Median Income Drops

According to the Sacramento Bee, Sacramento area families are in bad shape:
Adjusting for inflation, the median income of Sacramento County families who filed joint tax returns fell about 1 percent from 2002 to 2006, a showing worse than 51 of the state's 58 counties, according to California Franchise Tax Board figures released this week.
Sounds bad doesn't it?
In the process, the median income of those families fell below the $66,800 statewide median – which rose about 3 percent after inflation during the period – for the first time in at least a decade.
Being the curious type, I went to the FTB site and found the data the Bee used to write their report. I found a few interesting things. In 2002, the median income in Sacramento county for families who filed joint tax returns was $59,716 which ranked Sacramento County at #16 in the State. For 2006, and which the Bee never mentions in the article, the figure is $66,247, just $563 below the state-wide median and a rank of 20th in the state.
In reading the article, I am just not seeing the gloom and doom. Yea, we've fallen a bit behind, but do we really need to be worried about falling slightly under the state median by a mere $563? The data also point to the fact that the large metro areas (SF, LA ) cashed in over the past few years, outpacing the more rural interior portions of the state. And this is surprising to the folks at the Bee because?
Of course, the rural counties that make up the Heartland of California are going to fall behind in income levels. The SF and LA areas are a giant cash vacuums that skew the statewide median. Our incomes will never match theirs and guess what, neither will our cost of living. The Bee should exercise their math muscles a bit more by conducting an evaluation of the county median income adjusted for the cost of living. Then maybe we'll have something usefull.
And just for good measure, the Bee throws in a little class warfare to fit the narrative:
Chris Thornberg, a principal at the Los Angeles consulting firm Beacon Economics, noted that census figures also show that average incomes rose quicker than median incomes. An average – unlike a median – can be greatly affected by families making lots of money.
What you're seeing is a widening of the income distribution," Thornberg said. "The rich are getting richer."
Oh my God! Families are making lots of money. This is a crime against humanity!
Finally,the Bee hits skid row to tug at our heart strings in profiling two down and out business owners: a popcorn vendor, and a mover/cleanup guy. Yep, your typical small business entrepenuers who lost it all.
When my last attempt at a small business dryed up back in 2005, I went and got a job and started planning for the next one. Funny how that works.