xls
>>>
>>>Interesting that the average income in 2005 was 46,000/yr.
>>
>>
>>Interesting how?