If you live in the San Diego area and still feel pinched by the Great Recession of 2007-2009, census information released Thursday says that should be no surprise.
The median income (that’s right in the middle — half the households are above, half are below) in the San Diego-Carlsbad metro area was $61,426 in 2013, down 6.3 percent from 2009’s $65,575.
The San Diego area recorded the sixth-steepest decline in income among the country’s 25 largest metros. The figure was statistically unchanged from 2012.
The Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale metro area saw the largest decline in median household income from 2009 to 2013: 9.6 percent. Pittsburgh’s metro was the only one with positive income growth, increasing 2.1 percent.
San Diego’s median household income ranks ninth on the top 25 list. That’s $28,723 less than the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, No. 1 area, and $15,546 more than Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, which was last on the list.
In California, the San Diego metro area ranked second behind the San Francisco-Oakland-Hayward metro area and ahead of both the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim and Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metro areas.
Nationally, the San Francisco area ranked just below the Washington, D.C., area.
The release of the U.S. Census Bureau’s data comes amidst a hard-fought signature gathering campaign to place San Diego’s minimum wage increase on the ballot.
It also comes amidst increasing statewide concern over economic inequality.
