Income of the Population 55 or Older, 2002

Importance of Income Sources Relative to Total Income

All Units

Aged Units

Units 65 or Older

Table 6.A1 Percentage distribution, by age
Proportion of income Aged 55–61 Aged 62–64 Aged 65 or older
Total 65–74 75 or older
Retirement benefits a
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100
0 75 39 6 8 4
1–19 5 9 4 7 2
20–39 5 9 8 11 5
40–59 4 7 9 11 8
60–79 2 7 12 13 12
80 or more 9 28 60 51 69
50 or more 13 39 78 69 86
90 or more 7 24 52 44 60
100 4 13 30 25 34
Mean proportion 14 39 75 68 81
Number (thousands) 13,773 4,525 25,375 12,433 12,942
Social Security b
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100
0 88 49 8 11 6
1–19 3 12 9 12 6
20–39 2 12 14 17 12
40–59 2 7 16 16 15
60–79 1 6 15 13 16
80 or more 4 14 38 30 45
50 or more 6 24 60 52 69
90 or more 4 12 31 24 37
100 3 8 20 16 23
Mean proportion 7 26 60 53 66
Number (thousands) 13,773 4,525 25,375 12,433 12,942
Government employee pensions c
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100
0 93 89 86 86 87
1–19 2 3 3 3 2
20–39 2 2 4 4 3
40–59 1 2 4 4 4
60–79 1 2 3 2 3
80 or more 1 2 1 2 1
50 or more 2 5 6 6 6
90 or more 1 1 1 1 1
100 0 1 0 0 0
Mean proportion 3 5 6 6 6
Number (thousands) 13,773 4,525 25,375 12,433 12,942
Private pensions or annuities
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100
0 91 79 71 71 71
1–19 3 7 12 12 13
20–39 2 7 10 10 10
40–59 1 4 5 6 5
60–79 1 2 1 1 1
80 or more 2 2 1 1 1
50 or more 3 6 4 4 4
90 or more 1 1 1 0 1
100 1 1 0 0 0
Mean proportion 4 8 8 8 8
Number (thousands) 13,773 4,525 25,375 12,433 12,942
Earnings
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100
0 16 36 78 65 91
1–19 2 5 4 5 2
20–39 3 6 4 6 2
40–59 5 6 5 7 2
60–79 9 9 5 9 2
80 or more 66 38 5 8 1
50 or more 77 50 12 20 4
90 or more 58 30 3 5 1
100 21 12 2 3 1
Mean proportion 73 48 12 19 4
Number (thousands) 13,773 4,525 25,375 12,433 12,942
Income from assets
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100
0 66 64 57 58 55
1–19 27 28 28 28 28
20–39 4 4 9 8 9
40–59 1 2 4 3 4
60–79 1 1 2 1 2
80 or more 2 1 1 1 2
50 or more 3 3 4 3 6
90 or more 2 1 1 1 1
100 1 1 1 0 1
Mean proportion 5 5 8 7 10
Number (thousands) 13,773 4,525 25,375 12,433 12,942
Public assistance
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100
0 95 95 95 95 96
1–19 1 1 1 1 1
20–39 1 1 1 1 1
40–59 1 1 1 0 1
60–79 0 0 0 0 0
80 or more 2 2 2 2 2
50 or more 3 3 2 2 2
90 or more 2 2 1 1 2
100 2 2 1 1 1
Mean proportion 3 3 2 2 2
Number (thousands) 13,773 4,525 25,375 12,433 12,942
NOTE: Units with zero total income or with negative total income, earnings, or income from assets are excluded.
a. Includes Social Security benefits, Railroad Retirement, government employee pensions, and private pensions or annuities.
b. Includes retired-worker benefits, dependents' or survivors' benefits, disability benefits, transitionally insured benefits, and special age-72 benefits.
c. Includes federal, state, local, and military pensions.
Table 6.A2 Percentage distribution, by quintiles of total money income
Proportion of income Total First Second Third Fourth Fifth
Retirement benefits a
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100 100
0 6 12 2 4 4 7
1–19 4 1 0 1 2 18
20–39 8 1 1 3 9 24
40–59 9 3 4 10 14 16
60–79 12 7 9 15 17 14
80 or more 60 77 84 68 53 22
50 or more 78 85 95 88 78 43
90 or more 52 71 77 57 42 16
100 30 54 49 28 15 4
Mean proportion 75 82 90 82 73 47
Number (thousands) 25,375 4,576 5,209 5,192 5,215 5,184
Social Security b
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100 100
0 8 15 3 6 8 10
1–19 9 1 1 2 6 35
20–39 14 1 2 7 22 38
40–59 16 3 7 21 33 14
60–79 15 8 15 26 22 2
80 or more 38 72 72 38 9 1
50 or more 60 82 91 76 47 8
90 or more 31 65 60 27 5 1
100 20 50 37 13 2 0
Mean proportion 60 78 84 67 47 24
Number (thousands) 25,375 4,576 5,209 5,192 5,215 5,184
Government employee pensions c
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100 100
0 86 99 95 89 77 72
1–19 3 0 1 2 3 6
20–39 4 0 1 3 5 7
40–59 4 0 2 3 6 7
60–79 3 0 0 2 5 5
80 or more 1 0 1 2 2 2
50 or more 6 1 2 4 10 10
90 or more 1 0 0 1 1 1
100 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mean proportion 6 1 2 5 11 12
Number (thousands) 25,375 4,576 5,209 5,192 5,215 5,184
Private pensions or annuities
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100 100
0 71 94 82 66 55 60
1–19 12 3 11 15 15 17
20–39 10 1 5 12 18 10
40–59 5 0 2 5 10 9
60–79 1 0 0 1 2 3
80 or more 1 2 0 0 1 1
50 or more 4 3 1 3 6 8
90 or more 1 2 0 0 0 0
100 0 1 0 0 0 0
Mean proportion 8 3 4 9 13 11
Number (thousands) 25,375 4,576 5,209 5,192 5,215 5,184
Earnings
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100 100
0 78 97 94 86 71 46
1–19 4 1 2 3 5 6
20–39 4 0 2 4 7 7
40–59 5 0 1 3 7 11
60–79 5 0 0 2 6 17
80 or more 5 2 1 3 4 13
50 or more 12 2 1 6 13 36
90 or more 3 1 1 2 4 7
100 2 1 1 2 2 2
Mean proportion 12 2 2 7 14 32
Number (thousands) 25,375 4,576 5,209 5,192 5,215 5,184
Income from assets
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100 100
0 57 82 73 55 45 31
1–19 28 11 21 31 38 38
20–39 9 3 4 10 11 14
40–59 4 1 1 4 4 8
60–79 2 0 0 1 2 6
80 or more 1 3 0 0 0 3
50 or more 4 4 1 2 4 12
90 or more 1 3 0 0 0 1
100 1 3 0 0 0 0
Mean proportion 8 5 3 7 9 17
Number (thousands) 25,375 4,576 5,209 5,192 5,215 5,184
NOTES: Quintile limits are $9,721, $15,181, $23,880, and $40,982 for aged units.
Units with zero total income or with negative total income, earnings, or income from assets are excluded.
a. Includes Social Security benefits, Railroad Retirement, government employee pensions, and private pensions or annuities.
b. Includes retired-worker benefits, dependents' or survivors' benefits, disability benefits, transitionally insured benefits, and special age-72 benefits.
c. Includes federal, state, local, and military pensions.