Earnings growth is as important a measure of Silicon Valley’s economic vitality as job growth. Considering a variety of income measures together provides an indication of regional prosperity and its distribution. Real per capita income rises when a region generates wealth faster than its population increases. The median household income is the income value for the household at the middle of all income values. Examining median income by educational attainment and ethnicity reveals the complexity of our income gap. Tracking trends in food stamp participation and the percentage of students receiving free meals provides an additional indication of economic stress in the region.

Income growth in Silicon Valley is uneven, and the gap between the high and low income earners is increasing. Average real per capita income has steadily climbed, inching up 2.2 percent from 2011 levels, to reach $67,420. This income level positions it near pre-recession levels ($70,700 in 2007). Since hitting a low in 2009, real per capita income has rebounded ten percent in the region, compared to four percent in California and three percent in the United States. Relative to the state and nation, Silicon Valley's real per capita income has ebbed and flowed since 1990, reporting a 43 percent gain overall.

Between 2009 and 2011 the gap in per capita income widened between the highest and lowest earning racial and ethnic groups in Silicon Valley. Per capita income levels increased across White, Multiple & Other, and Asian categories, growing by four, three, and one percent respectively over two years prior, while income losses were reported across African Americans and Hispanics, dropping 18, and five percent, respectively. State and nationwide per capita income fell across all racial and ethnic groups from 2009 to 2011, though Silicon Valley saw a more pronounced or equivalent decline for some minority groups when compared to California overall.

Median household income fell for the third consecutive year in Silicon Valley and the fourth year in a row statewide and nationally. The region’s median household income dropped to a decade low of $84,724, though median income remains 45 percent above state levels. Between 2010 and 2011 the region and the state fell 3.8 percent, followed by the U.S. (-2.2%).

The share of households in Silicon Valley earning over $100,000 fell one percentage point to 43 percent in 2011, while the share of households earning less than $35,000 rose two percentage points to 20 percent over the same period, suggesting a narrowing of the middle income category. The proportion of higher income houses exceeds state (27%) and national rates (21%), while both regions followed a similar trend, dropping one percent and remaining flat, respectively. Silicon Valley’s increase in share in the highest earning category amid the 2008 recession resulted in part from an increase in the number of earners per household compared to prior years; the number of households with three or more earners rose ten percent between 2007 and 2008 and growth in other household sizes, as the share of additional household members (children, other relatives and non relatives) grew to 47 percent of total household members in 2008. The share of additional household members remained steady in 2011.

Since 2007, median income relative to educational attainment has declined across the board. Silicon Valley residents with only a high school diploma experienced the largest drop, at 14 percent. A more severe loss in median income was reported for high school graduates statewide (-15%), while faring better nationally (-8%). Since 2009, Silicon Valley professionals with a graduate or professional degree were the only cohort to see an improvement in median income, rising roughly three percent from 2009 to 2011, while falling two percent since 2007.

Food stamp participation in the region is expanding, though it still remains less than half of the statewide average. In 2012, 10.5 percent of Californians benefited from the food stamp program, compared to five percent of the population in Silicon Valley. Since 2008, the percentage of Silicon Valley food stamp program participants has increased roughly two percent. Statewide participation grew 4.4 percent over the same time period. Nationwide food stamp participation has grown exponentially since 2000, with an additional nine percent of the population participating in the program. The percentage of the population receiving food stamp benefits reached 14.8 percent in 2012, compared to only two percent in 1970 and roughly six percent in 2000.

• Real Per Capita Income
• Per Capita Income by Race & Ethnicity
• Median Household Income
• Distribution of Households by Income Ranges
• Median Income by Educational Attainment
• Food Stamp Participants as a Percent of Resident Population
• Food Stamp Participants as a Percent of U.S. Population