Income of the Population 55 or Older, 2010

Importance of Income Sources Relative to Total Income

Relative Importance of Income Sources for Aged Units

Relative Importance of Income Sources for Units 65 or Older

Relative Importance of Family Income Sources for Aged Persons

Relative Importance of Family Income Sources for Persons 65 or Older

Key Terms and Concepts for Section 8 1

Age. Age classification is based on the age of the person at his or her last birthday as of March 2011. A married couple's age is defined as the age of the husband—unless he is under age 55 and the wife is 55 or older, in which case it is the age of the wife.

Aged unit. With age 55 as the cutoff, aged units are defined as married couples living together—at least one of whom is 55 or older—and nonmarried persons 55 or older.

Marital status. Married persons are married and living with their spouse. Nonmarried persons may be divorced, widowed, never married, separated, or married but living apart from their spouse.

Race. The categories White alone, Black alone, and Asian alone reflect respondents who reported only one race. Because of changes to the race category, data on race are not directly comparable to editions prior to 2002. A person's race is his or her reported race. A married couple's race is defined as the race of the husband.

Hispanic origin. Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race. A married couple is of Hispanic origin if the husband is of Hispanic origin.

Family. A family is a group of two or more people (one of whom is the householder) related by birth, marriage, or adoption and residing together; all such people (including related subfamily members) are considered as members of one family.

Social Security beneficiary. A beneficiary may be receiving retired-worker benefits, dependents' or survivor benefits, disability benefits, or transitionally insured benefits.

Per capita income. Per capita income is total family income divided by the number of persons in the family.

Relative Importance of Income Source. The relative importance of a source is the ratio of the amount of income from a given source to total income for an aged unit or family. These tables are distributions of persons or aged units by the importance of a given source at the individual unit level.

Poverty. The Census Bureau uses a set of money income thresholds that vary by family size and composition to detect who is poor. If a family's total income is less than that family's threshold, then that family, and every individual in it, is considered poor. The poverty thresholds do not vary geographically, but they are updated annually for inflation with the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U). The official poverty definition counts money income before taxes and excludes capital gains and noncash benefits (such as public housing, Medicaid, and food stamps).

Income sources

Retirement benefits. Include Social Security benefits, Railroad Retirement income, government employee pensions, and private pensions or annuities.

Social Security. Includes retired-worker benefits, dependents' or survivor benefits, disability benefits, and transitionally insured benefits.

Government employee pensions. Government employee pensions include regular payments from federal government (civil service), military, and state or local governments.

Private pensions and annuities. Private pensions and annuities include regular payments from companies or unions, annuities or paid-up insurance policies, individual retirement accounts (IRAs), Keogh, or 401(k) payments. Nonregular (nonannuitized or lump-sum) withdrawals from IRA, Keogh, and 401(k) plans are not included as income.

Earnings. Include wages and salaries and self-employment. Wages and salaries is defined as total money earnings received for work performed as an employee during the income year. It includes wages, salary, Armed Forces pay, commissions, tips, piece-rate payments, and cash bonuses earned, before deductions are made for taxes, bonds, pensions, union dues, and so forth. Earnings for self-employed persons in incorporated businesses are considered wage and salary. Self-employment is the combined income from farm and nonfarm self-employment.

Asset income. Includes income from interest, dividends, rent, royalties, and estates and trusts. Interest includes payments people receive (or have credited to their accounts) from bonds, treasury notes, IRAs, certificates of deposit, interest-bearing savings and checking accounts, and all other investments that pay interest. Dividends include income from stock holdings and mutual fund shares. The CPS does not include capital gains from the sale of stock holdings as income. Rents, royalties, and estates and trusts includes net income from the rental of a house, store, or other property, receipts from boarders or lodgers, net royalty income, and periodic payments from estate or trust funds.

Public Assistance. Includes Supplemental Security Income and other monetary public assistance programs. Noncash benefits are not included.

Notes

 1 For more information, consult the Glossary for this report.

Tables

Relative Importance of Income Sources for Aged Units Table 8.A1 Percentage distribution of units, by source of income and age, 2010
Proportion of income Aged 55–61 Aged 62–64 Aged 65 or older
Total 65–69 70–74 75–79 80 or older
  Earnings
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 17.8 32.6 73.2 50.2 69.2 81.2 92.5
1–19 2.2 4.6 4.5 5.8 6.0 5.2 1.9
20–39 2.3 4.9 4.4 6.8 5.9 3.8 1.3
40–59 4.1 6.7 5.2 9.2 6.6 3.8 1.4
60–79 8.6 9.8 5.4 10.5 7.0 2.7 1.1
80 or more 65.0 41.4 7.3 17.7 5.2 3.3 1.7
50 or more 75.9 54.8 15.5 33.3 15.7 7.7 3.5
90 or more 58.1 34.7 5.4 13.3 3.6 2.2 1.3
100 24.8 13.6 2.5 5.6 2.1 1.0 0.9
Mean proportion 72.3 52.0 15.1 31.4 15.5 8.5 3.7
Mean proportion (recipients only) 88.0 77.2 56.3 63.0 50.3 44.9 49.4
Number (thousands) 18,382 6,859 28,627 8,162 6,452 5,169 8,844
  Retirement benefits
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 75.9 44.7 8.2 16.5 6.4 4.5 3.9
1–19 4.8 9.0 4.3 8.5 4.2 2.3 1.7
20–39 4.8 9.4 8.0 12.7 9.9 5.1 4.0
40–59 2.9 8.0 8.7 10.7 9.7 8.8 6.0
60–79 2.2 5.0 10.2 9.9 10.7 11.3 9.4
80 or more 9.4 23.9 60.7 41.7 59.2 68.1 75.0
50 or more 12.8 32.6 75.2 56.5 75.1 83.8 87.7
90 or more 8.3 21.1 53.9 36.7 51.8 60.3 67.5
100 5.5 12.5 31.3 21.5 30.3 34.6 39.3
Mean proportion 14.0 34.5 73.5 57.5 73.4 80.5 84.4
Mean proportion (recipients only) 58.2 62.4 80.1 68.9 78.4 84.3 87.8
Number (thousands) 18,382 6,859 28,627 8,162 6,452 5,169 8,844
  Social Security
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 86.5 55.3 11.3 21.5 9.0 7.2 5.9
1–19 2.6 11.2 8.4 13.1 8.9 5.8 5.1
20–39 2.4 10.5 14.6 17.7 17.0 14.0 10.4
40–59 1.7 7.0 14.8 14.1 16.0 16.0 14.0
60–79 1.3 3.9 12.4 9.2 12.2 14.9 14.1
80 or more 5.6 12.3 38.5 24.4 36.9 42.1 50.5
50 or more 7.7 19.5 58.0 39.7 56.6 64.6 71.9
90 or more 5.0 11.0 32.2 20.5 30.2 35.2 42.5
100 3.9 8.3 21.0 13.7 20.8 22.4 27.0
Mean proportion 8.2 22.6 58.5 43.6 58.2 63.9 69.4
Mean proportion (recipients only) 60.6 50.6 66.0 55.5 63.9 68.9 73.8
Number (thousands) 18,382 6,859 28,627 8,162 6,452 5,169 8,844
  Government employee pensions
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 93.3 88.6 84.9 84.9 84.2 83.5 86.1
1–19 1.6 1.8 3.2 3.5 3.6 3.1 2.7
20–39 2.2 3.2 4.0 4.2 4.1 4.5 3.6
40–59 1.0 2.4 3.8 3.5 3.8 4.6 3.6
60–79 0.6 1.9 2.4 2.1 2.7 2.2 2.4
80 or more 1.3 2.0 1.7 1.8 1.5 2.1 1.7
50 or more 2.3 5.0 5.9 5.6 6.0 6.3 5.7
90 or more 1.1 1.3 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.3 1.0
100 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.2
Mean proportion 3.0 5.5 6.7 6.6 6.8 7.5 6.5
Mean proportion (recipients only) 43.8 48.4 44.5 43.3 43.1 45.2 46.5
Number (thousands) 18,382 6,859 28,627 8,162 6,452 5,169 8,844
  Private pensions or annuities
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 92.6 82.4 72.5 76.4 71.8 69.9 71.0
1–19 2.7 6.0 11.5 10.1 12.0 12.1 12.0
20–39 1.8 5.2 8.9 6.6 9.1 10.6 10.0
40–59 1.1 3.6 4.7 4.5 4.9 4.5 4.9
60–79 0.6 1.1 1.6 1.4 1.4 2.1 1.5
80 or more 1.1 1.7 0.8 1.0 0.8 0.7 0.7
50 or more 2.2 4.2 3.9 4.1 4.0 4.0 3.7
90 or more 0.8 1.2 0.6 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.3
100 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.6 0.3 0.3 0.1
Mean proportion 2.8 6.2 7.8 7.0 8.0 8.5 8.0
Mean proportion (recipients only) 38.1 35.0 28.4 29.5 28.5 28.3 27.7
Number (thousands) 18,382 6,859 28,627 8,162 6,452 5,169 8,844
  Income from assets
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 46.9 45.5 46.9 45.5 46.7 47.2 48.1
1–19 47.4 47.2 41.3 44.8 41.2 40.7 38.5
20–39 3.1 3.9 6.4 5.1 6.9 6.8 7.0
40–59 1.0 1.5 2.8 2.5 2.3 3.2 3.0
60–79 0.3 0.7 1.6 1.4 1.7 1.3 1.9
80 or more 1.4 1.2 1.0 0.6 1.1 0.7 1.5
50 or more 2.0 2.6 3.5 3.0 3.4 3.3 4.2
90 or more 1.2 1.0 0.7 0.6 0.8 0.5 0.9
100 1.1 0.9 0.6 0.4 0.6 0.4 0.8
Mean proportion 4.2 4.9 6.9 6.0 7.1 6.9 7.7
Mean proportion (recipients only) 7.8 9.0 13.1 11.0 13.3 13.1 14.9
Number (thousands) 18,382 6,859 28,627 8,162 6,452 5,169 8,844
  Cash public assistance
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 94.3 94.6 96.1 95.5 96.4 95.8 96.7
1–19 1.1 0.8 1.3 1.4 1.2 1.5 1.2
20–39 0.7 1.0 0.8 1.0 0.7 0.9 0.5
40–59 0.5 0.9 0.4 0.6 0.3 0.3 0.2
60–79 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2 0 0.1
80 or more 3.2 2.6 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.4 1.3
50 or more 3.6 3.2 1.6 1.7 1.5 1.5 1.5
90 or more 3.1 2.5 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.4 1.2
100 2.8 2.4 1.2 1.1 1.2 1.4 1.2
Mean proportion 3.9 3.5 1.9 2.1 1.8 1.9 1.7
Mean proportion (recipients only) 68.0 64.6 48.9 47.2 49.3 46.1 52.7
Number (thousands) 18,382 6,859 28,627 8,162 6,452 5,169 8,844
NOTES: Units with zero total income or with negative total income, earnings, or income from assets are excluded.
The relative importance of a source of income may not accurately reflect the resources available to elderly persons or elderly aged units. The survey on which these data are based does not include some potentially important resources as income, including lump-sum pension payments and capital gains. In addition, these statistics do not take into consideration noncash benefits that supplement money income (housing and energy subsidies or food stamps) or the amount of savings available to supplement monthly income. Consult the Frequently Asked Questions for further information.
Relative Importance of Income Sources for Aged Units Table 8.A2 Percentage distribution of units, by source of income, marital status, and age, 2010
Proportion of income Married couples Nonmarried persons
55–61 62–64 65 or older 55–61 62–64 65 or older
Total 65–69 70–74 75–79 80 or older Total 65–69 70–74 75–79 80 or older
  Earnings
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 7.6 19.5 59.3 35.7 57.5 73.9 86.6 29.6 46.6 83.0 64.5 80.1 86.7 94.9
1–19 1.8 5.6 6.9 7.2 8.5 7.7 3.9 2.7 3.4 2.8 4.3 3.6 3.4 1.1
20–39 2.5 5.7 6.9 9.7 8.5 4.6 2.3 2.2 4.1 2.6 3.8 3.5 3.3 0.9
40–59 5.2 9.4 8.3 12.7 9.6 4.9 2.4 2.8 3.8 3.1 5.6 3.9 2.9 1.1
60–79 11.6 14.2 8.8 14.3 9.9 4.3 2.6 5.0 5.1 3.0 6.7 4.4 1.4 0.5
80 or more 71.2 45.5 9.8 20.3 6.0 4.6 2.2 57.7 37.0 5.6 15.0 4.5 2.4 1.5
50 or more 85.8 64.5 23.0 42.0 20.7 10.8 6.1 64.4 44.4 10.2 24.8 11.0 5.3 2.5
90 or more 62.0 36.4 6.4 13.9 3.7 2.4 1.5 53.6 32.8 4.7 12.7 3.6 2.0 1.3
100 20.6 11.8 2.4 4.5 1.8 1.1 1.1 29.7 15.6 2.5 6.6 2.3 0.9 0.8
Mean proportion 80.8 60.5 22.2 39.2 20.6 11.7 6.2 62.5 43.0 10.0 23.6 10.7 6.0 2.7
Mean proportion (recipients only) 87.5 75.1 54.6 61.0 48.5 44.8 46.3 88.8 80.5 59.1 66.6 53.9 45.1 52.8
Number (thousands) 9,894 3,546 11,918 4,050 3,112 2,230 2,525 8,488 3,313 16,710 4,112 3,340 2,939 6,319
  Retirement benefits
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 76.0 42.3 8.3 15.5 5.4 3.9 4.1 75.8 47.2 8.1 17.6 7.2 4.9 3.9
1–19 7.0 13.3 6.9 12.4 5.6 3.6 2.6 2.2 4.5 2.4 4.6 2.9 1.3 1.3
20–39 6.5 13.3 12.0 17.0 13.7 6.4 6.6 2.9 5.3 5.2 8.4 6.4 4.1 3.0
40–59 3.3 9.8 10.9 12.7 12.4 10.8 6.4 2.4 6.0 7.0 8.7 7.2 7.2 5.8
60–79 2.0 4.6 12.7 11.6 13.3 13.5 13.1 2.4 5.4 8.3 8.2 8.2 9.6 7.9
80 or more 5.2 16.7 49.2 30.8 49.7 61.8 67.2 14.3 31.7 68.9 52.5 68.1 72.9 78.1
50 or more 8.5 25.7 67.5 48.2 69.2 81.0 84.4 17.9 39.9 80.8 64.7 80.5 85.9 89.0
90 or more 4.5 13.9 42.0 26.1 41.5 53.1 58.3 12.8 28.8 62.4 47.2 61.4 65.8 71.2
100 2.7 5.9 19.5 12.5 19.7 26.2 24.7 8.7 19.5 39.7 30.3 40.1 40.9 45.1
Mean proportion 10.7 29.4 66.3 50.5 68.1 77.3 79.9 17.9 40.0 78.7 64.4 78.3 82.9 86.1
Mean proportion (recipients only) 44.5 51.0 72.3 59.8 72.0 80.4 83.3 74.1 75.7 85.6 78.2 84.4 87.2 89.6
Number (thousands) 9,894 3,546 11,918 4,050 3,112 2,230 2,525 8,488 3,313 16,710 4,112 3,340 2,939 6,319
  Social Security
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 87.5 54.4 11.4 20.4 8.3 5.7 5.7 85.2 56.3 11.2 22.6 9.7 8.4 6.0
1–19 4.3 17.1 12.6 19.6 12.0 7.7 6.5 0.6 4.8 5.3 6.8 6.0 4.3 4.5
20–39 3.2 13.8 20.0 21.8 22.5 18.8 15.0 1.5 6.9 10.8 13.6 11.9 10.4 8.6
40–59 1.6 6.4 17.1 14.9 18.5 17.3 18.7 1.7 7.5 13.2 13.4 13.7 14.9 12.0
60–79 0.9 2.4 13.3 8.3 13.6 17.8 17.0 1.8 5.5 11.7 10.0 10.9 12.7 12.9
80 or more 2.5 5.9 25.6 15.0 25.1 32.6 37.1 9.1 19.1 47.7 33.7 47.8 49.3 55.9
50 or more 4.1 11.1 47.0 29.8 47.2 59.0 64.0 11.9 28.5 65.8 49.5 65.3 68.8 75.1
90 or more 2.3 4.8 20.0 11.4 19.7 26.1 28.7 8.2 17.7 40.9 29.6 40.1 42.1 48.1
100 1.8 3.3 10.9 6.4 11.4 15.2 13.8 6.4 13.7 28.2 21.0 29.6 27.9 32.2
Mean proportion 5.3 16.6 49.6 35.8 50.8 58.9 61.8 11.6 29.1 64.9 51.3 65.0 67.7 72.5
Mean proportion (recipients only) 42.3 36.3 55.9 45.0 55.4 62.4 65.5 78.5 66.5 73.1 66.2 72.0 74.0 77.1
Number (thousands) 9,894 3,546 11,918 4,050 3,112 2,230 2,525 8,488 3,313 16,710 4,112 3,340 2,939 6,319
  Government employee pensions
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 92.0 86.5 80.3 81.3 80.4 78.6 79.9 94.7 90.9 88.1 88.4 87.7 87.2 88.6
1–19 2.6 2.6 5.2 5.5 5.7 4.6 4.5 0.4 1.0 1.8 1.5 1.6 1.9 1.9
20–39 3.1 4.6 5.5 5.2 5.5 6.6 4.9 1.2 1.8 3.0 3.1 2.8 2.9 3.0
40–59 1.1 2.8 4.8 4.2 4.2 5.9 5.4 0.9 2.0 3.2 2.9 3.5 3.7 2.9
60–79 0.4 2.0 2.9 2.4 2.9 3.0 3.5 0.8 1.8 2.0 1.8 2.6 1.6 2.0
80 or more 0.7 1.5 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.8 2.0 2.4 2.0 2.3 1.7 2.7 1.6
50 or more 1.6 4.7 6.4 5.6 6.3 7.5 7.0 3.1 5.2 5.4 5.6 5.8 5.5 5.1
90 or more 0.6 0.9 0.7 0.5 0.8 0.6 1.1 1.6 1.8 1.3 1.6 1.3 1.8 0.9
100 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.7 0.9 0.3
Mean proportion 2.7 5.7 7.9 7.2 7.6 8.7 8.8 3.3 5.3 5.9 6.0 6.1 6.5 5.5
Mean proportion (recipients only) 33.6 42.4 40.0 38.4 38.6 40.6 43.6 61.8 57.8 49.9 51.1 49.8 51.2 48.5
Number (thousands) 9,894 3,546 11,918 4,050 3,112 2,230 2,525 8,488 3,313 16,710 4,112 3,340 2,939 6,319
  Private pensions or annuities
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 91.8 79.6 67.6 71.8 66.2 65.8 64.2 93.7 85.4 76.0 81.0 77.1 73.0 73.7
1–19 3.5 7.8 14.7 14.0 14.8 14.7 15.4 1.8 4.1 9.2 6.2 9.4 10.1 10.6
20–39 2.2 5.9 11.0 8.3 11.1 12.5 13.7 1.3 4.4 7.5 4.8 7.2 9.2 8.5
40–59 1.1 3.5 4.8 4.0 5.6 4.5 5.3 1.2 3.7 4.6 5.0 4.2 4.5 4.7
60–79 0.7 1.4 1.5 1.2 1.6 2.0 1.2 0.4 0.7 1.6 1.6 1.2 2.3 1.6
80 or more 0.7 1.8 0.5 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.2 1.6 1.7 1.0 1.3 0.9 0.9 0.9
50 or more 1.9 4.6 3.5 3.1 4.4 3.4 3.1 2.5 3.7 4.2 5.1 3.6 4.4 3.9
90 or more 0.5 1.1 0.4 0.6 0.5 0.3 0.1 1.2 1.4 0.7 1.1 0.8 0.8 0.4
100 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.6 0.6 0.4 0.8 0.3 0.5 0.2
Mean proportion 2.7 6.6 8.4 7.0 9.1 9.0 9.0 2.9 5.6 7.4 6.9 7.0 8.2 7.6
Mean proportion (recipients only) 32.5 32.6 25.8 24.9 26.9 26.3 25.2 46.5 38.7 31.0 36.1 30.6 30.2 29.1
Number (thousands) 9,894 3,546 11,918 4,050 3,112 2,230 2,525 8,488 3,313 16,710 4,112 3,340 2,939 6,319
  Income from assets
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 36.7 36.4 35.8 35.3 36.3 38.4 33.8 58.8 55.2 54.7 55.5 56.4 53.9 53.8
1–19 58.1 56.0 50.3 54.0 49.8 46.6 48.3 34.9 37.7 34.9 35.8 33.2 36.2 34.7
20–39 3.5 4.4 8.0 6.0 8.5 9.0 9.8 2.7 3.4 5.3 4.3 5.4 5.2 5.9
40–59 0.9 1.9 3.4 3.0 2.7 4.4 3.9 1.0 1.1 2.3 2.1 2.0 2.3 2.7
60–79 0.2 0.6 1.6 1.4 1.6 1.0 2.4 0.3 0.9 1.6 1.4 1.7 1.6 1.6
80 or more 0.5 0.6 0.9 0.2 1.1 0.6 1.8 2.4 1.7 1.2 1.0 1.2 0.9 1.3
50 or more 1.1 2.1 3.6 2.8 3.5 3.5 5.1 3.1 3.1 3.5 3.2 3.3 3.2 3.9
90 or more 0.4 0.4 0.5 0.2 0.7 0.4 1.0 2.1 1.6 0.8 0.9 0.9 0.5 0.9
100 0.4 0.3 0.5 0.2 0.5 0.3 0.8 1.9 1.5 0.7 0.6 0.7 0.5 0.8
Mean proportion 3.7 4.9 7.9 6.5 8.1 8.1 10.0 4.7 4.9 6.2 5.5 6.1 6.1 6.8
Mean proportion (recipients only) 5.8 7.7 12.4 10.0 12.7 13.1 15.1 11.4 11.0 13.8 12.4 14.1 13.2 14.8
Number (thousands) 9,894 3,546 11,918 4,050 3,112 2,230 2,525 8,488 3,313 16,710 4,112 3,340 2,939 6,319
  Cash public assistance
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 97.4 96.8 97.6 97.4 98.0 97.6 97.6 90.6 92.2 95.1 93.7 94.8 94.4 96.4
1–19 0.8 1.0 0.9 1.2 0.7 1.0 0.7 1.3 0.6 1.6 1.6 1.7 2.0 1.4
20–39 0.7 1.0 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.2 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.5 0.9 1.2 0.6
40–59 0.3 0.6 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.8 1.3 0.5 0.9 0.4 0.5 0.3
60–79 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.2 0 0.3 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.2 0 0.1
80 or more 0.8 0.6 0.6 0.3 0.4 0.7 1.2 6.0 4.7 1.7 2.1 1.9 1.9 1.3
50 or more 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.7 1.6 6.8 5.6 2.0 2.7 2.2 2.1 1.4
90 or more 0.7 0.5 0.6 0.3 0.4 0.7 1.2 5.9 4.7 1.7 2.1 1.9 1.8 1.3
100 0.5 0.4 0.6 0.2 0.4 0.7 1.2 5.5 4.4 1.6 1.9 1.9 1.8 1.3
Mean proportion 1.2 1.3 1.0 0.9 0.8 1.0 1.6 7.0 5.8 2.5 3.3 2.7 2.6 1.8
Mean proportion (recipients only) 46.2 40.1 44.4 35.3 41.8 42.7 63.7 75.2 75.4 50.4 51.9 52.0 47.2 49.7
Number (thousands) 9,894 3,546 11,918 4,050 3,112 2,230 2,525 8,488 3,313 16,710 4,112 3,340 2,939 6,319
NOTES: Units with zero total income or with negative total income, earnings, or income from assets are excluded.
The relative importance of a source of income may not accurately reflect the resources available to elderly persons or elderly aged units. The survey on which these data are based does not include some potentially important resources as income, including lump-sum pension payments and capital gains. In addition, these statistics do not take into consideration noncash benefits that supplement money income (housing and energy subsidies or food stamps) or the amount of savings available to supplement monthly income. Consult the Frequently Asked Questions for further information.
Relative Importance of Income Sources for Aged Units Table 8.A3 Percentage distribution of units, by source of income, Social Security beneficiary status, marital status, and age, 2010
Proportion of income Beneficiary units Nonbeneficiary units
All units Married couples Nonmarried persons All units Married couples Nonmarried persons
55–61 62–64 65 or older 55–61 62–64 65 or older 55–61 62–64 65 or older 55–61 62–64 65 or older 55–61 62–64 65 or older 55–61 62–64 65 or older
  Earnings
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 59.7 53.5 77.4 33.4 33.0 63.8 85.4 76.3 87.2 11.2 15.7 39.5 4.0 8.1 24.6 19.9 23.5 50.2
1–19 5.9 7.3 4.9 6.4 9.7 7.6 5.5 4.6 2.9 1.6 2.3 1.9 1.1 2.2 2.1 2.2 2.5 1.8
20–39 6.2 7.9 4.6 9.3 9.9 7.5 3.2 5.7 2.6 1.7 2.5 2.1 1.5 2.3 2.2 2.0 2.8 2.1
40–59 8.2 9.6 5.5 13.9 13.9 8.6 2.7 4.8 3.3 3.5 4.3 3.3 4.0 5.7 6.1 2.8 2.9 1.3
60–79 11.7 11.8 5.4 21.0 18.3 8.8 2.6 4.5 3.0 8.1 8.3 5.3 10.3 10.8 8.9 5.4 5.6 2.7
80 or more 8.3 9.9 2.2 16.1 15.1 3.9 0.6 4.1 1.0 73.9 66.9 47.8 79.1 71.0 56.0 67.7 62.6 42.0
50 or more 24.3 26.6 10.4 44.5 40.3 17.0 4.6 11.3 5.7 84.0 77.6 55.6 91.7 84.8 69.4 74.8 70.1 45.6
90 or more 2.3 3.6 0.6 4.4 5.4 0.9 0.3 1.6 0.3 66.8 59.8 43.6 70.2 62.5 49.5 62.9 57.1 39.3
100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 28.6 24.7 22.1 23.5 21.8 21.5 34.8 27.7 22.5
Mean proportion 22.0 24.8 10.3 39.3 36.8 16.8 5.1 11.3 5.6 80.2 74.1 53.1 86.7 80.3 64.9 72.5 67.6 44.6
Mean proportion (recipients only) 54.6 53.2 45.5 59.0 55.0 46.2 34.9 47.7 44.1 90.4 87.9 87.8 90.3 87.4 86.1 90.5 88.4 89.5
Number (thousands) 2,489 3,067 25,395 1,232 1,618 10,564 1,257 1,449 14,831 15,893 3,791 3,232 8,662 1,927 1,353 7,231 1,864 1,879
  Retirement benefits
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 87.8 80.8 72.4 86.8 77.9 72.7 89.0 83.9 72.1
1–19 12.9 14.8 4.4 23.1 22.3 7.0 2.9 6.4 2.5 3.5 4.3 3.5 4.8 5.7 5.9 2.1 2.9 1.8
20–39 15.1 15.7 8.7 23.0 22.2 13.0 7.4 8.4 5.7 3.2 4.4 2.5 4.1 5.8 4.0 2.1 2.9 1.3
40–59 11.3 14.2 9.5 14.9 17.1 11.9 7.8 10.9 7.7 1.6 2.9 2.3 1.7 3.7 3.3 1.5 2.2 1.6
60–79 9.6 9.3 11.1 9.0 8.2 14.0 10.1 10.6 9.1 1.0 1.4 2.4 1.0 1.5 2.3 1.1 1.4 2.4
80 or more 51.2 46.0 66.3 30.0 30.2 54.0 71.9 63.7 75.0 2.9 6.1 17.0 1.7 5.4 11.8 4.3 6.8 20.8
50 or more 65.9 62.2 82.2 45.2 46.7 74.2 86.1 79.5 88.0 4.5 8.6 20.2 3.3 8.0 15.1 6.0 9.2 24.0
90 or more 46.8 41.1 58.8 27.1 25.5 46.0 66.1 58.5 67.9 2.3 5.0 15.6 1.3 4.2 10.6 3.5 5.8 19.2
100 34.3 25.7 34.4 18.3 11.6 21.5 50.1 41.5 43.5 1.0 1.7 7.4 0.5 1.2 4.2 1.5 2.3 9.7
Mean proportion 68.5 64.9 80.3 52.3 52.4 72.8 84.3 78.8 85.7 5.5 10.0 20.5 4.8 10.1 16.4 6.4 9.8 23.4
Mean proportion (recipients only) 68.5 64.9 80.3 52.3 52.4 72.8 84.3 78.8 85.7 45.1 51.9 74.0 36.2 45.7 60.0 57.9 60.7 83.9
Number (thousands) 2,489 3,067 25,395 1,232 1,618 10,564 1,257 1,449 14,831 15,893 3,791 3,232 8,662 1,927 1,353 7,231 1,864 1,879
  Government employee pensions
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 91.4 87.1 84.7 87.2 85.3 79.3 95.6 89.1 88.6 93.5 89.8 85.9 92.7 87.5 88.0 94.6 92.3 84.4
1–19 2.1 2.0 3.4 4.3 2.6 5.5 0 1.4 1.9 1.5 1.7 1.5 2.4 2.6 2.4 0.5 0.7 0.8
20–39 3.2 4.1 4.4 5.3 5.1 6.0 1.2 3.0 3.2 2.1 2.5 1.2 2.8 4.1 1.8 1.2 0.9 0.8
40–59 1.9 3.2 4.1 2.1 3.5 5.1 1.6 2.8 3.4 0.9 1.8 1.7 1.0 2.2 2.1 0.8 1.4 1.5
60–79 1.1 2.6 2.5 0.5 2.5 3.1 1.6 2.8 2.0 0.5 1.3 1.4 0.4 1.6 1.0 0.6 1.1 1.7
80 or more 0.3 1.0 0.9 0.6 1.0 1.0 0 0.9 0.8 1.4 2.8 8.3 0.7 2.0 4.8 2.3 3.6 10.8
50 or more 2.5 5.1 5.3 2.8 4.9 6.4 2.2 5.3 4.5 2.3 4.9 10.3 1.5 4.6 6.4 3.3 5.2 13.1
90 or more 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.6 0.1 0.2 0 0.2 0.2 1.2 2.3 7.6 0.6 1.5 4.2 1.9 3.1 10.0
100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.5 0.8 2.8 0.3 0.4 0.6 0.7 1.2 4.4
Mean proportion 3.0 5.7 6.3 3.7 6.1 8.0 2.2 5.2 5.0 3.0 5.4 10.5 2.5 5.4 7.1 3.4 5.3 12.9
Mean proportion (recipients only) 34.4 43.9 41.1 29.3 41.5 38.6 49.1 47.6 44.2 45.7 52.9 74.1 34.6 43.4 58.7 63.6 68.9 82.7
Number (thousands) 2,489 3,067 25,395 1,232 1,618 10,564 1,257 1,449 14,831 15,893 3,791 3,232 8,662 1,927 1,353 7,231 1,864 1,879
  Private pensions or annuities
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 83.5 72.7 70.4 77.3 67.8 64.9 89.6 78.1 74.3 94.1 90.3 89.3 93.8 89.5 88.3 94.4 91.1 90.0
1–19 6.1 9.4 12.6 9.2 12.3 16.1 3.0 6.1 10.2 2.2 3.3 2.4 2.6 4.1 3.8 1.6 2.5 1.4
20–39 5.3 8.7 9.9 7.7 9.8 12.1 3.0 7.5 8.3 1.2 2.3 1.5 1.4 2.6 2.4 1.0 2.0 0.7
40–59 3.9 6.2 5.2 3.9 5.7 5.2 3.9 6.9 5.2 0.7 1.5 0.7 0.7 1.7 1.1 0.7 1.2 0.4
60–79 0.8 2.2 1.7 1.7 3.1 1.6 0 1.3 1.8 0.5 0.2 0.6 0.6 0.1 0.6 0.5 0.3 0.5
80 or more 0.3 0.8 0.2 0.2 1.3 0.1 0.5 0.1 0.2 1.3 2.5 5.6 0.8 2.1 3.7 1.8 2.9 6.9
50 or more 2.8 5.5 3.6 3.5 7.2 3.4 2.0 3.6 3.8 2.1 3.1 6.3 1.7 2.4 4.6 2.6 3.8 7.5
90 or more 0 0.3 0 0 0.5 0 0 0.1 0 1.0 1.9 4.9 0.6 1.5 3.4 1.4 2.4 6.1
100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.4 0.7 3.0 0.2 0.3 2.1 0.7 1.1 3.6
Mean proportion 4.9 8.6 7.9 6.2 9.9 8.7 3.7 7.2 7.4 2.5 4.2 6.8 2.2 3.9 5.6 2.8 4.5 7.6
Mean proportion (recipients only) 29.7 31.5 26.8 27.1 30.8 24.8 35.1 32.7 28.7 41.7 43.0 63.3 35.3 37.0 48.1 50.2 50.3 76.1
Number (thousands) 2,489 3,067 25,395 1,232 1,618 10,564 1,257 1,449 14,831 15,893 3,791 3,232 8,662 1,927 1,353 7,231 1,864 1,879
  Income from assets
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 66.4 51.2 46.5 53.2 38.8 35.3 79.3 65.1 54.5 43.8 40.8 49.6 34.4 34.4 40.1 55.2 47.4 56.4
1–19 30.2 42.0 41.7 42.5 53.3 50.7 18.1 29.5 35.3 50.1 51.3 38.4 60.4 58.4 47.3 37.8 44.1 32.0
20–39 1.9 3.6 6.8 2.9 3.9 8.4 1.0 3.2 5.6 3.3 4.2 3.5 3.6 4.9 5.1 2.9 3.5 2.4
40–59 0.8 2.0 2.9 1.0 3.1 3.5 0.6 0.8 2.5 1.0 1.2 1.7 0.9 0.9 2.5 1.1 1.4 1.2
60–79 0.2 0.9 1.6 0.2 0.5 1.7 0.2 1.3 1.6 0.3 0.6 1.1 0.2 0.7 0.9 0.3 0.6 1.3
80 or more 0.5 0.3 0.4 0.1 0.4 0.4 0.8 0.2 0.5 1.5 1.8 5.6 0.5 0.7 4.2 2.7 3.0 6.7
50 or more 0.7 2.0 3.1 0.5 2.0 3.3 0.9 2.0 2.9 2.2 3.0 7.2 1.2 2.2 5.5 3.5 3.9 8.4
90 or more 0.3 0 0.1 0 0 0.1 0.6 0 0.1 1.4 1.8 5.6 0.5 0.7 4.2 2.4 2.9 6.7
100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.2 1.6 5.2 0.4 0.6 4.0 2.2 2.6 6.1
Mean proportion 2.2 4.2 6.6 2.9 5.2 7.8 1.6 3.2 5.8 4.5 5.4 9.4 3.8 4.7 8.9 5.2 6.3 9.8
Mean proportion (recipients only) 6.7 8.7 12.4 6.1 8.4 12.1 7.9 9.3 12.7 7.9 9.2 18.7 5.8 7.1 14.8 11.7 11.9 22.6
Number (thousands) 2,489 3,067 25,395 1,232 1,618 10,564 1,257 1,449 14,831 15,893 3,791 3,232 8,662 1,927 1,353 7,231 1,864 1,879
  Cash public assistance
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 91.8 96.2 97.3 97.7 97.0 98.3 86.0 95.3 96.6 94.6 93.3 87.0 97.3 96.6 92.6 91.5 89.9 82.9
1–19 3.8 1.3 1.4 0.9 1.5 1.0 6.7 1.1 1.7 0.6 0.3 0.5 0.8 0.5 0.2 0.4 0.2 0.8
20–39 2.3 1.4 0.8 1.1 0.9 0.3 3.5 1.9 1.1 0.5 0.6 0.8 0.6 1.0 1.2 0.3 0.2 0.5
40–59 1.5 0.9 0.4 0.3 0.5 0.2 2.6 1.3 0.5 0.4 0.9 0.4 0.3 0.6 0.2 0.5 1.2 0.5
60–79 0.6 0.2 0.2 0 0.1 0.2 1.3 0.4 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.4 0.1 0.1
80 or more 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.7 4.7 11.1 0.9 1.1 5.4 7.0 8.4 15.2
50 or more 0.9 0.5 0.3 0.1 0.2 0.3 1.7 0.9 0.3 4.1 5.3 11.6 1.1 1.6 6.0 7.6 9.2 15.6
90 or more 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.6 4.6 11.0 0.8 1.0 5.4 6.9 8.3 15.0
100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.3 4.3 10.6 0.6 0.8 5.1 6.5 7.9 14.6
Mean proportion 2.1 1.1 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.4 3.7 1.6 0.8 4.2 5.4 11.7 1.3 1.8 6.1 7.6 9.2 15.7
Mean proportion (recipients only) 25.9 28.6 23.8 23.9 21.7 23.1 26.3 33.4 24.1 78.1 81.3 89.6 48.9 53.9 82.6 89.1 90.7 91.8
Number (thousands) 2,489 3,067 25,395 1,232 1,618 10,564 1,257 1,449 14,831 15,893 3,791 3,232 8,662 1,927 1,353 7,231 1,864 1,879
NOTES: Units with zero total income or with negative total income, earnings, or income from assets are excluded.
The relative importance of a source of income may not accurately reflect the resources available to elderly persons or elderly aged units. The survey on which these data are based does not include some potentially important resources as income, including lump-sum pension payments and capital gains. In addition, these statistics do not take into consideration noncash benefits that supplement money income (housing and energy subsidies or food stamps) or the amount of savings available to supplement monthly income. Consult the Frequently Asked Questions for further information.
Relative Importance of Income Sources for Units 65 or Older Table 8.A4 Percentage distribution of units, by source of income, race, Hispanic origin, and marital status, 2010
Proportion of income White alone Black alone Asian alone Hispanic origin
All units Married couples Nonmarried persons All units Married couples Nonmarried persons All units Married couples Nonmarried persons All units Married couples Nonmarried persons
  Earnings
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 72.9 59.8 82.8 76.6 56.2 84.3 71.6 58.3 84.1 71.7 60.0 78.2
1–19 4.8 7.1 3.1 2.3 5.0 1.3 2.5 4.3 0.8 1.9 2.7 1.5
20–39 4.4 6.9 2.6 3.8 7.2 2.5 3.0 4.4 1.7 3.1 4.7 2.3
40–59 5.3 8.2 3.1 4.8 8.7 3.4 4.7 7.9 1.6 5.0 7.5 3.6
60–79 5.5 8.6 3.1 4.5 11.9 1.7 5.9 7.6 4.2 5.1 8.3 3.2
80 or more 7.1 9.5 5.4 7.9 10.9 6.8 12.4 17.5 7.5 13.2 16.9 11.1
50 or more 15.4 22.4 10.1 15.2 27.7 10.5 21.3 29.8 13.2 21.2 29.6 16.6
90 or more 5.2 6.1 4.5 6.6 8.5 5.9 9.2 12.9 5.6 11.5 13.5 10.4
100 2.3 2.2 2.3 3.6 2.9 3.9 5.5 8.1 3.1 9.0 9.5 8.7
Mean proportion 15.0 21.7 9.9 14.6 25.8 10.4 19.5 27.9 11.4 20.2 27.8 16.0
Mean proportion (recipients only) 55.4 54.0 57.9 62.4 58.9 66.1 68.5 67.0 72.1 71.3 69.4 73.3
Number (thousands) 24,565 10,561 14,004 2,748 747 2,001 884 431 453 2,040 725 1,315
  Retirement benefits
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 7.4 7.7 7.2 10.8 9.9 11.1 21.5 19.6 23.4 17.7 18.7 17.1
1–19 4.4 6.8 2.5 2.8 6.3 1.5 5.7 8.6 2.9 2.0 3.9 1.0
20–39 8.2 11.9 5.5 6.2 13.1 3.6 7.2 10.0 4.5 6.6 9.7 4.9
40–59 9.0 11.2 7.3 6.1 8.2 5.4 6.4 8.3 4.6 7.0 9.6 5.6
60–79 10.6 13.0 8.8 7.0 10.8 5.5 7.9 8.5 7.3 7.1 8.7 6.2
80 or more 60.4 49.4 68.7 67.2 51.7 72.9 51.3 45.0 57.3 59.6 49.4 65.2
50 or more 75.6 68.1 81.3 77.1 66.5 81.1 60.9 55.7 65.9 69.6 62.3 73.5
90 or more 53.2 41.9 61.8 62.4 46.3 68.4 46.6 40.2 52.7 55.9 44.3 62.3
100 29.1 18.5 37.0 49.9 31.2 56.8 33.3 24.9 41.4 42.9 31.3 49.3
Mean proportion 73.7 66.7 78.9 76.5 67.0 80.0 61.6 57.7 65.4 69.4 62.5 73.1
Mean proportion (recipients only) 79.6 72.3 85.0 85.7 74.4 89.9 78.6 71.7 85.4 84.3 76.9 88.2
Number (thousands) 24,565 10,561 14,004 2,748 747 2,001 884 431 453 2,040 725 1,315
  Social Security
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 10.4 10.6 10.2 15.3 15.4 15.2 24.9 23.5 26.3 19.8 21.4 18.9
1–19 8.6 12.7 5.6 5.7 10.6 3.9 8.7 12.6 5.0 4.2 6.9 2.7
20–39 15.1 20.1 11.4 10.9 20.8 7.2 12.0 14.7 9.4 8.9 12.7 6.9
40–59 15.4 17.6 13.7 11.2 12.6 10.7 10.8 12.5 9.1 9.6 12.1 8.2
60–79 12.9 13.6 12.3 10.2 13.2 9.0 7.1 7.3 7.0 9.4 11.7 8.1
80 or more 37.6 25.4 46.8 46.7 27.3 54.0 36.5 29.5 43.2 48.1 35.3 55.1
50 or more 57.9 47.4 65.7 62.4 45.9 68.5 48.4 43.8 52.8 61.8 53.8 66.2
90 or more 31.1 19.6 39.8 41.9 23.9 48.6 31.3 24.2 38.0 44.2 31.8 51.0
100 19.1 10.1 25.9 35.8 19.3 41.9 24.7 17.7 31.4 35.8 24.0 42.3
Mean proportion 58.4 49.8 64.8 62.4 49.4 67.3 50.5 45.6 55.1 61.8 53.6 66.3
Mean proportion (recipients only) 65.1 55.7 72.2 73.7 58.4 79.4 67.2 59.6 74.8 77.0 68.2 81.8
Number (thousands) 24,565 10,561 14,004 2,748 747 2,001 884 431 453 2,040 725 1,315
  Government employee pensions
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 84.4 79.9 87.7 88.7 83.0 90.9 86.9 85.3 88.4 93.5 90.0 95.4
1–19 3.4 5.5 1.9 1.3 3.0 0.7 1.9 1.7 2.1 1.3 2.9 0.5
20–39 4.2 5.4 3.2 2.3 3.9 1.7 4.5 7.0 2.1 1.1 1.8 0.8
40–59 3.9 4.8 3.2 3.4 5.0 2.8 4.0 3.4 4.7 1.7 2.8 1.2
60–79 2.5 3.0 2.1 1.8 2.9 1.4 1.0 1.2 0.9 1.2 1.0 1.3
80 or more 1.7 1.4 1.9 2.5 2.2 2.6 1.7 1.5 1.9 1.1 1.5 0.9
50 or more 5.9 6.5 5.5 6.0 8.3 5.2 4.8 4.5 5.0 3.0 3.4 2.9
90 or more 1.0 0.7 1.3 1.7 1.4 1.8 0.3 0.6 0.1 0.7 0.9 0.5
100 0.3 0 0.4 0.8 0.3 1.0 0 0 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.3
Mean proportion 6.8 8.0 6.0 6.1 8.2 5.4 5.8 6.1 5.6 3.2 4.3 2.5
Mean proportion (recipients only) 43.9 39.6 49.1 54.5 48.2 58.9 44.2 41.1 47.9 48.4 42.6 55.5
Number (thousands) 24,565 10,561 14,004 2,748 747 2,001 884 431 453 2,040 725 1,315
  Private pensions or annuities
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 71.4 67.0 74.6 78.8 69.0 82.5 82.4 77.6 86.9 85.5 81.5 87.8
1–19 12.3 15.1 10.1 6.0 10.5 4.3 8.4 11.8 5.1 6.2 8.2 5.1
20–39 9.3 11.1 7.9 7.5 12.8 5.5 3.8 4.4 3.2 4.6 7.8 2.8
40–59 4.8 4.8 4.8 4.5 5.4 4.1 3.1 4.1 2.1 2.5 2.2 2.6
60–79 1.6 1.5 1.6 1.4 1.0 1.6 1.5 1.5 1.6 0.8 0 1.2
80 or more 0.7 0.5 0.9 1.8 1.3 2.0 0.9 0.6 1.2 0.5 0.4 0.5
50 or more 3.9 3.5 4.2 4.4 3.4 4.8 3.5 2.9 4.0 2.1 0.9 2.7
90 or more 0.5 0.3 0.6 1.6 1.1 1.7 0.7 0.6 0.7 0.4 0.2 0.4
100 0.2 0.2 0.3 1.2 1.0 1.3 0.5 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.2 0.2
Mean proportion 7.9 8.4 7.6 7.7 9.3 7.1 5.4 6.0 4.8 4.1 4.4 3.9
Mean proportion (recipients only) 27.7 25.4 29.9 36.4 30.1 40.6 30.4 26.6 36.4 28.1 23.9 31.7
Number (thousands) 24,565 10,561 14,004 2,748 747 2,001 884 431 453 2,040 725 1,315
  Income from assets
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 43.1 33.5 50.4 74.2 57.8 80.3 59.4 51.9 66.6 73.2 63.6 78.5
1–19 43.9 51.7 38.1 22.4 36.8 17.0 31.9 41.4 23.0 22.2 30.7 17.4
20–39 7.0 8.5 5.8 2.4 4.3 1.7 4.5 3.6 5.4 2.8 3.9 2.3
40–59 3.1 3.7 2.6 0.5 0.5 0.5 1.3 1.5 1.2 0.4 0.6 0.3
60–79 1.8 1.8 1.8 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.5 0.6 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.4
80 or more 1.1 0.9 1.2 0.3 0.4 0.3 2.4 1.1 3.5 1.0 1.1 1.0
50 or more 3.9 3.9 3.9 0.7 0.8 0.7 3.4 2.3 4.5 1.5 1.4 1.6
90 or more 0.7 0.6 0.8 0.3 0.4 0.2 2.2 0.7 3.5 1.0 1.1 1.0
100 0.6 0.5 0.7 0.3 0.4 0.2 1.9 0.2 3.5 1.0 1.1 1.0
Mean proportion 7.6 8.4 6.9 2.0 3.1 1.6 6.1 5.2 6.9 3.0 3.6 2.7
Mean proportion (recipients only) 13.3 12.7 14.0 7.8 7.2 8.3 14.9 10.8 20.6 11.2 9.9 12.4
Number (thousands) 24,565 10,561 14,004 2,748 747 2,001 884 431 453 2,040 725 1,315
  Cash public assistance
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 97.1 98.2 96.2 91.2 94.9 89.8 87.1 90.1 84.3 89.4 91.8 88.0
1–19 1.0 0.7 1.2 3.3 2.7 3.5 2.2 1.4 2.9 3.0 2.6 3.2
20–39 0.7 0.4 0.9 1.4 0.8 1.7 1.4 2.1 0.8 2.7 2.1 3.0
40–59 0.3 0.1 0.4 0.8 0.3 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.1
60–79 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.3 0.4 1.0 2.1 0 0.6 0.8 0.4
80 or more 0.9 0.5 1.2 2.9 1.0 3.6 7.2 3.1 11.0 3.3 1.6 4.3
50 or more 1.0 0.6 1.4 3.6 1.6 4.3 9.1 6.0 12.0 4.5 3.1 5.2
90 or more 0.8 0.5 1.1 2.8 1.0 3.5 7.1 3.1 10.9 3.3 1.6 4.3
100 0.8 0.4 1.1 2.8 1.0 3.4 7.1 3.1 10.9 3.2 1.3 4.2
Mean proportion 1.3 0.7 1.8 4.3 1.8 5.2 9.1 5.9 12.1 5.3 3.5 6.3
Mean proportion (recipients only) 45.8 42.0 47.2 48.3 35.2 50.8 70.6 60.0 77.0 50.0 43.1 52.6
Number (thousands) 24,565 10,561 14,004 2,748 747 2,001 884 431 453 2,040 725 1,315
NOTES: Units with zero total income or with negative total income, earnings, or income from assets are excluded.
The relative importance of a source of income may not accurately reflect the resources available to elderly persons or elderly aged units. The survey on which these data are based does not include some potentially important resources as income, including lump-sum pension payments and capital gains. In addition, these statistics do not take into consideration noncash benefits that supplement money income (housing and energy subsidies or food stamps) or the amount of savings available to supplement monthly income. Consult the Frequently Asked Questions for further information.
Relative Importance of Income Sources for Units 65 or Older Table 8.A5 Percentage distribution of units, by source of income, marital status, and quintile of total money income, 2010
Proportion of income All units Married couples Nonmarried persons
First Second Third Fourth Fifth First Second Third Fourth Fifth First Second Third Fourth Fifth
  Earnings
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 95.3 91.8 81.9 63.4 36.4 89.6 77.9 61.7 44.8 24.3 96.1 95.0 91.2 79.4 56.0
1–19 0.8 2.3 3.8 7.6 7.5 2.5 5.7 9.0 9.7 7.5 0.9 1.3 2.4 3.5 5.5
20–39 0.7 1.8 3.8 6.6 8.4 1.4 5.8 8.4 9.5 9.1 0.1 1.2 2.1 4.0 4.8
40–59 0.3 1.1 3.9 8.7 11.6 1.7 4.0 9.5 11.2 14.7 0.2 0.2 1.6 5.5 7.3
60–79 0.3 0.6 2.3 5.9 17.3 1.0 2.5 5.6 14.5 19.9 0.3 0.2 0.5 2.6 10.7
80 or more 2.7 2.5 4.3 7.8 18.8 3.8 4.1 5.8 10.3 24.5 2.4 2.1 2.2 5.0 15.6
50 or more 3.1 3.7 8.8 17.8 42.5 5.9 8.8 16.1 30.8 52.3 2.7 2.4 3.7 10.8 29.8
90 or more 2.6 2.2 3.8 6.2 11.9 3.4 3.3 4.4 6.7 14.2 2.2 1.8 2.0 4.5 12.2
100 2.0 1.9 2.3 2.8 3.4 2.5 2.1 1.6 2.9 3.1 1.9 1.6 1.5 2.8 4.7
Mean proportion 3.2 4.1 9.2 18.6 38.8 6.0 9.9 17.5 29.3 47.5 2.7 2.7 4.2 11.0 28.1
Mean proportion (recipients only) 68.8 49.7 50.8 50.8 61.0 57.1 44.9 45.7 53.1 62.7 70.3 55.2 47.2 53.3 63.8
Number (thousands) 5,067 5,904 5,887 5,883 5,886 2,284 2,399 2,409 2,406 2,420 2,773 3,481 3,493 3,481 3,482
  Retirement benefits
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 13.6 3.7 4.8 6.8 12.8 10.3 4.2 4.5 7.8 14.6 16.9 3.7 2.7 5.3 13.6
1–19 0.3 0.4 1.0 2.8 16.4 0.5 1.1 2.2 6.2 24.1 0.2 0.4 0.2 1.4 9.4
20–39 0.5 1.1 4.0 9.7 23.8 2.2 3.2 7.7 19.7 26.4 0.5 0.3 1.2 5.1 18.1
40–59 2.1 3.3 8.1 14.6 14.3 3.5 6.7 14.5 16.3 13.3 1.5 2.6 4.1 11.9 14.0
60–79 4.6 5.7 11.2 16.0 12.6 4.5 13.3 17.8 17.3 10.2 4.8 3.9 7.0 13.1 12.2
80 or more 78.9 85.9 70.9 50.2 20.1 79.1 71.5 53.4 32.7 11.3 76.0 89.1 84.8 63.2 32.7
50 or more 85.0 93.3 86.2 73.7 39.3 85.4 88.3 79.3 58.0 27.6 81.9 94.9 93.7 82.1 51.5
90 or more 74.7 78.6 62.0 41.7 15.4 73.0 61.8 43.6 25.3 8.2 72.4 83.9 75.9 54.4 27.3
100 58.5 51.9 31.8 15.0 3.1 49.2 27.3 15.4 6.7 0.8 58.6 61.9 47.3 25.2 9.5
Mean proportion 82.5 90.3 82.2 70.1 43.8 83.2 83.2 73.8 58.1 34.6 79.5 92.2 90.2 78.1 53.4
Mean proportion (recipients only) 95.5 93.7 86.3 75.2 50.2 92.8 86.8 77.2 63.0 40.5 95.7 95.8 92.8 82.5 61.8
Number (thousands) 5,067 5,904 5,887 5,883 5,886 2,284 2,399 2,409 2,406 2,420 2,773 3,481 3,493 3,481 3,482
  Social Security
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 15.6 5.7 7.1 10.9 17.7 12.8 6.2 7.2 10.5 20.1 19.5 5.0 4.7 8.3 20.4
1–19 0.6 0.8 2.4 6.2 30.8 0.9 1.8 4.3 12.3 42.9 0.4 0.8 0.7 3.4 20.4
20–39 1.1 2.0 7.1 22.8 38.2 2.7 5.7 15.9 41.3 33.4 1.1 0.7 2.4 10.8 37.0
40–59 2.5 5.1 20.8 32.8 11.3 4.2 10.7 36.9 30.0 3.1 1.8 3.1 7.4 33.0 18.5
60–79 5.8 12.5 22.6 18.7 1.4 7.0 26.4 28.1 4.4 0.4 5.5 6.3 17.3 26.0 2.3
80 or more 74.5 73.9 39.9 8.5 0.5 72.4 49.3 7.5 1.4 0.2 71.7 84.0 67.5 18.5 1.5
50 or more 82.0 89.3 74.5 42.2 5.1 82.1 81.5 57.0 15.3 1.4 78.4 92.5 88.9 62.6 8.9
90 or more 69.5 62.2 29.7 4.3 0.3 64.2 34.4 2.6 0.8 0.1 67.8 76.5 52.6 11.6 1.3
100 53.8 39.7 14.3 1.6 0 42.1 12.9 0.8 0.4 0 54.2 56.0 30.1 4.9 1.0
Mean proportion 79.2 83.7 66.5 44.7 21.3 78.5 72.1 50.2 32.7 16.0 76.0 88.9 81.4 55.3 25.2
Mean proportion (recipients only) 93.9 88.8 71.6 50.2 25.9 90.1 76.9 54.1 36.5 20.0 94.3 93.6 85.5 60.3 31.6
Number (thousands) 5,067 5,904 5,887 5,883 5,886 2,284 2,399 2,409 2,406 2,420 2,773 3,481 3,493 3,481 3,482
  Government employee pensions
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 98.2 94.9 86.7 75.4 71.0 95.9 90.1 75.9 70.7 69.7 98.7 97.3 93.1 81.5 72.2
1–19 0.4 1.4 2.7 3.9 7.1 1.6 2.8 4.9 6.4 10.0 0.2 0.7 1.6 3.1 2.9
20–39 0.4 1.6 3.4 6.1 8.1 1.0 2.5 7.3 7.6 8.8 0.2 0.9 2.1 4.6 6.5
40–59 0.2 0.9 4.0 6.6 6.8 0.4 2.0 6.9 8.1 6.1 0.2 0.4 1.4 6.3 6.8
60–79 0.2 0.4 1.5 4.5 5.0 0.3 1.5 3.2 5.1 4.1 0.1 0.3 0.5 2.2 6.6
80 or more 0.6 0.8 1.6 3.5 2.0 0.8 1.2 1.8 2.1 1.2 0.7 0.4 1.2 2.4 5.0
50 or more 0.9 1.6 4.6 11.0 10.6 1.2 3.2 7.9 11.3 8.3 0.8 0.7 2.5 6.9 15.4
90 or more 0.5 0.6 0.9 2.2 1.0 0.3 0.6 1.4 0.7 0.5 0.6 0.4 0.9 1.3 3.2
100 0.4 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.2 0 0 0 0.6 0.3 0.3 0.5 0.9
Mean proportion 1.0 2.2 5.9 11.9 12.0 1.6 4.2 10.0 12.6 10.7 0.9 1.1 3.1 8.6 14.9
Mean proportion (recipients only) 52.0 42.5 44.6 48.3 41.3 39.1 42.1 41.6 42.9 35.5 65.9 40.6 44.8 46.5 53.7
Number (thousands) 5,067 5,904 5,887 5,883 5,886 2,284 2,399 2,409 2,406 2,420 2,773 3,481 3,493 3,481 3,482
  Private pensions or annuities
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 94.9 82.0 65.7 58.7 64.5 90.2 67.2 54.0 58.7 69.0 95.6 91.6 75.1 57.2 64.7
1–19 1.9 11.2 14.0 13.5 15.4 5.9 19.2 16.5 15.3 16.0 1.2 5.3 15.2 12.2 10.5
20–39 1.2 4.8 12.7 15.1 9.8 1.6 11.3 20.1 13.3 8.1 0.8 1.9 7.5 17.2 8.6
40–59 0.3 0.8 6.2 9.7 5.9 0.7 1.6 8.4 8.9 4.2 0.2 0.3 1.3 11.0 9.5
60–79 0.3 0.4 1.0 2.3 3.6 0.4 0.3 0.8 3.2 2.5 0.5 0.2 0.5 1.7 5.1
80 or more 1.4 0.8 0.5 0.7 0.7 1.2 0.4 0.2 0.5 0.3 1.8 0.7 0.5 0.5 1.6
50 or more 1.7 1.4 2.7 6.2 7.1 1.6 1.1 2.7 7.7 4.3 2.2 1.1 1.3 4.9 11.2
90 or more 1.2 0.6 0.4 0.5 0.4 1.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.1 1.6 0.6 0.3 0.5 0.9
100 0.9 0.4 0.3 0.2 0 0.9 0.2 0.1 0.1 0 1.2 0.4 0.1 0.4 0.2
Mean proportion 2.2 3.9 9.3 12.7 10.2 2.7 6.4 12.4 12.4 7.6 2.4 2.0 5.1 13.5 13.0
Mean proportion (recipients only) 42.7 21.8 27.0 30.7 28.7 27.5 19.6 27.0 29.9 24.5 55.5 23.6 20.6 31.6 36.8
Number (thousands) 5,067 5,904 5,887 5,883 5,886 2,284 2,399 2,409 2,406 2,420 2,773 3,481 3,493 3,481 3,482
  Income from assets
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 77.4 63.5 46.7 34.0 17.0 64.6 44.7 35.2 23.7 12.5 81.1 73.0 58.4 40.8 25.7
1–19 17.8 32.8 44.3 50.8 57.7 29.9 47.9 52.7 59.2 60.7 13.8 24.5 37.0 46.8 48.2
20–39 1.3 2.7 6.0 9.9 11.5 2.2 5.9 9.5 11.6 10.7 1.2 1.4 3.6 7.8 11.6
40–59 0.4 0.7 2.1 3.3 6.9 0.7 1.3 2.1 4.3 8.3 0.1 1.0 0.7 3.1 6.2
60–79 0.1 0.1 0.6 1.7 5.2 0.3 0.1 0.5 0.9 6.2 0 0 0.2 1.1 6.3
80 or more 3.0 0.1 0.3 0.3 1.7 2.3 0.1 0 0.2 1.6 3.7 0 0.1 0.4 2.0
50 or more 3.2 0.4 1.5 2.8 9.7 2.7 0.5 0.5 2.8 11.2 3.8 0.2 0.5 2.5 10.6
90 or more 2.9 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.4 2.3 0.1 0 0 0.3 3.7 0 0.1 0.2 0.7
100 2.9 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 2.3 0 0 0 0 3.6 0 0.1 0.1 0.2
Mean proportion 4.2 2.6 5.3 7.8 14.4 4.7 4.4 5.9 8.9 15.5 4.6 1.6 3.2 6.9 14.6
Mean proportion (recipients only) 18.6 7.2 9.9 11.9 17.3 13.2 7.9 9.2 11.7 17.7 24.4 5.9 7.8 11.6 19.6
Number (thousands) 5,067 5,904 5,887 5,883 5,886 2,284 2,399 2,409 2,406 2,420 2,773 3,481 3,493 3,481 3,482
  Cash public assistance
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 86.4 96.3 98.5 98.9 99.3 92.8 98.4 98.7 99.0 99.1 82.7 93.8 97.9 98.8 99.6
1–19 3.6 1.3 0.6 0.8 0.5 1.3 0.8 1.1 0.7 0.6 4.4 2.6 0.8 0.6 0.2
20–39 2.5 0.7 0.4 0.3 0.2 1.2 0.4 0.2 0.3 0.2 2.9 1.4 0.5 0.3 0.2
40–59 1.0 0.7 0.2 0 0 0.8 0.2 0 0 0 1.0 0.7 0.7 0.1 0
60–79 0.4 0.2 0.1 0 0 0.9 0.1 0 0 0 0.4 0.1 0 0.1 0
80 or more 6.1 0.8 0.1 0 0 3.0 0.2 0 0 0 8.5 1.4 0.1 0.1 0
50 or more 7.0 1.2 0.3 0 0 4.2 0.5 0 0 0 9.3 1.8 0.3 0.2 0
90 or more 6.0 0.7 0.1 0 0 3.0 0.2 0 0 0 8.5 1.3 0.1 0.1 0
100 5.8 0.7 0.1 0 0 2.8 0.2 0 0 0 8.2 1.3 0.1 0.1 0
Mean proportion 7.9 1.6 0.5 0.2 0.1 4.5 0.5 0.2 0.1 0.1 10.5 2.5 0.6 0.4 0.1
Mean proportion (recipients only) 58.1 43.9 32.5 15.7 10.7 62.1 34.0 13.2 13.7 8.9 60.9 40.2 30.0 28.9 21.8
Number (thousands) 5,067 5,904 5,887 5,883 5,886 2,284 2,399 2,409 2,406 2,420 2,773 3,481 3,493 3,481 3,482
NOTES: Units with zero total income or with negative total income, earnings, or income from assets are excluded.
Quintile limits are $12,554, $20,145, $32,602, and $57,957 for all units; $24,970, $36,967, $54,360, and $86,754 for married couples; and $10,037, $14,525, $20,433, and $34,417 for nonmarried persons.
The relative importance of a source of income may not accurately reflect the resources available to elderly persons or elderly aged units. The survey on which these data are based does not include some potentially important resources as income, including lump-sum pension payments and capital gains. In addition, these statistics do not take into consideration noncash benefits that supplement money income (housing and energy subsidies or food stamps) or the amount of savings available to supplement monthly income. Consult the Frequently Asked Questions for further information.
Relative Importance of Family Income Sources for Aged Persons Table 8.B1 Percentage distribution, by source of family income, sex, and age, 2010
Proportion of family income All persons Men Women
55–61 62–64 65 or older 55–61 62–64 65 or older 55–61 62–64 65 or older
  Earnings
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 14.0 26.5 61.4 12.6 23.9 57.9 15.3 29.0 64.1
1–19 2.7 5.8 5.7 2.2 5.4 6.2 3.2 6.2 5.2
20–39 3.2 6.4 6.0 2.8 6.1 6.7 3.6 6.7 5.5
40–59 6.5 8.9 7.6 5.6 8.8 8.6 7.3 9.1 6.9
60–79 12.2 13.0 8.9 11.7 12.8 9.5 12.5 13.1 8.5
80 or more 61.4 39.3 10.4 65.0 43.0 11.1 58.1 35.8 9.8
50 or more 77.5 57.0 23.5 80.1 60.3 25.4 74.9 53.9 22.0
90 or more 51.7 31.2 6.3 55.2 34.6 6.8 48.5 28.0 5.8
100 18.6 10.3 2.5 19.1 11.0 2.7 18.0 9.7 2.4
Mean proportion 72.3 53.6 22.1 74.9 56.8 23.9 69.9 50.6 20.7
Mean proportion (recipients only) 84.1 73.0 57.2 85.7 74.7 56.7 82.5 71.2 57.6
Number (thousands) 26,104 9,940 38,457 12,645 4,798 16,756 13,458 5,142 21,701
  Retirement benefits
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 67.8 38.0 8.2 72.3 42.3 8.8 63.7 34.1 7.8
1–19 8.3 12.8 7.6 7.5 13.1 8.1 9.0 12.5 7.3
20–39 8.3 12.3 11.7 7.2 12.3 12.7 9.4 12.2 11.0
40–59 4.6 9.8 10.4 3.5 10.0 11.1 5.6 9.6 10.0
60–79 2.7 5.9 11.5 2.2 4.9 11.9 3.2 7.0 11.2
80 or more 8.3 21.2 50.5 7.4 17.5 47.5 9.1 24.7 52.9
50 or more 12.9 31.9 67.0 11.0 27.0 64.8 14.8 36.5 68.7
90 or more 7.0 17.8 43.7 6.3 14.6 40.6 7.6 20.8 46.1
100 4.1 9.5 22.3 3.8 7.3 20.1 4.4 11.5 23.9
Mean proportion 15.4 34.5 66.6 13.3 30.3 64.6 17.5 38.4 68.2
Mean proportion (recipients only) 48.0 55.6 72.6 47.8 52.4 70.8 48.1 58.3 73.9
Number (thousands) 26,104 9,940 38,457 12,645 4,798 16,756 13,458 5,142 21,701
  Social Security
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 78.8 47.9 11.1 82.9 53.4 11.8 74.9 42.8 10.6
1–19 7.0 16.1 12.6 5.6 16.5 13.8 8.3 15.8 11.7
20–39 5.8 13.7 18.6 4.0 12.6 20.4 7.4 14.8 17.2
40–59 2.6 8.2 15.8 2.1 6.9 16.8 3.1 9.4 15.0
60–79 1.5 4.4 12.4 1.2 3.3 11.9 1.8 5.5 12.7
80 or more 4.3 9.6 29.5 4.2 7.3 25.4 4.5 11.8 32.8
50 or more 7.0 17.7 49.2 6.3 13.5 45.0 7.6 21.6 52.3
90 or more 3.6 8.2 23.6 3.7 6.3 20.2 3.6 9.9 26.3
100 2.8 5.8 13.7 2.8 4.4 11.6 2.8 7.0 15.3
Mean proportion 9.0 22.3 51.7 7.7 18.4 48.6 10.2 25.9 54.2
Mean proportion (recipients only) 42.4 42.8 58.2 45.3 39.6 55.0 40.5 45.3 60.6
Number (thousands) 26,104 9,940 38,457 12,645 4,798 16,756 13,458 5,142 21,701
  Government employee pensions
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 91.5 86.5 83.4 92.5 87.5 82.5 90.6 85.5 84.1
1–19 2.5 3.0 4.2 2.4 2.5 4.4 2.5 3.4 4.0
20–39 3.1 4.1 4.6 2.8 4.0 4.7 3.4 4.3 4.5
40–59 1.2 3.1 3.9 1.0 2.9 4.1 1.5 3.2 3.8
60–79 0.7 1.7 2.4 0.4 1.6 2.6 0.9 1.8 2.2
80 or more 1.0 1.6 1.5 0.9 1.5 1.6 1.0 1.7 1.4
50 or more 2.2 4.9 5.7 1.8 4.5 6.2 2.6 5.2 5.4
90 or more 0.8 1.0 0.9 0.8 1.0 0.9 0.8 1.1 0.9
100 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.2
Mean proportion 3.2 5.8 6.8 2.7 5.4 7.3 3.6 6.2 6.5
Mean proportion (recipients only) 37.3 42.8 41.2 35.8 42.9 41.5 38.4 42.6 40.9
Number (thousands) 26,104 9,940 38,457 12,645 4,798 16,756 13,458 5,142 21,701
  Private pensions or annuities
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 89.9 79.7 70.7 91.6 80.4 68.7 88.3 79.0 72.3
1–19 4.7 8.6 13.5 3.9 7.7 14.1 5.4 9.4 13.0
20–39 2.4 6.1 9.4 2.0 6.1 9.8 2.8 6.0 9.1
40–59 1.3 3.2 4.4 1.0 3.1 5.3 1.6 3.3 3.7
60–79 0.7 1.1 1.5 0.7 1.0 1.7 0.7 1.2 1.3
80 or more 1.0 1.4 0.5 0.9 1.7 0.5 1.2 1.1 0.6
50 or more 2.2 3.7 3.5 1.9 3.9 3.9 2.5 3.5 3.1
90 or more 0.7 0.9 0.3 0.6 1.1 0.3 0.9 0.6 0.4
100 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.4 0.2 0.4 0.3 0.2
Mean proportion 3.2 6.1 7.6 2.7 6.2 8.3 3.6 6.0 7.1
Mean proportion (recipients only) 31.5 30.0 25.9 31.7 31.5 26.5 31.3 28.6 25.4
Number (thousands) 26,104 9,940 38,457 12,645 4,798 16,756 13,458 5,142 21,701
  Income from assets
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 42.3 41.4 42.2 40.7 40.0 40.2 43.7 42.7 43.8
1–19 52.1 51.4 45.7 53.5 52.8 47.2 50.7 50.0 44.6
20–39 3.5 4.2 6.9 3.6 4.0 7.3 3.4 4.4 6.5
40–59 1.0 1.8 2.9 1.1 1.8 3.0 0.9 1.9 2.8
60–79 0.3 0.6 1.5 0.3 0.7 1.5 0.4 0.4 1.4
80 or more 0.9 0.6 0.8 0.8 0.6 0.7 1.0 0.6 0.8
50 or more 1.6 2.0 3.3 1.5 2.3 3.3 1.7 1.7 3.3
90 or more 0.8 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.9 0.6 0.5
100 0.7 0.4 0.4 0.6 0.4 0.4 0.7 0.5 0.4
Mean proportion 4.0 4.7 7.0 4.0 4.8 7.2 4.0 4.6 6.8
Mean proportion (recipients only) 7.0 8.0 12.0 6.8 7.9 12.0 7.1 8.1 12.0
Number (thousands) 26,104 9,940 38,457 12,645 4,798 16,756 13,458 5,142 21,701
  Cash public assistance
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 93.6 94.4 95.3 94.9 94.4 96.2 92.5 94.4 94.7
1–19 2.4 2.1 2.3 1.9 2.0 1.9 2.8 2.2 2.7
20–39 1.1 1.0 1.0 0.8 1.0 0.8 1.3 1.0 1.2
40–59 0.6 0.8 0.4 0.5 0.7 0.4 0.7 0.9 0.5
60–79 0.3 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.4 0.1 0.2
80 or more 2.0 1.5 0.7 1.7 1.8 0.7 2.3 1.3 0.7
50 or more 2.5 2.1 1.0 2.1 2.3 1.0 2.9 1.9 1.0
90 or more 1.9 1.5 0.7 1.7 1.7 0.6 2.1 1.3 0.7
100 1.7 1.4 0.6 1.5 1.5 0.6 1.8 1.3 0.7
Mean proportion 3.0 2.5 1.5 2.5 2.7 1.3 3.5 2.3 1.6
Mean proportion (recipients only) 47.1 44.7 32.2 47.9 47.4 34.3 46.7 42.1 31.1
Number (thousands) 26,104 9,940 38,457 12,645 4,798 16,756 13,458 5,142 21,701
NOTES: Persons in families with zero total income or with negative total income, earnings, or income from assets are excluded.
The relative importance of a source of income may not accurately reflect the resources available to elderly persons or elderly aged units. The survey on which these data are based does not include some potentially important resources as income, including lump-sum pension payments and capital gains. In addition, these statistics do not take into consideration noncash benefits that supplement money income (housing and energy subsidies or food stamps) or the amount of savings available to supplement monthly income. Consult the Frequently Asked Questions for further information.
Relative Importance of Family Income Sources for Persons 65 or Older Table 8.B2 Percentage distribution, by income source, sex, and age, 2010
Proportion of family income All persons Men Women
65–69 70–74 75–79 80 or older 65–69 70–74 75–79 80 or older 65–69 70–74 75–79 80 or older
  Earnings
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 43.1 59.5 69.4 78.5 38.4 55.7 68.0 79.0 47.1 62.7 70.5 78.2
1–19 6.8 6.9 5.8 3.1 6.9 7.4 6.9 3.4 6.7 6.5 5.0 2.9
20–39 8.4 7.0 5.2 3.0 8.7 8.3 5.4 3.5 8.0 5.9 5.1 2.8
40–59 10.8 8.8 6.1 4.0 12.0 9.8 6.9 4.0 9.8 8.0 5.4 4.0
60–79 12.8 9.7 6.6 5.5 13.8 10.8 6.0 4.8 11.9 8.8 6.9 5.9
80 or more 18.2 8.0 6.9 5.8 20.1 8.0 6.7 5.3 16.5 8.1 7.0 6.2
50 or more 36.9 22.5 16.6 13.5 41.1 24.3 16.1 12.2 33.4 20.9 17.0 14.4
90 or more 11.9 4.5 3.9 3.0 13.3 4.7 3.5 2.9 10.6 4.4 4.2 3.1
100 4.3 2.3 1.7 1.3 4.5 2.5 1.5 1.4 4.0 2.0 1.8 1.3
Mean proportion 34.6 21.4 16.1 12.4 37.9 23.0 16.1 11.6 31.8 20.0 16.1 13.0
Mean proportion (recipients only) 60.7 52.9 52.5 58.0 61.5 52.0 50.2 55.3 60.0 53.8 54.4 59.6
Number (thousands) 11,908 9,088 6,965 10,496 5,498 4,167 3,000 4,091 6,410 4,922 3,965 6,405
  Retirement benefits
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 14.3 6.5 5.2 4.8 15.4 6.9 4.9 4.7 13.3 6.2 5.5 4.9
1–19 11.4 6.7 5.6 5.6 12.6 6.8 5.5 5.1 10.3 6.5 5.6 6.0
20–39 14.8 12.9 9.4 8.6 16.1 14.2 8.8 9.3 13.7 11.8 9.9 8.2
40–59 12.1 11.3 10.8 7.6 12.5 11.7 12.1 7.7 11.8 10.9 9.8 7.5
60–79 11.6 11.7 12.2 10.7 10.9 12.8 12.5 11.8 12.1 10.8 11.9 10.0
80 or more 35.9 51.0 56.8 62.6 32.5 47.6 56.1 61.4 38.8 53.8 57.3 63.4
50 or more 53.1 68.2 74.1 77.2 49.0 66.2 74.6 77.6 56.6 69.9 73.7 77.0
90 or more 30.6 43.2 49.3 55.1 27.8 39.9 47.6 53.1 33.1 46.0 50.6 56.4
100 15.1 22.6 25.2 28.2 14.3 20.4 24.3 24.6 15.8 24.4 25.9 30.5
Mean proportion 54.5 67.8 72.6 75.4 51.4 65.8 72.6 75.2 57.1 69.4 72.6 75.6
Mean proportion (recipients only) 63.6 72.5 76.6 79.3 60.7 70.7 76.3 78.9 65.9 74.0 76.8 79.5
Number (thousands) 11,908 9,088 6,965 10,496 5,498 4,167 3,000 4,091 6,410 4,922 3,965 6,405
  Social Security
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 18.7 8.9 7.7 6.6 19.6 9.8 6.8 6.8 17.9 8.2 8.4 6.4
1–19 16.9 11.8 10.3 10.1 18.6 12.5 10.4 11.1 15.5 11.2 10.2 9.4
20–39 20.8 20.7 17.8 14.8 21.6 22.8 19.9 16.9 20.1 19.0 16.2 13.5
40–59 15.0 16.7 17.5 14.8 15.2 17.0 18.0 17.8 14.7 16.5 17.2 12.8
60–79 9.4 12.8 13.5 14.5 8.0 12.7 14.1 14.6 10.6 12.8 13.1 14.5
80 or more 19.2 29.0 33.1 39.3 17.0 25.2 30.8 32.8 21.2 32.3 34.9 43.4
50 or more 35.0 49.8 54.5 61.1 31.3 46.2 53.2 56.3 38.1 53.0 55.5 64.1
90 or more 15.5 22.7 26.5 31.7 13.5 20.1 24.8 26.1 17.3 24.9 27.9 35.3
100 8.9 14.4 15.2 17.5 8.0 12.4 14.9 13.2 9.7 16.1 15.4 20.3
Mean proportion 40.4 52.7 56.4 60.7 37.6 49.8 55.5 56.8 42.8 55.0 57.1 63.2
Mean proportion (recipients only) 49.7 57.8 61.1 65.0 46.8 55.3 59.6 61.0 52.1 59.9 62.3 67.6
Number (thousands) 11,908 9,088 6,965 10,496 5,498 4,167 3,000 4,091 6,410 4,922 3,965 6,405
  Government employee pensions
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 83.1 83.3 82.3 84.6 83.8 82.2 81.1 82.1 82.4 84.2 83.2 86.3
1–19 4.7 4.4 3.9 3.7 4.8 5.0 4.1 3.5 4.6 3.8 3.7 3.7
20–39 4.7 4.7 4.9 4.1 4.5 5.0 5.5 4.1 4.9 4.5 4.4 4.0
40–59 3.6 3.8 4.8 3.9 3.4 3.8 4.9 4.8 3.7 3.7 4.7 3.3
60–79 2.2 2.7 2.4 2.4 2.2 2.7 2.7 3.1 2.3 2.7 2.1 1.9
80 or more 1.7 1.2 1.8 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.7 2.3 2.0 1.1 1.9 0.8
50 or more 5.7 5.6 6.5 5.5 5.1 5.8 6.8 7.5 6.1 5.4 6.3 4.2
90 or more 0.9 0.8 1.1 0.8 0.5 1.0 0.9 1.2 1.2 0.7 1.2 0.5
100 0.2 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.1
Mean proportion 6.8 6.7 7.5 6.5 6.3 7.0 7.9 8.4 7.2 6.5 7.3 5.3
Mean proportion (recipients only) 40.0 40.2 42.6 42.4 38.7 39.5 41.7 46.6 41.1 40.9 43.5 38.9
Number (thousands) 11,908 9,088 6,965 10,496 5,498 4,167 3,000 4,091 6,410 4,922 3,965 6,405
  Private pensions or annuities
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 74.3 69.5 68.7 69.0 73.0 68.4 67.0 64.4 75.4 70.4 70.0 72.0
1–19 11.9 13.9 14.3 14.3 12.9 14.3 14.7 14.9 11.0 13.6 14.1 13.8
20–39 7.4 9.9 10.4 10.5 7.2 9.7 10.9 12.4 7.6 10.1 10.0 9.3
40–59 4.4 4.7 4.2 4.3 4.8 5.5 4.6 6.2 3.9 4.1 3.9 3.1
60–79 1.4 1.4 1.9 1.3 1.5 1.7 2.4 1.5 1.3 1.2 1.5 1.2
80 or more 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.7 0.5 0.5 0.5
50 or more 3.6 3.5 3.6 3.2 3.6 4.2 3.8 4.0 3.5 3.0 3.5 2.7
90 or more 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.2 0.2 0.6 0.4 0.3 0.2
100 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.1 0.1 0
Mean proportion 6.8 8.0 8.0 7.8 7.0 8.5 8.6 9.5 6.6 7.6 7.5 6.8
Mean proportion (recipients only) 26.6 26.2 25.6 25.3 26.1 26.8 26.2 26.7 27.0 25.7 25.0 24.1
Number (thousands) 11,908 9,088 6,965 10,496 5,498 4,167 3,000 4,091 6,410 4,922 3,965 6,405
  Income from assets
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 40.5 43.6 42.8 42.7 40.2 41.0 41.6 38.5 40.7 45.8 43.6 45.3
1–19 49.0 44.6 44.6 43.8 49.9 46.3 45.4 45.7 48.2 43.1 44.0 42.6
20–39 6.0 7.3 7.1 7.4 5.6 8.3 7.3 8.5 6.3 6.4 6.9 6.7
40–59 2.8 2.5 3.3 3.1 2.8 2.1 3.7 3.8 2.8 2.7 3.1 2.7
60–79 1.4 1.3 1.5 1.7 1.3 1.5 1.2 2.1 1.4 1.2 1.7 1.5
80 or more 0.4 0.8 0.7 1.3 0.2 0.8 0.8 1.3 0.5 0.8 0.7 1.3
50 or more 2.9 2.8 3.7 3.9 2.6 2.9 3.7 4.4 3.1 2.7 3.6 3.6
90 or more 0.3 0.5 0.5 0.7 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.6 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.7
100 0.2 0.4 0.4 0.6 0.2 0.4 0.5 0.5 0.2 0.5 0.3 0.6
Mean proportion 6.2 6.8 7.2 7.8 5.9 7.2 7.5 8.7 6.4 6.5 7.0 7.2
Mean proportion (recipients only) 10.4 12.1 12.6 13.6 9.9 12.1 12.9 14.2 10.9 12.0 12.4 13.1
Number (thousands) 11,908 9,088 6,965 10,496 5,498 4,167 3,000 4,091 6,410 4,922 3,965 6,405
  Cash public assistance
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 95.1 95.7 94.8 95.7 95.6 96.9 96.3 96.1 94.6 94.7 93.7 95.4
1–19 2.5 2.2 2.4 2.3 2.2 1.5 1.6 2.0 2.7 2.7 3.0 2.5
20–39 1.1 0.9 1.4 0.8 0.8 0.6 1.1 0.6 1.4 1.1 1.6 0.9
40–59 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.3 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.1 0.3 0.6 0.7 0.3
60–79 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.2 0 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1
80 or more 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.7 0.5 0.5 0.9 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.7
50 or more 1.1 0.9 0.9 1.0 1.2 0.8 0.6 1.1 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.0
90 or more 0.6 0.7 0.6 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.9 0.6 0.8 0.8 0.7
100 0.5 0.7 0.6 0.7 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.9 0.6 0.8 0.8 0.7
Mean proportion 1.6 1.4 1.6 1.4 1.5 1.1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.7 1.9 1.4
Mean proportion (recipients only) 31.7 33.2 31.0 32.9 34.0 34.6 31.3 36.4 30.1 32.5 30.9 31.0
Number (thousands) 11,908 9,088 6,965 10,496 5,498 4,167 3,000 4,091 6,410 4,922 3,965 6,405
NOTES: Persons in families with zero total income or with negative total income, earnings, or income from assets are excluded.
The relative importance of a source of income may not accurately reflect the resources available to elderly persons or elderly aged units. The survey on which these data are based does not include some potentially important resources as income, including lump-sum pension payments and capital gains. In addition, these statistics do not take into consideration noncash benefits that supplement money income (housing and energy subsidies or food stamps) or the amount of savings available to supplement monthly income. Consult the Frequently Asked Questions for further information.
Relative Importance of Family Income Sources for Persons 65 or Older Table 8.B3 Percentage distribution, by income source, sex, and marital status, 2010
Proportion of family income All persons Men Women
Married Nonmarried Married Nonmarried Married Nonmarried
Total Widowed Divorced Never married Total Widowed Divorced Never married Total Widowed Divorced Never married
  Earnings
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 56.8 67.1 70.6 61.4 63.6 53.7 68.2 71.8 66.6 67.5 60.8 66.7 70.3 58.1 60.4
1–19 7.2 3.8 3.5 4.7 3.9 7.3 3.6 2.8 4.7 3.7 7.0 3.9 3.7 4.7 4.1
20–39 7.6 4.0 3.8 4.6 3.8 7.9 4.1 4.2 4.3 3.4 7.3 4.0 3.8 4.8 4.1
40–59 9.0 5.9 5.8 7.0 4.5 9.8 5.5 6.2 5.8 3.8 7.9 6.1 5.7 7.9 5.0
60–79 9.6 8.1 7.8 9.4 7.1 10.5 6.9 6.5 7.3 5.9 8.4 8.6 8.1 10.8 8.0
80 or more 9.8 11.0 8.4 12.8 17.1 10.8 11.7 8.6 11.4 15.5 8.6 10.7 8.4 13.7 18.4
50 or more 24.1 22.6 19.5 26.5 27.4 26.7 22.2 18.8 22.6 24.6 20.9 22.8 19.7 29.1 29.6
90 or more 5.8 6.9 4.6 8.5 13.0 6.5 7.7 4.7 7.8 11.4 4.9 6.6 4.5 8.9 14.3
100 2.1 3.1 2.0 3.2 6.7 2.2 4.0 1.9 4.0 6.0 1.9 2.7 2.0 2.7 7.2
Mean proportion 23.3 20.6 17.7 24.1 25.2 25.4 20.1 17.0 20.5 22.3 20.6 20.8 17.9 26.5 27.4
Mean proportion (recipients only) 53.9 62.6 60.2 62.5 69.1 54.9 63.2 60.2 61.2 68.7 52.4 62.4 60.2 63.2 69.3
Number (thousands) 21,367 17,090 10,476 4,072 1,644 11,868 4,888 2,084 1,602 730 9,499 12,202 8,392 2,470 914
  Retirement benefits
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 7.4 9.2 5.9 11.5 19.1 8.1 10.5 6.2 10.8 17.8 6.6 8.7 5.9 11.9 20.2
1–19 7.6 7.6 7.7 6.9 7.9 8.4 7.3 7.9 5.6 8.2 6.7 7.8 7.6 7.7 7.7
20–39 12.9 10.2 9.7 12.3 9.2 13.9 9.7 10.2 9.7 9.1 11.6 10.4 9.5 14.0 9.2
40–59 11.5 9.1 9.2 9.8 7.1 11.9 9.2 9.7 10.1 5.2 11.0 9.1 9.0 9.6 8.7
60–79 13.5 9.0 9.3 8.6 9.6 13.1 8.9 10.1 7.7 9.8 13.9 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.4
80 or more 47.1 54.8 58.3 50.9 47.0 44.7 54.4 56.0 56.1 49.8 50.2 55.0 58.8 47.5 44.8
50 or more 66.3 68.0 71.7 64.0 61.2 63.7 67.7 70.8 68.2 63.3 69.5 68.1 71.9 61.3 59.5
90 or more 39.8 48.5 51.3 45.1 42.1 37.7 47.6 47.3 50.3 44.4 42.6 48.9 52.3 41.6 40.2
100 17.2 28.6 29.8 26.8 23.6 16.5 28.9 28.3 30.1 24.4 18.1 28.5 30.2 24.7 23.0
Mean proportion 65.4 68.1 71.5 64.9 59.8 63.4 67.6 70.2 68.7 62.0 68.0 68.3 71.9 62.4 58.2
Mean proportion (recipients only) 70.7 75.0 76.1 73.3 74.0 68.9 75.5 74.8 77.0 75.4 72.8 74.8 76.4 70.8 72.9
Number (thousands) 21,367 17,090 10,476 4,072 1,644 11,868 4,888 2,084 1,602 730 9,499 12,202 8,392 2,470 914
  Social Security
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 10.2 12.1 8.5 15.1 23.8 11.1 13.3 9.5 13.4 21.0 9.2 11.7 8.2 16.2 26.0
1–19 13.3 11.8 12.3 10.1 11.7 14.2 12.8 15.3 9.2 13.3 12.1 11.4 11.5 10.7 10.3
20–39 21.4 15.1 14.5 17.0 15.1 22.1 16.3 17.6 17.4 12.2 20.5 14.7 13.7 16.8 17.5
40–59 17.7 13.4 13.2 15.0 11.9 17.2 15.8 16.1 16.9 13.7 18.3 12.5 12.5 13.7 10.5
60–79 13.4 11.0 12.2 9.8 9.4 12.7 9.8 11.3 8.4 9.9 14.3 11.5 12.4 10.6 9.0
80 or more 24.0 36.5 39.4 33.0 28.1 22.6 32.0 30.2 34.7 30.0 25.7 38.2 41.7 31.9 26.6
50 or more 45.5 53.7 57.8 49.2 43.6 43.2 49.4 49.2 51.1 47.9 48.4 55.4 60.0 48.0 40.1
90 or more 18.4 30.1 32.2 27.7 22.6 17.3 27.3 24.8 29.9 26.8 19.9 31.2 34.1 26.2 19.4
100 9.3 19.2 19.8 18.4 15.3 8.9 18.3 15.9 20.4 16.0 9.9 19.5 20.8 17.1 14.7
Mean proportion 48.8 55.4 58.7 52.4 45.5 47.1 52.2 52.1 54.3 48.3 51.0 56.7 60.4 51.1 43.2
Mean proportion (recipients only) 54.4 63.0 64.2 61.7 59.6 53.0 60.2 57.6 62.7 61.1 56.2 64.2 65.8 61.0 58.4
Number (thousands) 21,367 17,090 10,476 4,072 1,644 11,868 4,888 2,084 1,602 730 9,499 12,202 8,392 2,470 914
  Government employee pensions
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 80.1 87.5 87.1 88.2 86.1 80.2 88.0 86.0 90.0 87.0 80.0 87.3 87.4 87.0 85.4
1–19 5.6 2.4 2.8 1.7 2.2 5.5 1.9 2.0 1.6 2.2 5.7 2.7 3.0 1.7 2.3
20–39 5.5 3.5 3.9 3.0 3.2 5.6 2.6 3.0 1.9 3.3 5.3 3.8 4.1 3.7 3.1
40–59 4.6 3.0 3.1 3.1 2.7 4.7 2.8 3.6 2.5 1.9 4.6 3.1 3.0 3.5 3.4
60–79 2.7 2.0 1.8 2.2 3.0 2.7 2.5 3.0 2.2 2.4 2.8 1.8 1.6 2.1 3.4
80 or more 1.4 1.6 1.2 1.9 2.8 1.4 2.3 2.4 1.9 3.3 1.5 1.3 1.0 1.9 2.4
50 or more 6.3 5.0 4.5 5.6 7.5 6.2 6.1 7.2 5.2 7.0 6.5 4.6 3.8 5.8 7.9
90 or more 0.8 1.0 0.7 1.4 1.8 0.7 1.3 1.3 1.0 2.0 0.8 0.9 0.6 1.6 1.6
100 0.1 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.5 0.1 0.5 0.6 0.4 0.4 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.5
Mean proportion 7.8 5.7 5.4 5.9 7.2 7.7 6.1 7.2 5.2 6.8 7.8 5.5 5.0 6.3 7.6
Mean proportion (recipients only) 39.1 45.2 42.3 49.9 51.8 39.0 51.3 51.5 52.0 51.8 39.3 42.9 39.7 48.8 51.8
Number (thousands) 21,367 17,090 10,476 4,072 1,644 11,868 4,888 2,084 1,602 730 9,499 12,202 8,392 2,470 914
  Private pensions or annuities
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 66.8 75.6 73.6 78.5 76.4 67.4 72.0 65.3 74.9 78.5 66.2 77.0 75.7 80.9 74.7
1–19 15.5 11.0 12.1 9.4 11.0 15.5 10.5 13.4 9.1 9.2 15.4 11.2 11.7 9.5 12.5
20–39 11.2 7.2 8.1 5.5 6.0 10.8 7.2 9.6 5.2 4.5 11.6 7.2 7.8 5.8 7.3
40–59 4.7 4.1 4.2 4.1 3.8 4.5 7.3 8.8 7.2 5.2 5.0 2.8 3.1 2.1 2.7
60–79 1.4 1.5 1.4 1.9 1.6 1.4 2.4 2.2 2.9 2.2 1.5 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.2
80 or more 0.4 0.6 0.6 0.6 1.1 0.4 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.4 0.4 0.7 0.6 0.5 1.6
50 or more 3.4 3.6 3.3 3.8 4.5 3.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.1 3.6 2.8 2.7 2.6 4.0
90 or more 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.9 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.5 0 0.2 0.5 0.4 0.3 1.6
100 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.2 0 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.3 0.6
Mean proportion 8.3 6.7 6.9 6.3 7.0 8.1 8.8 10.3 8.5 6.8 8.5 5.9 6.1 4.9 7.1
Mean proportion (recipients only) 25.0 27.5 26.3 29.5 29.5 24.7 31.5 29.6 34.0 31.8 25.3 25.6 25.1 25.6 27.9
Number (thousands) 21,367 17,090 10,476 4,072 1,644 11,868 4,888 2,084 1,602 730 9,499 12,202 8,392 2,470 914
  Income from assets
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 34.8 51.5 49.9 52.9 51.2 35.0 53.0 49.5 54.9 49.1 34.7 50.8 50.0 51.6 52.9
1–19 51.3 38.8 40.2 39.1 35.2 51.6 36.4 38.4 37.7 35.7 50.8 39.8 40.6 40.0 34.8
20–39 8.2 5.1 5.2 4.9 5.9 8.0 5.6 6.5 4.2 7.6 8.6 4.9 4.9 5.4 4.7
40–59 3.5 2.2 2.3 1.6 3.7 3.4 2.2 2.7 1.3 3.2 3.6 2.2 2.1 1.8 4.1
60–79 1.5 1.4 1.5 0.9 2.4 1.4 1.8 1.7 1.3 3.6 1.6 1.3 1.5 0.7 1.5
80 or more 0.7 0.9 0.9 0.6 1.5 0.7 0.9 1.2 0.6 0.9 0.8 0.9 0.8 0.6 2.1
50 or more 3.5 3.1 3.1 1.9 5.1 3.3 3.5 3.7 2.1 6.3 3.7 2.9 3.0 1.9 4.2
90 or more 0.4 0.6 0.5 0.5 1.0 0.3 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.4 0.6 0.5 0.4 1.4
100 0.3 0.5 0.4 0.5 0.8 0.3 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.1 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.4 1.4
Mean proportion 7.8 5.9 6.1 4.7 8.0 7.6 6.2 7.1 4.6 8.5 8.1 5.7 5.8 4.7 7.6
Mean proportion (recipients only) 12.0 12.1 12.2 9.9 16.4 11.7 13.3 14.1 10.3 16.7 12.4 11.7 11.7 9.7 16.2
Number (thousands) 21,367 17,090 10,476 4,072 1,644 11,868 4,888 2,084 1,602 730 9,499 12,202 8,392 2,470 914
  Cash public assistance
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 96.9 93.4 94.6 91.8 90.0 96.8 94.6 95.9 94.5 91.3 97.1 92.9 94.3 90.1 88.9
1–19 1.6 3.3 2.8 4.3 3.2 1.7 2.2 2.2 2.1 1.8 1.5 3.7 3.0 5.7 4.3
20–39 0.7 1.5 1.3 1.9 2.6 0.6 1.1 0.7 1.4 2.1 0.7 1.7 1.4 2.2 3.1
40–59 0.1 0.8 0.5 0.9 1.4 0.2 0.8 0.4 1.1 1.6 0.1 0.7 0.6 0.8 1.3
60–79 0.2 0.1 0 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2 0 0 0.2 0.1 0 0.3 0.3
80 or more 0.5 1.0 0.7 0.9 2.6 0.5 1.1 0.6 0.9 3.3 0.4 0.9 0.8 0.9 2.1
50 or more 0.7 1.4 1.0 1.5 2.8 0.7 1.6 1.1 1.4 3.3 0.6 1.3 1.0 1.6 2.4
90 or more 0.4 1.0 0.7 0.9 2.3 0.4 1.0 0.6 0.9 2.6 0.4 0.9 0.7 0.9 2.1
100 0.4 0.9 0.7 0.8 2.1 0.4 0.9 0.6 0.7 2.2 0.4 0.9 0.7 0.9 2.1
Mean proportion 1.0 2.2 1.6 2.4 4.3 1.0 2.1 1.3 2.0 4.6 0.9 2.2 1.7 2.7 4.1
Mean proportion (recipients only) 31.3 32.7 30.4 29.8 43.2 30.9 39.0 32.0 37.2 52.8 31.8 30.8 30.2 27.1 37.2
Number (thousands) 21,367 17,090 10,476 4,072 1,644 11,868 4,888 2,084 1,602 730 9,499 12,202 8,392 2,470 914
NOTES: Persons in families with zero total income or with negative total income, earnings, or income from assets are excluded.
The relative importance of a source of income may not accurately reflect the resources available to elderly persons or elderly aged units. The survey on which these data are based does not include some potentially important resources as income, including lump-sum pension payments and capital gains. In addition, these statistics do not take into consideration noncash benefits that supplement money income (housing and energy subsidies or food stamps) or the amount of savings available to supplement monthly income. Consult the Frequently Asked Questions for further information.
Relative Importance of Family Income Sources for Persons 65 or Older Table 8.B4 Percentage distribution, by source of family income, family Social Security beneficiary status, sex, and marital status, 2010
Proportion of family income Persons in beneficiary families Persons in nonbeneficiary families
All Men Women All Men Women
Total Married Non- married Total Married Non- married Total Married Non- married Total Married Non- married Total Married Non- married Total Married Non- married
  Earnings
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 65.7 60.9 71.9 62.5 58.0 73.7 68.2 64.4 71.2 26.6 21.3 32.3 23.5 19.1 32.5 29.3 24.5 32.2
1–19 6.1 7.7 4.0 6.7 7.8 3.8 5.6 7.4 4.1 2.4 2.7 2.0 2.5 2.7 2.1 2.3 2.8 1.9
20–39 6.4 8.2 4.2 7.3 8.5 4.2 5.8 7.8 4.1 2.7 2.5 2.9 2.6 2.5 2.8 2.7 2.4 3.0
40–59 7.9 9.2 6.4 9.0 10.1 6.1 7.2 8.0 6.5 4.9 7.0 2.8 5.6 7.5 1.8 4.4 6.2 3.3
60–79 8.9 9.5 8.2 9.5 10.5 7.0 8.5 8.2 8.6 9.4 10.8 7.9 9.5 11.0 6.3 9.3 10.4 8.6
80 or more 4.9 4.6 5.3 5.1 5.0 5.2 4.8 4.0 5.4 54.0 55.8 52.1 56.3 57.2 54.4 52.1 53.7 51.1
50 or more 18.0 18.7 17.1 19.4 20.8 16.0 16.9 16.1 17.6 67.0 71.6 62.1 69.9 73.7 62.3 64.5 68.5 62.0
90 or more 1.2 0.9 1.5 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.2 0.7 1.6 47.1 48.2 45.8 49.5 49.5 49.6 44.9 46.4 44.1
100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 22.8 20.4 25.3 23.2 19.9 29.7 22.5 21.1 23.3
Mean proportion 17.0 18.3 15.3 18.3 20.1 14.0 16.0 16.2 15.8 62.7 66.4 58.9 65.3 68.2 59.4 60.5 63.5 58.6
Mean proportion (recipients only) 49.6 46.9 54.5 48.9 47.8 53.5 50.3 45.7 54.9 85.5 84.3 86.9 85.4 84.3 88.0 85.5 84.2 86.4
Number (thousands) 34,192 19,178 15,014 14,786 10,549 4,237 19,407 8,629 10,778 4,265 2,189 2,076 1,970 1,319 651 2,295 870 1,425
  Retirement benefits
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 74.0 72.5 75.6 74.7 72.8 78.5 73.5 72.0 74.3
1–19 8.1 7.8 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.3 7.7 6.9 8.4 4.3 6.1 2.3 4.9 6.7 1.1 3.8 5.2 2.9
20–39 12.7 13.9 11.2 13.8 15.0 10.7 11.8 12.4 11.4 3.7 4.1 3.4 4.1 4.4 3.6 3.4 3.6 3.3
40–59 11.4 12.4 10.1 12.2 13.0 10.4 10.8 11.8 10.0 2.6 3.2 2.1 2.4 3.0 1.1 2.9 3.3 2.6
60–79 12.6 14.8 9.8 13.2 14.5 10.0 12.2 15.2 9.8 2.3 1.7 2.9 2.1 2.1 2.1 2.4 0.9 3.3
80 or more 55.2 51.1 60.5 52.3 48.9 60.7 57.4 53.7 60.4 13.1 12.5 13.6 11.8 10.9 13.5 14.1 15.0 13.6
50 or more 73.4 72.1 75.0 71.5 69.9 75.6 74.8 74.8 74.8 16.2 15.2 17.3 14.6 14.0 15.9 17.6 17.0 17.9
90 or more 47.7 43.2 53.5 44.6 41.2 53.1 50.1 45.6 53.6 11.5 10.7 12.4 10.2 9.5 11.8 12.6 12.5 12.7
100 24.5 18.8 31.7 22.2 18.1 32.1 26.2 19.5 31.6 4.8 3.9 5.8 5.0 3.5 7.9 4.7 4.5 4.9
Mean proportion 72.8 71.0 75.1 71.1 69.4 75.5 74.1 73.0 75.0 17.0 16.5 17.6 15.7 15.5 16.2 18.2 18.2 18.2
Mean proportion (recipients only) 72.8 71.0 75.1 71.1 69.4 75.5 74.1 73.0 75.0 65.6 60.1 72.2 62.1 56.8 75.6 68.5 65.0 70.8
Number (thousands) 34,192 19,178 15,014 14,786 10,549 4,237 19,407 8,629 10,778 4,265 2,189 2,076 1,970 1,319 651 2,295 870 1,425
  Government employee pensions
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 83.0 79.3 87.6 81.8 79.3 88.0 83.9 79.3 87.5 86.9 87.5 86.4 88.0 87.8 88.4 86.0 86.9 85.4
1–19 4.5 5.9 2.7 4.7 5.8 2.1 4.3 6.1 2.9 1.7 2.5 0.9 2.0 2.8 0.5 1.5 2.1 1.1
20–39 4.9 5.9 3.7 5.1 6.1 2.7 4.8 5.7 4.1 1.7 1.7 1.8 1.7 1.8 1.5 1.7 1.4 1.9
40–59 4.2 5.0 3.2 4.5 5.0 3.2 4.0 5.0 3.2 1.5 1.6 1.5 1.2 1.7 0 1.9 1.3 2.2
60–79 2.5 2.9 2.0 2.8 2.9 2.6 2.3 3.0 1.8 1.4 1.0 1.9 1.2 1.1 1.5 1.6 0.8 2.1
80 or more 0.9 0.9 0.7 1.1 0.9 1.4 0.7 0.9 0.5 6.7 5.8 7.5 5.9 4.8 8.0 7.4 7.4 7.3
50 or more 5.4 6.2 4.3 6.0 6.2 5.6 4.9 6.3 3.8 8.6 7.3 10.0 7.4 6.4 9.5 9.6 8.7 10.2
90 or more 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.4 0.2 0.3 0.1 6.0 5.1 6.9 5.2 4.2 7.2 6.7 6.6 6.8
100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.8 0.9 2.8 1.6 0.5 3.9 2.0 1.6 2.2
Mean proportion 6.6 7.8 5.0 7.2 7.8 5.6 6.1 7.7 4.8 8.9 7.8 10.1 7.8 7.0 9.4 9.8 8.9 10.4
Mean proportion (recipients only) 38.6 37.6 40.9 39.4 37.7 46.9 37.9 37.4 38.6 67.9 62.0 73.7 65.1 57.6 81.0 70.0 68.1 71.0
Number (thousands) 34,192 19,178 15,014 14,786 10,549 4,237 19,407 8,629 10,778 4,265 2,189 2,076 1,970 1,319 651 2,295 870 1,425
  Private pensions or annuities
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 68.3 64.4 73.4 65.9 64.7 68.8 70.2 64.0 75.2 89.7 88.5 91.0 89.8 88.4 92.5 89.7 88.5 90.4
1–19 14.7 16.7 12.2 15.5 16.9 11.9 14.1 16.4 12.3 3.4 4.6 2.1 3.4 4.5 1.3 3.4 4.9 2.5
20–39 10.3 12.2 8.0 10.7 11.8 8.0 10.0 12.6 8.0 2.0 2.3 1.6 2.3 2.5 2.1 1.7 2.1 1.4
40–59 4.9 5.1 4.5 5.9 4.9 8.3 4.1 5.3 3.0 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.7 1.1 1.0 1.2 0.8
60–79 1.6 1.5 1.7 1.8 1.5 2.7 1.4 1.6 1.3 0.6 0.5 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.2 0.7
80 or more 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.1 0.2 3.4 3.2 3.7 2.9 3.2 2.4 3.8 3.2 4.2
50 or more 3.4 3.4 3.4 3.9 3.2 5.7 3.0 3.6 2.5 4.2 3.8 4.6 3.8 4.0 3.3 4.6 3.5 5.2
90 or more 0 0 0 0 0 0.1 0 0 0 2.9 2.6 3.3 2.5 2.8 1.8 3.4 2.4 3.9
100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.4 1.4 1.5 1.4 1.7 1.0 1.4 1.0 1.7
Mean proportion 7.9 8.7 7.0 8.8 8.5 9.6 7.3 8.9 5.9 5.0 4.9 5.1 4.6 5.0 3.9 5.3 4.7 5.7
Mean proportion (recipients only) 25.0 24.3 26.2 25.7 24.0 30.7 24.4 24.8 23.9 48.6 42.4 56.9 45.4 43.5 51.3 51.3 40.9 58.9
Number (thousands) 34,192 19,178 15,014 14,786 10,549 4,237 19,407 8,629 10,778 4,265 2,189 2,076 1,970 1,319 651 2,295 870 1,425
  Income from assets
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 41.5 34.2 50.9 39.4 34.5 51.9 43.1 33.9 50.5 47.8 40.3 55.7 46.2 39.0 60.7 49.1 42.1 53.4
1–19 46.2 51.6 39.3 47.7 51.8 37.4 45.0 51.2 40.1 42.1 48.6 35.2 43.3 49.9 30.0 41.1 46.7 37.6
20–39 7.3 8.6 5.5 7.7 8.3 6.1 6.9 9.0 5.3 3.7 4.9 2.4 4.3 5.1 2.7 3.2 4.6 2.3
40–59 3.0 3.6 2.3 3.2 3.4 2.4 2.9 3.7 2.3 2.0 2.7 1.3 2.2 2.9 0.7 1.8 2.3 1.5
60–79 1.6 1.6 1.5 1.7 1.6 1.9 1.5 1.7 1.3 0.7 0.4 1.1 0.6 0.4 1.2 0.8 0.4 1.0
80 or more 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.5 0.5 0.5 3.8 3.2 4.3 3.4 2.7 4.7 4.1 3.9 4.2
50 or more 3.1 3.4 2.7 3.2 3.2 3.1 3.0 3.6 2.6 4.9 4.2 5.7 4.5 3.7 6.0 5.3 4.9 5.6
90 or more 0.1 0.1 0.1 0 0 0 0.1 0.1 0.1 3.7 3.2 4.3 3.4 2.7 4.7 4.1 3.9 4.2
100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.5 3.2 3.9 3.1 2.7 3.9 3.8 3.9 3.8
Mean proportion 6.9 7.8 5.7 7.2 7.6 6.0 6.7 8.1 5.5 7.6 7.7 7.4 7.5 7.4 7.7 7.6 8.2 7.3
Mean proportion (recipients only) 11.8 11.9 11.5 11.8 11.6 12.5 11.7 12.3 11.2 14.5 12.9 16.7 13.9 12.1 19.6 15.0 14.2 15.6
Number (thousands) 34,192 19,178 15,014 14,786 10,549 4,237 19,407 8,629 10,778 4,265 2,189 2,076 1,970 1,319 651 2,295 870 1,425
  Cash public assistance
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 96.3 97.6 94.7 97.0 97.5 96.0 95.8 97.8 94.2 87.4 91.0 83.7 89.7 91.5 85.9 85.5 90.2 82.6
1–19 2.2 1.6 3.1 1.9 1.7 2.2 2.5 1.4 3.4 3.3 1.9 4.8 1.9 1.8 2.2 4.5 2.1 5.9
20–39 0.9 0.5 1.4 0.6 0.5 0.9 1.1 0.5 1.6 2.1 2.0 2.2 1.9 1.8 2.2 2.2 2.3 2.2
40–59 0.4 0.1 0.7 0.3 0.2 0.8 0.4 0.1 0.7 0.7 0.2 1.2 0.6 0.2 1.4 0.7 0.1 1.1
60–79 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.5 0.2 0.3 0.5 0 0.4 0.5 0.3
80 or more 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.2 4.5 8.0 5.6 4.2 8.3 6.7 4.8 7.9
50 or more 0.3 0.2 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.4 6.8 5.0 8.8 6.2 4.7 9.4 7.4 5.4 8.6
90 or more 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.0 4.3 7.8 5.3 4.0 7.8 6.7 4.8 7.8
100 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5.7 4.0 7.5 4.7 3.6 6.9 6.6 4.6 7.8
Mean proportion 0.7 0.4 1.1 0.6 0.5 0.9 0.8 0.4 1.2 7.6 5.6 9.7 6.7 5.2 9.7 8.4 6.1 9.7
Mean proportion (recipients only) 20.1 18.1 21.3 20.0 18.1 22.8 20.2 18.1 20.8 60.5 62.0 59.6 65.1 61.7 69.3 57.6 62.3 56.0
Number (thousands) 34,192 19,178 15,014 14,786 10,549 4,237 19,407 8,629 10,778 4,265 2,189 2,076 1,970 1,319 651 2,295 870 1,425
NOTES: Persons in families with zero total income or with negative total income, earnings, or income from assets are excluded.
The relative importance of a source of income may not accurately reflect the resources available to elderly persons or elderly aged units. The survey on which these data are based does not include some potentially important resources as income, including lump-sum pension payments and capital gains. In addition, these statistics do not take into consideration noncash benefits that supplement money income (housing and energy subsidies or food stamps) or the amount of savings available to supplement monthly income. Consult the Frequently Asked Questions for further information.
Relative Importance of Family Income Sources for Persons 65 or Older Table 8.B5 Percentage distribution, by source of family income, race, Hispanic origin, and sex, 2010
Proportion of family income White alone Black alone Asian alone Hispanic origin
All persons Men Women All persons Men Women All persons Men Women All persons Men Women
  Earnings
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 62.7 59.1 65.5 58.0 55.7 59.5 42.2 38.3 45.0 46.0 45.1 46.7
1–19 5.9 6.3 5.5 4.1 5.0 3.6 3.6 4.1 3.3 2.6 3.1 2.2
20–39 6.1 6.8 5.5 5.9 7.0 5.2 4.2 3.9 4.4 5.0 5.1 5.0
40–59 7.5 8.4 6.7 9.5 11.0 8.5 6.2 7.2 5.5 8.4 9.2 7.8
60–79 8.5 9.1 8.0 10.8 10.4 11.1 14.2 14.8 13.8 13.8 12.8 14.6
80 or more 9.4 10.3 8.7 11.7 11.0 12.1 29.6 31.7 28.1 24.1 24.7 23.6
50 or more 21.9 24.2 20.2 27.5 27.1 27.8 48.3 51.7 45.9 42.9 42.8 43.0
90 or more 5.6 6.2 5.1 7.3 7.3 7.3 20.5 21.9 19.4 16.3 16.7 16.0
100 2.2 2.4 1.9 3.7 3.0 4.1 8.6 9.9 7.7 9.3 10.0 8.9
Mean proportion 20.8 22.8 19.2 25.4 25.5 25.3 42.8 45.6 40.8 38.5 38.7 38.3
Mean proportion (recipients only) 55.8 55.7 55.8 60.4 57.5 62.5 74.0 74.0 74.1 71.4 70.5 72.0
Number (thousands) 33,210 14,639 18,571 3,310 1,288 2,022 1,393 587 806 2,788 1,202 1,586
  Retirement benefits
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 7.2 7.9 6.7 10.3 10.2 10.4 27.1 27.9 26.5 19.7 20.6 19.1
1–19 7.3 7.8 6.9 7.4 6.5 8.0 15.2 16.5 14.2 12.1 11.3 12.8
20–39 11.5 12.5 10.7 12.2 12.7 11.8 13.0 14.1 12.3 13.6 13.7 13.6
40–59 10.6 11.2 10.2 10.4 11.4 9.8 5.7 6.2 5.3 9.2 9.7 8.8
60–79 11.8 12.1 11.6 9.5 11.1 8.5 8.5 8.0 8.9 7.9 7.8 8.0
80 or more 51.5 48.5 54.0 50.2 48.2 51.5 30.5 27.3 32.8 37.4 36.9 37.8
50 or more 68.5 66.0 70.5 64.9 65.5 64.5 40.9 37.3 43.5 49.3 49.2 49.4
90 or more 44.4 41.2 46.9 45.4 43.3 46.8 26.3 23.0 28.7 34.5 33.7 35.1
100 21.4 19.5 22.9 34.0 31.1 35.8 14.6 12.5 16.2 24.4 23.1 25.4
Mean proportion 67.8 65.6 69.5 65.7 65.4 65.9 43.8 41.0 45.9 52.2 52.0 52.4
Mean proportion (recipients only) 73.0 71.2 74.5 73.3 72.8 73.5 60.0 56.8 62.4 65.1 65.5 64.8
Number (thousands) 33,210 14,639 18,571 3,310 1,288 2,022 1,393 587 806 2,788 1,202 1,586
  Social Security
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 9.9 10.7 9.3 14.8 15.0 14.7 30.3 31.7 29.4 21.9 22.7 21.2
1–19 12.4 13.7 11.3 11.7 11.0 12.1 18.9 20.6 17.7 15.1 14.6 15.5
20–39 18.9 20.7 17.5 16.7 18.9 15.3 16.1 16.2 16.1 15.1 15.7 14.7
40–59 16.3 17.2 15.6 13.7 15.6 12.4 8.6 9.5 8.0 11.4 11.8 11.1
60–79 12.8 12.2 13.3 10.6 11.0 10.3 6.3 6.4 6.2 8.5 8.8 8.3
80 or more 29.7 25.5 33.0 32.5 28.5 35.1 19.8 15.7 22.7 28.0 26.4 29.2
50 or more 50.0 45.7 53.4 50.0 47.6 51.4 29.7 26.4 32.1 41.8 41.1 42.3
90 or more 23.5 20.2 26.2 28.2 25.0 30.2 15.8 12.5 18.3 25.0 23.1 26.5
100 12.9 11.1 14.4 22.6 19.4 24.7 10.7 8.3 12.5 18.9 17.6 20.0
Mean proportion 52.5 49.2 55.1 52.3 50.3 53.6 34.4 31.2 36.7 45.2 44.4 45.8
Mean proportion (recipients only) 58.3 55.0 60.8 61.4 59.1 62.9 49.3 45.6 51.9 57.9 57.4 58.2
Number (thousands) 33,210 14,639 18,571 3,310 1,288 2,022 1,393 587 806 2,788 1,202 1,586
  Government employee pensions
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 82.9 82.0 83.7 87.5 85.9 88.5 85.9 86.4 85.4 92.2 91.5 92.7
1–19 4.4 4.7 4.2 2.1 2.3 2.0 2.9 3.0 2.9 2.1 2.5 1.7
20–39 4.6 4.7 4.6 3.3 4.0 2.8 5.5 5.5 5.5 1.7 1.6 1.8
40–59 4.0 4.2 3.8 3.4 3.6 3.3 3.1 2.3 3.6 2.0 1.9 2.1
60–79 2.6 2.8 2.4 1.5 1.6 1.4 1.1 1.0 1.2 1.3 1.5 1.1
80 or more 1.4 1.6 1.3 2.2 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.7 1.4 0.7 1.0 0.5
50 or more 5.9 6.3 5.6 5.5 6.3 4.9 3.9 4.0 3.8 2.9 3.3 2.6
90 or more 0.8 0.8 0.8 1.5 1.7 1.3 0.5 0.4 0.6 0.4 0.6 0.2
100 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.6 0.6 0.5 0 0 0 0 0.1 0
Mean proportion 7.0 7.4 6.6 6.0 6.7 5.5 5.6 5.2 5.9 3.3 3.6 3.0
Mean proportion (recipients only) 40.9 41.2 40.6 48.0 47.9 48.0 39.7 38.5 40.5 41.8 42.7 40.9
Number (thousands) 33,210 14,639 18,571 3,310 1,288 2,022 1,393 587 806 2,788 1,202 1,586
  Private pensions or annuities
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 69.5 67.7 71.0 76.6 74.0 78.2 82.1 79.7 83.8 84.3 83.6 84.8
1–19 14.1 14.7 13.7 8.3 8.4 8.3 10.8 12.1 9.8 8.6 8.9 8.3
20–39 9.8 10.0 9.6 8.0 9.2 7.3 4.7 4.6 4.8 4.7 5.0 4.4
40–59 4.5 5.4 3.9 4.5 5.8 3.7 1.5 1.8 1.3 1.8 1.9 1.8
60–79 1.5 1.7 1.3 1.5 1.6 1.5 0.9 1.7 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3
80 or more 0.5 0.4 0.5 1.0 0.9 1.1 0 0 0 0.3 0.3 0.4
50 or more 3.5 4.0 3.2 3.8 3.8 3.7 1.5 2.4 0.9 1.2 1.2 1.2
90 or more 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.8 0.8 0.8 0 0 0 0.2 0.1 0.3
100 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.7 0.8 0.7 0 0 0 0.1 0.1 0.1
Mean proportion 7.8 8.5 7.3 7.3 8.2 6.7 3.7 4.5 3.1 3.5 3.6 3.4
Mean proportion (recipients only) 25.7 26.2 25.2 31.0 31.5 30.6 20.8 22.3 19.3 22.2 22.0 22.4
Number (thousands) 33,210 14,639 18,571 3,310 1,288 2,022 1,393 587 806 2,788 1,202 1,586
  Income from assets
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 39.0 37.6 40.1 69.5 64.8 72.5 49.2 48.4 49.8 67.4 66.4 68.2
1–19 47.8 48.7 47.1 27.1 31.2 24.4 43.9 45.3 42.9 28.7 29.2 28.4
20–39 7.4 7.8 7.1 2.5 3.0 2.2 4.3 3.8 4.6 2.9 3.1 2.7
40–59 3.2 3.4 3.1 0.5 0.6 0.4 1.9 1.7 2.0 0.5 0.6 0.4
60–79 1.7 1.7 1.6 0.3 0.2 0.3 0.1 0 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2
80 or more 0.9 0.8 1.0 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.6 0.7 0.5 0.3 0.4 0.2
50 or more 3.7 3.7 3.6 0.6 0.5 0.7 1.6 1.5 1.7 0.6 0.9 0.5
90 or more 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.2
100 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.2
Mean proportion 7.6 7.8 7.5 2.1 2.3 1.9 4.4 4.4 4.4 2.3 2.6 2.1
Mean proportion (recipients only) 12.5 12.5 12.5 6.7 6.6 6.8 8.7 8.5 8.9 7.1 7.7 6.6
Number (thousands) 33,210 14,639 18,571 3,310 1,288 2,022 1,393 587 806 2,788 1,202 1,586
  Cash public assistance
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 96.4 97.1 95.9 89.0 90.1 88.2 87.7 89.0 86.8 88.2 90.8 86.2
1–19 1.8 1.4 2.1 5.7 5.5 5.8 5.9 3.8 7.3 5.7 4.0 7.0
20–39 0.8 0.6 1.0 2.5 2.1 2.8 2.2 2.9 1.6 2.8 2.5 3.0
40–59 0.3 0.3 0.4 1.0 0.7 1.1 0.8 0.6 0.9 1.2 0.8 1.5
60–79 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.4 0.4 1.0 1.2 0.9 0.5 0.6 0.5
80 or more 0.5 0.5 0.5 1.5 1.2 1.7 2.5 2.5 2.4 1.6 1.3 1.9
50 or more 0.7 0.7 0.7 2.2 2.0 2.4 4.0 4.0 4.0 2.6 2.3 2.8
90 or more 0.5 0.5 0.5 1.4 1.1 1.6 2.4 2.5 2.4 1.6 1.3 1.9
100 0.5 0.4 0.5 1.4 1.1 1.6 2.4 2.5 2.4 1.5 1.1 1.8
Mean proportion 1.1 1.0 1.2 3.4 2.8 3.7 4.7 4.8 4.6 3.9 3.2 4.4
Mean proportion (recipients only) 31.5 34.2 29.9 30.5 28.1 31.8 38.0 43.3 34.8 32.7 34.7 31.6
Number (thousands) 33,210 14,639 18,571 3,310 1,288 2,022 1,393 587 806 2,788 1,202 1,586
NOTES: Persons in families with zero total income or with negative total income, earnings, or income from assets are excluded.
The relative importance of a source of income may not accurately reflect the resources available to elderly persons or elderly aged units. The survey on which these data are based does not include some potentially important resources as income, including lump-sum pension payments and capital gains. In addition, these statistics do not take into consideration noncash benefits that supplement money income (housing and energy subsidies or food stamps) or the amount of savings available to supplement monthly income. Consult the Frequently Asked Questions for further information.
Relative Importance of Family Income Sources for Persons 65 or Older Table 8.B6 Percentage distribution, by source of family income, race, Hispanic origin, sex, and marital status, 2010
Proportion of family income White alone Black alone Asian alone Hispanic origin
Men Women Men Women Men Women Men Women
Married Non- married Married Non- married Married Non- married Married Non- married Married Non- married Married Non- married Married Non- married Married Non- married
  Earnings
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 55.2 69.0 61.9 68.6 46.7 67.8 54.5 61.2 36.3 46.0 45.9 44.1 44.0 46.7 47.6 46.2
1–19 7.3 3.7 7.1 4.1 6.4 3.0 6.1 2.7 5.0 0.3 5.3 1.4 3.2 3.0 2.7 2.0
20–39 7.9 3.8 7.5 3.9 8.3 5.2 8.4 4.1 3.9 4.0 3.8 5.0 5.7 4.1 7.2 3.7
40–59 9.6 5.2 7.7 5.9 13.2 8.0 10.8 7.7 7.7 5.5 5.4 5.5 11.2 6.2 11.2 5.7
60–79 10.1 6.7 8.0 7.9 14.3 5.1 11.6 11.0 14.4 16.4 12.4 15.1 15.2 9.2 11.7 16.3
80 or more 9.9 11.5 7.7 9.5 11.2 10.8 8.7 13.3 32.7 27.9 27.3 28.9 20.7 30.8 19.6 26.1
50 or more 25.2 21.6 19.6 20.7 31.7 20.8 25.2 28.7 52.3 49.2 43.5 48.2 42.7 42.9 37.2 46.7
90 or more 5.8 7.3 4.1 5.9 6.8 8.0 6.5 7.6 22.6 19.5 18.8 20.0 13.2 21.9 12.8 18.0
100 1.9 3.8 1.6 2.2 1.9 4.4 2.3 4.7 10.3 8.5 7.9 7.4 7.9 13.0 7.4 9.8
Mean proportion 24.1 19.5 19.4 19.1 29.9 19.6 24.8 25.5 46.6 42.1 38.8 42.7 37.9 39.9 34.8 40.6
Mean proportion (recipients only) 53.7 63.0 51.1 60.7 56.0 60.8 54.4 65.8 73.1 77.9 71.8 76.2 67.8 74.9 66.4 75.4
Number (thousands) 10,484 4,156 8,476 10,095 742 546 518 1,503 467 120 394 412 722 480 607 979
  Retirement benefits
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 7.3 9.5 5.8 7.4 8.9 11.9 7.5 11.5 25.9 35.5 21.8 31.0 17.8 24.8 15.7 21.2
1–19 8.0 7.5 6.4 7.3 7.6 5.0 5.5 8.8 18.2 9.8 14.6 13.9 10.2 12.9 8.9 15.2
20–39 13.6 9.7 11.4 10.2 15.6 8.8 12.1 11.7 14.3 13.3 14.0 10.7 14.9 12.0 13.4 13.7
40–59 12.0 9.2 11.3 9.2 12.7 9.5 11.5 9.1 5.6 8.6 4.9 5.8 12.0 6.2 11.8 7.0
60–79 13.3 9.1 14.0 9.5 13.4 7.9 14.9 6.3 8.5 6.3 9.9 7.9 8.8 6.4 10.3 6.6
80 or more 45.8 55.1 51.1 56.4 41.8 56.9 48.4 52.6 27.5 26.6 34.9 30.8 36.4 37.7 39.9 36.4
50 or more 65.0 68.4 70.7 70.3 62.1 70.0 69.6 62.7 37.8 35.4 46.0 41.1 50.5 47.4 55.3 45.7
90 or more 38.6 47.7 43.2 50.0 36.2 52.9 43.5 47.9 23.2 22.2 29.5 27.9 32.2 36.0 35.5 34.8
100 16.3 27.4 17.7 27.3 23.1 41.9 28.2 38.4 10.9 18.5 12.6 19.6 22.1 24.6 24.2 26.1
Mean proportion 64.5 68.3 69.0 70.0 62.2 69.7 68.2 65.1 41.4 39.1 48.9 43.0 53.4 49.9 57.0 49.6
Mean proportion (recipients only) 69.6 75.5 73.2 75.6 68.3 79.1 73.7 73.5 55.9 60.6 62.5 62.3 64.9 66.4 67.6 63.0
Number (thousands) 10,484 4,156 8,476 10,095 742 546 518 1,503 467 120 394 412 722 480 607 979
  Social Security
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 10.0 12.3 8.2 10.2 14.4 15.7 12.4 15.5 29.5 40.0 25.0 33.6 20.3 26.2 18.2 23.1
1–19 13.9 13.2 11.7 11.0 12.8 8.4 11.7 12.3 21.4 17.5 19.4 16.0 13.3 16.6 11.9 17.7
20–39 22.2 16.9 20.8 14.7 23.3 13.0 17.6 14.5 17.4 11.2 17.0 15.2 17.7 12.9 15.9 13.9
40–59 17.7 16.1 18.8 12.9 15.7 15.6 17.3 10.7 9.5 9.3 10.2 5.8 13.7 9.0 16.0 8.0
60–79 13.1 9.9 14.6 12.3 12.7 8.7 14.5 8.9 6.2 7.4 7.7 4.7 9.7 7.4 10.5 7.0
80 or more 23.1 31.7 25.9 38.9 21.0 38.6 26.5 38.0 15.9 14.5 20.7 24.7 25.3 28.0 27.5 30.3
50 or more 44.3 49.1 49.1 57.0 40.8 56.9 50.3 51.8 26.5 25.9 32.8 31.6 42.2 39.6 46.2 39.8
90 or more 17.6 26.7 19.9 31.5 17.2 35.5 22.7 32.8 12.1 13.8 16.1 20.4 22.0 24.8 24.3 27.8
100 8.7 17.1 9.5 18.5 13.3 27.7 17.6 27.2 7.1 12.9 8.9 15.9 16.6 19.0 17.7 21.4
Mean proportion 48.0 52.2 51.7 58.0 45.4 56.9 51.4 54.4 31.7 29.1 37.3 36.1 45.2 43.1 48.2 44.4
Mean proportion (recipients only) 53.3 59.5 56.3 64.6 53.1 67.4 58.7 64.4 45.0 48.4 49.7 54.3 56.8 58.4 59.0 57.7
Number (thousands) 10,484 4,156 8,476 10,095 742 546 518 1,503 467 120 394 412 722 480 607 979
  Government employee pensions
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 79.8 87.7 79.9 86.9 82.9 90.1 82.4 90.6 86.3 87.1 82.5 88.2 89.7 94.2 89.0 95.0
1–19 5.8 1.9 5.9 2.8 3.3 1.0 3.3 1.5 2.2 6.2 3.3 2.5 3.5 0.9 3.5 0.7
20–39 5.6 2.5 5.3 4.0 4.5 3.3 4.6 2.2 6.1 3.0 6.6 4.4 2.1 0.9 3.0 1.1
40–59 4.7 3.0 4.6 3.1 5.0 1.8 4.7 2.9 2.9 0 3.6 3.5 2.5 1.1 2.8 1.7
60–79 2.8 2.7 2.8 2.0 2.1 0.8 2.4 1.0 1.1 0.5 1.7 0.8 0.9 2.4 1.0 1.1
80 or more 1.3 2.2 1.4 1.3 2.2 3.0 2.6 1.8 1.4 3.1 2.3 0.5 1.3 0.6 0.7 0.5
50 or more 6.3 6.4 6.5 4.7 7.4 4.9 7.5 4.0 4.0 3.7 5.3 2.3 2.9 3.8 2.4 2.8
90 or more 0.6 1.2 0.8 0.9 1.4 2.1 1.9 1.1 0.6 0 1.3 0 0.7 0.5 0.3 0.2
100 0 0.5 0.1 0.2 0.3 1.1 0.7 0.5 0 0 0 0 0 0.1 0 0
Mean proportion 7.8 6.3 7.8 5.6 7.7 5.4 8.2 4.6 5.4 4.3 7.4 4.4 4.0 3.1 3.9 2.4
Mean proportion (recipients only) 38.7 51.5 38.9 42.8 45.3 53.9 46.4 49.0 39.7 33.7 42.6 37.5 38.8 53.2 35.7 48.1
Number (thousands) 10,484 4,156 8,476 10,095 742 546 518 1,503 467 120 394 412 722 480 607 979
  Private pensions or annuities
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 66.7 70.3 65.3 75.7 68.3 81.7 69.1 81.4 79.6 80.1 78.6 88.8 81.3 87.1 79.7 87.9
1–19 16.0 11.5 15.7 12.1 12.2 3.3 11.8 7.0 12.4 11.3 14.5 5.4 9.8 7.5 9.0 7.9
20–39 11.0 7.7 12.0 7.6 12.4 5.0 11.3 5.9 5.0 3.1 4.9 4.7 6.9 2.2 8.5 1.9
40–59 4.6 7.6 5.1 2.8 4.9 7.2 6.1 2.9 2.0 1.1 1.5 1.1 1.6 2.3 2.8 1.1
60–79 1.4 2.4 1.5 1.2 1.2 2.3 1.0 1.6 1.0 4.4 0.5 0 0 0.8 0 0.5
80 or more 0.4 0.6 0.4 0.6 1.2 0.6 0.6 1.2 0.1 0 0.1 0 0.4 0.1 0 0.6
50 or more 3.3 5.6 3.7 2.8 3.3 4.6 3.3 3.9 1.7 5.2 1.4 0.4 0.9 1.6 0.5 1.7
90 or more 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.5 1.0 0.6 0.6 0.9 0.1 0 0.1 0 0.2 0 0 0.5
100 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 1.0 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.1 0 0.1 0 0.2 0 0 0.2
Mean proportion 8.2 9.2 8.8 6.1 8.9 7.2 8.5 6.0 4.2 5.7 3.8 2.5 4.0 3.1 4.6 2.7
Mean proportion (recipients only) 24.6 30.9 25.3 25.0 28.2 39.3 27.6 32.4 20.7 28.7 17.8 22.1 21.2 23.8 22.7 22.0
Number (thousands) 10,484 4,156 8,476 10,095 742 546 518 1,503 467 120 394 412 722 480 607 979
  Income from assets
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 32.7 49.9 32.6 46.5 57.3 75.1 59.7 76.9 46.4 56.2 42.4 56.8 62.2 72.6 64.3 70.5
1–19 52.8 38.4 52.0 42.9 37.5 22.6 34.1 21.1 48.0 34.6 49.9 36.3 32.7 24.0 30.7 26.9
20–39 8.4 6.3 9.0 5.5 4.5 1.0 5.1 1.2 3.6 4.4 4.4 4.9 4.0 1.6 4.3 1.7
40–59 3.7 2.4 3.8 2.6 0.5 0.7 0.7 0.3 1.4 3.0 3.1 1.0 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.3
60–79 1.6 2.0 1.8 1.5 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.3 0 0.2 0 0.3 0 0.6 0 0.3
80 or more 0.7 0.9 0.9 1.0 0 0.4 0 0.2 0.5 1.5 0.2 0.7 0.4 0.6 0 0.3
50 or more 3.6 3.9 4.0 3.3 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.7 1.0 3.4 2.2 1.1 0.5 1.4 0.4 0.6
90 or more 0.4 0.6 0.4 0.7 0 0.4 0 0.1 0.2 1.5 0.2 0.6 0.4 0.6 0 0.3
100 0.3 0.5 0.4 0.5 0 0.4 0 0.1 0.2 1.5 0.2 0.6 0.4 0.6 0 0.3
Mean proportion 8.1 6.9 8.6 6.5 2.7 1.8 3.0 1.5 4.0 5.9 5.0 3.9 2.8 2.3 2.5 1.9
Mean proportion (recipients only) 12.1 13.7 12.8 12.1 6.3 7.4 7.4 6.4 7.5 13.5 8.7 9.0 7.4 8.3 7.0 6.3
Number (thousands) 10,484 4,156 8,476 10,095 742 546 518 1,503 467 120 394 412 722 480 607 979
  Cash public assistance
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 97.6 95.8 97.8 94.2 91.7 88.0 92.7 86.7 89.8 85.8 89.4 84.3 90.6 91.0 91.3 83.1
1–19 1.3 1.6 1.1 3.0 5.2 6.0 4.0 6.4 4.3 1.8 4.5 10.1 4.5 3.2 4.0 8.8
20–39 0.5 0.8 0.5 1.5 1.6 2.6 2.5 2.9 2.0 6.2 2.4 0.9 2.1 3.1 2.4 3.4
40–59 0.1 0.8 0.1 0.6 0.2 1.4 0.3 1.4 0.4 1.5 0.1 1.7 0.6 1.2 0.3 2.2
60–79 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.6 0 0 0.5 1.5 0 1.8 0 0.8 0.3 0.6 0.4
80 or more 0.3 0.9 0.3 0.7 0.6 2.0 0.5 2.1 1.9 4.8 1.8 3.0 1.4 1.2 1.4 2.2
50 or more 0.5 1.3 0.4 1.0 1.4 2.8 0.8 2.9 3.5 6.2 3.7 4.4 2.5 2.1 2.0 3.3
90 or more 0.3 0.8 0.3 0.7 0.6 1.7 0.5 2.0 1.9 4.8 1.8 2.9 1.4 1.2 1.4 2.2
100 0.3 0.7 0.3 0.7 0.6 1.7 0.5 1.9 1.9 4.8 1.8 2.9 1.1 1.2 1.1 2.2
Mean proportion 0.7 1.7 0.7 1.7 2.0 3.8 1.6 4.5 4.1 7.3 4.2 5.0 3.2 3.2 3.1 5.1
Mean proportion (recipients only) 29.8 40.7 30.3 29.8 24.3 31.7 22.4 33.6 40.3 51.4 39.6 31.7 34.4 35.4 35.8 30.3
Number (thousands) 10,484 4,156 8,476 10,095 742 546 518 1,503 467 120 394 412 722 480 607 979
NOTES: Persons in families with zero total income or with negative total income, earnings, or income from assets are excluded.
The relative importance of a source of income may not accurately reflect the resources available to elderly persons or elderly aged units. The survey on which these data are based does not include some potentially important resources as income, including lump-sum pension payments and capital gains. In addition, these statistics do not take into consideration noncash benefits that supplement money income (housing and energy subsidies or food stamps) or the amount of savings available to supplement monthly income. Consult the Frequently Asked Questions for further information.
Relative Importance of Family Income Sources for Persons 65 or Older Table 8.B7 Percentage distribution, by source of family income and quintile of per-capita family total money income, 2010
Proportion of family income Total First Second Third Fourth Fifth
  Earnings
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 61.4 79.0 75.5 66.3 51.5 35.6
1–19 5.7 3.4 4.1 6.3 8.0 6.4
20–39 6.0 3.0 5.0 5.8 8.1 8.0
40–59 7.6 3.9 4.7 7.5 9.9 11.9
60–79 8.9 3.9 5.1 7.2 11.4 16.8
80 or more 10.4 6.7 5.7 6.8 11.1 21.3
50 or more 23.5 12.7 13.5 18.3 27.9 44.4
90 or more 6.3 5.3 3.7 3.6 6.2 12.4
100 2.5 4.0 2.3 1.5 2.1 2.8
Mean proportion 22.1 12.4 13.1 17.5 26.4 40.5
Mean proportion (recipients only) 57.2 59.2 53.3 51.9 54.4 62.9
Number (thousands) 38,457 7,364 7,772 7,775 7,760 7,787
  Retirement benefits
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 8.2 13.9 4.8 4.3 6.3 12.0
1–19 7.6 1.8 2.5 4.6 8.5 20.5
20–39 11.7 4.4 5.9 9.0 14.4 24.4
40–59 10.4 5.5 6.9 11.4 14.8 13.4
60–79 11.5 7.4 9.5 12.9 15.9 11.5
80 or more 50.5 67.0 70.4 57.8 40.1 18.2
50 or more 67.0 77.1 83.4 76.3 63.3 35.7
90 or more 43.7 61.2 62.5 49.5 32.2 14.0
100 22.3 42.7 34.7 21.2 10.4 3.4
Mean proportion 66.6 75.2 80.9 73.9 62.3 41.3
Mean proportion (recipients only) 72.6 87.3 85.0 77.2 66.5 47.0
Number (thousands) 38,457 7,364 7,772 7,775 7,760 7,787
  Social Security
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 11.1 16.2 6.5 6.3 9.6 17.1
1–19 12.6 2.2 3.6 6.5 14.2 36.1
20–39 18.6 5.2 7.9 13.7 27.7 37.7
40–59 15.8 6.2 9.1 21.5 34.1 7.7
60–79 12.4 8.7 15.1 26.3 10.9 0.7
80 or more 29.5 61.6 57.8 25.7 3.6 0.6
50 or more 49.2 73.3 78.1 64.6 28.1 3.0
90 or more 23.6 54.8 46.0 16.9 1.6 0.5
100 13.7 38.0 24.1 6.9 0.6 0.3
Mean proportion 51.7 71.1 73.6 58.2 37.3 19.6
Mean proportion (recipients only) 58.2 84.8 78.7 62.1 41.3 23.6
Number (thousands) 38,457 7,364 7,772 7,775 7,760 7,787
  Government employee pensions
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 83.4 96.4 92.4 84.4 73.6 71.0
1–19 4.2 1.2 2.5 3.4 6.2 7.6
20–39 4.6 1.2 2.0 5.2 6.7 7.6
40–59 3.9 0.5 1.4 3.9 7.1 6.5
60–79 2.4 0.3 0.9 1.8 3.9 5.1
80 or more 1.5 0.6 0.8 1.3 2.4 2.3
50 or more 5.7 1.0 2.1 4.9 9.8 10.6
90 or more 0.9 0.4 0.4 1.0 1.1 1.3
100 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.3 0.1 0.3
Mean proportion 6.8 1.4 2.9 6.3 11.3 11.9
Mean proportion (recipients only) 41.2 39.6 38.2 40.6 42.6 41.1
Number (thousands) 38,457 7,364 7,772 7,775 7,760 7,787
  Private pensions or annuities
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 70.7 92.0 77.9 62.1 57.1 65.6
1–19 13.5 4.2 14.6 17.1 14.8 16.1
20–39 9.4 1.8 5.8 15.8 14.8 8.4
40–59 4.4 0.5 1.0 4.1 10.6 5.6
60–79 1.5 0.5 0.3 0.7 2.2 3.7
80 or more 0.5 0.9 0.4 0.2 0.4 0.6
50 or more 3.5 1.5 0.9 1.5 6.4 7.0
90 or more 0.3 0.8 0.2 0.1 0.3 0.4
100 0.2 0.5 0.1 0 0.2 0
Mean proportion 7.6 2.4 4.0 8.8 13.0 9.6
Mean proportion (recipients only) 25.9 29.5 17.9 23.2 30.3 27.8
Number (thousands) 38,457 7,364 7,772 7,775 7,760 7,787
  Income from assets
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 42.2 70.8 55.3 40.9 29.4 16.3
1–19 45.7 25.0 39.9 50.5 55.5 56.7
20–39 6.9 1.8 3.7 6.1 10.9 11.6
40–59 2.9 0.4 1.0 2.0 3.3 7.6
60–79 1.5 0.2 0.1 0.5 0.6 6.0
80 or more 0.8 1.9 0.1 0 0.3 1.7
50 or more 3.3 2.2 0.2 0.9 2.0 11.1
90 or more 0.5 1.9 0.1 0 0.1 0.4
100 0.4 1.9 0.1 0 0 0
Mean proportion 7.0 3.6 3.0 5.0 7.7 15.3
Mean proportion (recipients only) 12.0 12.3 6.7 8.5 10.9 18.3
Number (thousands) 38,457 7,364 7,772 7,775 7,760 7,787
  Cash public assistance
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 95.3 86.5 96.0 97.0 97.9 98.9
1–19 2.3 4.5 2.6 2.2 1.6 1.0
20–39 1.0 3.4 0.9 0.4 0.5 0.1
40–59 0.4 1.5 0.4 0.3 0 0
60–79 0.2 0.7 0.1 0.1 0 0
80 or more 0.7 3.4 0.2 0 0 0
50 or more 1.0 4.7 0.4 0.2 0 0
90 or more 0.7 3.3 0.2 0 0 0
100 0.6 3.1 0.2 0 0 0
Mean proportion 1.5 6.0 0.9 0.5 0.3 0.1
Mean proportion (recipients only) 32.2 44.6 21.8 17.3 12.2 5.6
Number (thousands) 38,457 7,364 7,772 7,775 7,760 7,787
NOTES: Persons in families with zero total income or with negative total income, earnings, or income from assets are excluded.
Per-capita family total money income quintile limits are $11,417, $16,710, $24,007, and $38,237.
The relative importance of a source of income may not accurately reflect the resources available to elderly persons or elderly aged units. The survey on which these data are based does not include some potentially important resources as income, including lump-sum pension payments and capital gains. In addition, these statistics do not take into consideration noncash benefits that supplement money income (housing and energy subsidies or food stamps) or the amount of savings available to supplement monthly income. Consult the Frequently Asked Questions for further information.
Relative Importance of Family Income Sources for Persons 65 or Older Table 8.B8 Percentage distribution, by source of family income, number of persons in family, and quintile of per-capita family total money income, 2010
Proportion of family income Total First Second Third Fourth Fifth
  Earnings
  Persons in 1-person families
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 82.5 96.3 93.0 89.2 77.2 55.5
1–19 3.3 1.1 2.5 2.8 5.0 5.1
20–39 2.7 0.6 1.2 2.7 4.3 5.1
40–59 3.3 0.2 0.7 2.9 5.4 7.7
60–79 3.0 0.1 0.4 0.8 2.9 10.7
80 or more 5.2 1.6 2.2 1.6 5.3 15.7
50 or more 10.0 1.9 3.1 4.5 11.0 30.2
90 or more 4.3 1.5 2.0 1.4 4.7 11.9
100 2.0 1.1 1.5 1.1 2.9 3.7
Mean proportion 9.9 2.1 3.4 4.7 11.5 28.4
Mean proportion (recipients only) 56.4 55.3 48.2 43.4 50.5 63.9
Number (thousands) 12,205 2,352 2,717 2,504 2,180 2,451
  Persons in 2-person families
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 61.9 89.3 80.3 68.5 51.8 30.3
1–19 7.0 3.1 5.3 8.1 9.7 7.7
20–39 6.6 1.7 5.5 6.0 9.4 9.0
40–59 7.9 1.8 3.0 7.6 10.5 14.1
60–79 8.7 1.2 3.5 5.8 11.0 18.9
80 or more 7.9 3.0 2.3 3.9 7.7 20.0
50 or more 20.7 5.2 7.3 13.5 24.3 46.1
90 or more 4.2 2.6 1.5 2.5 3.4 10.1
100 1.6 2.2 1.1 1.0 1.2 2.5
Mean proportion 20.0 5.5 8.1 14.0 23.7 42.0
Mean proportion (recipients only) 52.3 51.0 41.3 44.5 49.2 60.3
Number (thousands) 20,145 3,310 3,843 4,068 4,340 4,584
  Persons in families of 3 or more
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 17.7 35.3 21.1 11.0 5.7 3.0
1–19 6.0 7.2 3.7 7.6 7.1 2.3
20–39 10.6 9.1 11.4 11.6 10.5 11.5
40–59 15.3 12.8 19.3 16.9 15.4 11.8
60–79 21.7 14.5 20.4 24.9 28.1 24.3
80 or more 28.7 21.0 24.1 28.0 33.2 47.1
50 or more 59.4 42.2 56.6 62.9 70.0 80.0
90 or more 17.0 15.8 14.7 12.0 18.6 28.5
100 6.6 11.6 7.9 3.9 4.0 2.3
Mean proportion 53.4 40.2 50.4 55.9 61.7 70.8
Mean proportion (recipients only) 64.9 62.2 63.9 62.8 65.4 72.9
Number (thousands) 6,107 1,702 1,211 1,203 1,240 752
  Retirement benefits
  Persons in 1-person families
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 7.1 12.1 2.9 2.0 5.5 13.6
1–19 2.7 0.2 0.3 0.6 1.3 11.0
20–39 5.6 0.2 0.8 1.7 6.3 19.6
40–59 7.9 2.5 3.3 6.6 13.8 14.3
60–79 9.3 5.3 5.8 9.0 14.8 12.5
80 or more 67.4 79.6 86.9 80.2 58.4 29.1
50 or more 80.7 86.5 94.9 91.7 80.5 48.3
90 or more 59.9 74.8 79.4 70.7 47.8 23.9
100 34.9 55.7 51.0 38.6 18.9 7.8
Mean proportion 78.2 83.6 91.3 88.2 75.5 50.8
Mean proportion (recipients only) 84.2 95.1 94.0 90.0 79.9 58.9
Number (thousands) 12,205 2,352 2,717 2,504 2,180 2,451
  Persons in 2-person families
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 5.9 9.4 2.3 3.0 4.5 10.4
1–19 6.8 0.5 0.8 1.8 6.2 21.5
20–39 12.0 2.5 4.5 7.7 13.9 27.0
40–59 10.9 3.9 5.3 13.1 16.0 14.0
60–79 13.4 6.4 11.7 16.6 18.5 12.4
80 or more 51.0 77.3 75.5 57.9 40.9 14.8
50 or more 69.8 85.9 90.2 81.7 67.0 33.3
90 or more 43.3 70.8 65.2 48.3 32.6 10.8
100 19.6 48.5 31.5 16.3 8.8 1.7
Mean proportion 68.5 83.0 85.7 76.6 65.0 39.8
Mean proportion (recipients only) 72.8 91.6 87.7 79.0 68.1 44.4
Number (thousands) 20,145 3,310 3,843 4,068 4,340 4,584
  Persons in families of 3 or more
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 18.0 25.2 16.7 13.4 14.4 17.0
1–19 20.3 6.4 13.1 22.8 29.0 45.3
20–39 22.9 13.9 21.9 28.5 30.0 24.3
40–59 14.0 12.6 20.0 16.0 12.5 6.4
60–79 9.4 12.2 10.8 8.4 8.7 3.2
80 or more 15.4 29.7 17.4 11.0 5.3 3.9
50 or more 30.6 47.3 35.9 25.8 19.9 9.6
90 or more 12.5 24.0 15.7 9.1 3.3 1.5
100 6.0 13.7 8.4 1.6 0.8 0
Mean proportion 37.2 48.4 42.5 35.0 29.4 19.8
Mean proportion (recipients only) 45.4 64.7 51.0 40.4 34.4 23.8
Number (thousands) 6,107 1,702 1,211 1,203 1,240 752
  Social Security
  Persons in 1-person families
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 10.1 13.8 4.1 4.6 8.4 20.5
1–19 6.1 0.5 1.0 1.4 4.1 23.7
20–39 11.9 1.1 1.2 2.5 17.1 39.1
40–59 14.6 3.1 4.4 13.8 40.9 14.2
60–79 12.4 6.4 10.4 24.3 20.4 1.1
80 or more 44.9 75.1 79.0 53.4 9.0 1.5
50 or more 64.3 83.3 92.4 85.5 50.2 5.7
90 or more 37.4 69.4 67.7 38.9 4.3 1.2
100 23.5 51.1 41.7 18.7 1.6 1.0
Mean proportion 63.6 80.2 86.8 75.5 48.4 23.1
Mean proportion (recipients only) 70.8 93.1 90.5 79.2 52.9 29.1
Number (thousands) 12,205 2,352 2,717 2,504 2,180 2,451
  Persons in 2-person families
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 8.5 11.9 4.2 4.6 7.8 14.0
1–19 12.4 0.9 1.7 3.4 11.6 38.7
20–39 20.9 3.5 6.7 15.0 30.9 41.2
40–59 17.6 4.0 9.4 27.4 38.9 5.4
60–79 14.2 8.7 20.3 33.8 8.9 0.5
80 or more 26.3 70.9 57.7 15.9 1.8 0.3
50 or more 48.9 82.3 83.9 67.1 24.7 2.1
90 or more 20.4 63.1 43.5 7.9 0.8 0.1
100 10.9 42.9 18.1 1.6 0.3 0
Mean proportion 51.4 78.5 76.3 57.0 37.3 19.4
Mean proportion (recipients only) 56.2 89.1 79.6 59.7 40.5 22.5
Number (thousands) 20,145 3,310 3,843 4,068 4,340 4,584
  Persons in families of 3 or more
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 21.4 27.7 19.3 15.6 18.1 25.3
1–19 26.3 7.1 15.5 27.4 40.9 61.0
20–39 24.4 14.0 26.6 33.1 35.4 12.5
40–59 12.3 14.6 18.5 17.6 4.8 1.2
60–79 6.3 11.6 9.4 5.1 0.8 0
80 or more 9.3 24.9 10.8 1.2 0 0
50 or more 19.9 41.9 27.5 12.3 1.4 0.1
90 or more 6.5 18.6 5.5 1.2 0 0
100 3.5 10.1 3.5 0.2 0 0
Mean proportion 29.2 44.2 35.6 26.0 17.7 9.4
Mean proportion (recipients only) 37.2 61.1 44.0 30.7 21.7 12.6
Number (thousands) 6,107 1,702 1,211 1,203 1,240 752
  Government employee pensions
  Persons in 1-person families
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 87.1 98.1 96.3 89.8 76.8 72.8
1–19 1.8 0.3 0.8 2.2 3.6 2.4
20–39 3.3 0.4 1.4 3.0 5.6 6.5
40–59 3.5 0.5 0.8 2.6 7.9 6.5
60–79 2.2 0.2 0.3 0.7 3.1 6.9
80 or more 2.0 0.6 0.3 1.6 2.9 4.8
50 or more 5.8 0.9 0.9 3.3 9.4 15.5
90 or more 1.2 0.6 0.2 1.2 1.4 2.9
100 0.5 0.6 0.1 0.4 0.5 0.8
Mean proportion 6.4 1.0 1.4 4.5 10.9 14.8
Mean proportion (recipients only) 49.4 53.1 39.1 44.6 47.0 54.4
Number (thousands) 12,205 2,352 2,717 2,504 2,180 2,451
  Persons in 2-person families
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 79.8 95.8 90.0 79.9 69.9 68.9
1–19 5.3 1.6 3.1 3.8 7.0 9.6
20–39 5.6 1.4 2.2 7.2 7.1 8.5
40–59 4.7 0.1 1.9 4.8 8.1 7.1
60–79 3.1 0.4 1.4 2.9 5.1 4.7
80 or more 1.5 0.6 1.3 1.4 2.8 1.2
50 or more 6.8 1.1 3.3 6.4 11.9 9.3
90 or more 0.8 0.4 0.7 1.1 1.2 0.6
100 0.1 0.2 0 0.2 0 0
Mean proportion 8.1 1.6 4.2 8.2 13.2 11.3
Mean proportion (recipients only) 40.2 37.9 42.0 40.9 43.7 36.4
Number (thousands) 20,145 3,310 3,843 4,068 4,340 4,584
  Persons in families of 3 or more
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 87.9 95.0 91.2 88.3 80.8 77.6
1–19 5.1 1.5 4.3 4.2 7.9 11.6
20–39 3.8 1.8 3.0 3.1 7.2 5.4
40–59 2.0 1.0 1.0 3.7 2.3 2.5
60–79 0.7 0 0.3 0.5 1.2 1.9
80 or more 0.5 0.6 0.2 0.1 0.6 1.0
50 or more 2.1 1.1 0.6 3.1 3.2 3.1
90 or more 0.2 0.1 0 0.1 0.3 1.0
100 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mean proportion 3.5 1.7 2.1 3.7 5.3 6.3
Mean proportion (recipients only) 28.9 35.1 23.8 32.1 27.5 28.1
Number (thousands) 6,107 1,702 1,211 1,203 1,240 752
  Private pensions or annuities
  Persons in 1-person families
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 73.9 95.0 86.2 67.5 53.5 64.8
1–19 10.2 1.7 9.2 16.4 12.2 11.2
20–39 8.2 1.3 3.1 13.1 15.8 8.6
40–59 5.1 0.4 0.6 2.3 15.1 8.4
60–79 1.8 0.5 0.1 0.4 2.5 5.8
80 or more 0.8 1.1 0.7 0.4 0.7 1.2
50 or more 4.2 1.6 1.0 1.3 6.9 11.1
90 or more 0.5 0.9 0.4 0.1 0.5 0.8
100 0.2 0.6 0.2 0 0.3 0.1
Mean proportion 7.9 2.1 2.8 7.3 15.8 12.6
Mean proportion (recipients only) 30.2 41.5 20.2 22.4 33.9 35.9
Number (thousands) 12,205 2,352 2,717 2,504 2,180 2,451
  Persons in 2-person families
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 67.0 92.0 72.4 55.8 55.2 65.3
1–19 14.8 3.9 18.1 17.7 14.9 17.4
20–39 11.2 1.6 7.6 19.7 16.3 8.9
40–59 5.0 0.7 1.4 5.8 10.9 4.8
60–79 1.6 0.8 0.2 0.8 2.5 3.1
80 or more 0.4 1.0 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.5
50 or more 3.6 1.9 0.9 1.5 7.2 5.7
90 or more 0.3 0.9 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2
100 0.1 0.6 0.1 0 0.1 0
Mean proportion 8.5 2.6 4.8 10.8 13.7 8.9
Mean proportion (recipients only) 25.7 32.2 17.3 24.5 30.6 25.6
Number (thousands) 20,145 3,310 3,843 4,068 4,340 4,584
  Persons in families of 3 or more
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 76.7 87.8 76.7 72.3 70.2 69.2
1–19 15.6 8.4 15.9 16.5 18.9 24.7
20–39 5.7 2.8 6.2 8.1 7.7 4.7
40–59 1.2 0.5 0.6 2.2 1.8 1.4
60–79 0.5 0 0.7 1.0 1.0 0
80 or more 0.2 0.6 0 0 0.4 0
50 or more 1.4 0.8 0.7 2.2 2.5 1.3
90 or more 0.2 0.5 0 0 0.4 0
100 0.1 0.4 0 0 0 0
Mean proportion 4.1 2.3 4.0 5.1 5.7 4.0
Mean proportion (recipients only) 17.6 19.3 17.0 18.5 19.0 12.9
Number (thousands) 6,107 1,702 1,211 1,203 1,240 752
  Income from assets
  Persons in 1-person families
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 48.6 74.9 61.9 50.0 33.4 20.8
1–19 39.2 20.1 33.8 43.7 50.9 48.4
20–39 6.2 1.4 2.9 4.4 9.7 13.3
40–59 2.9 0.6 1.2 1.4 4.5 7.0
60–79 1.9 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.9 7.9
80 or more 1.2 2.9 0.1 0.1 0.5 2.6
50 or more 4.1 3.2 0.3 1.0 2.9 13.3
90 or more 0.8 2.9 0.1 0 0.3 0.8
100 0.6 2.9 0.1 0 0.1 0.1
Mean proportion 7.3 4.3 2.7 4.4 8.4 17.3
Mean proportion (recipients only) 14.2 17.2 7.0 8.7 12.6 21.8
Number (thousands) 12,205 2,352 2,717 2,504 2,180 2,451
  Persons in 2-person families
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 35.8 66.6 47.8 33.7 27.2 13.7
1–19 50.0 28.5 46.3 54.8 56.0 58.8
20–39 8.3 2.2 4.8 7.8 12.9 11.8
40–59 3.5 0.3 0.9 3.0 3.3 8.4
60–79 1.6 0.3 0.1 0.6 0.3 5.9
80 or more 0.7 2.1 0 0 0.3 1.5
50 or more 3.6 2.4 0.1 1.1 1.8 11.1
90 or more 0.4 2.1 0 0 0 0.2
100 0.3 2.1 0 0 0 0
Mean proportion 7.9 4.2 3.7 6.1 8.2 15.6
Mean proportion (recipients only) 12.4 12.7 7.1 9.2 11.2 18.1
Number (thousands) 20,145 3,310 3,843 4,068 4,340 4,584
  Persons in families of 3 or more
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 50.5 73.1 64.4 46.1 30.3 17.6
1–19 44.7 24.8 33.0 49.9 61.8 71.5
20–39 3.3 1.4 1.7 3.7 5.6 5.6
40–59 1.1 0.4 0.9 0.2 1.4 4.3
60–79 0.3 0 0 0 0.9 0.8
80 or more 0.1 0.2 0 0.1 0 0.2
50 or more 0.8 0.2 0.1 0.2 1.5 3.5
90 or more 0 0.2 0 0 0 0
100 0 0.2 0 0 0 0
Mean proportion 3.1 1.3 1.6 2.7 4.8 7.0
Mean proportion (recipients only) 6.2 4.9 4.5 5.0 6.9 8.5
Number (thousands) 6,107 1,702 1,211 1,203 1,240 752
  Cash public assistance
  Persons in 1-person families
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 95.7 85.0 96.0 98.3 98.9 99.8
1–19 1.6 5.3 1.9 0.5 0.3 0.1
20–39 1.0 2.6 1.1 0.5 0.7 0
40–59 0.5 1.2 0.7 0.5 0 0
60–79 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0 0
80 or more 1.2 5.7 0.2 0.1 0 0
50 or more 1.4 6.5 0.6 0.3 0 0
90 or more 1.1 5.6 0.1 0.1 0 0
100 1.1 5.3 0.1 0.1 0 0
Mean proportion 1.9 7.7 1.1 0.6 0.3 0
Mean proportion (recipients only) 43.5 51.1 26.8 36.0 25.8 7.4
Number (thousands) 12,205 2,352 2,717 2,504 2,180 2,451
  Persons in 2-person families
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 97.1 90.1 98.0 97.9 98.9 99.2
1–19 1.1 1.8 1.0 1.4 1.0 0.6
20–39 0.7 2.6 0.5 0.5 0.2 0.2
40–59 0.3 1.3 0.3 0.2 0 0
60–79 0.2 1.1 0.1 0 0 0
80 or more 0.5 3.0 0.3 0 0 0
50 or more 0.8 4.5 0.4 0.1 0 0
90 or more 0.5 3.0 0.3 0 0 0
100 0.5 2.8 0.3 0 0 0
Mean proportion 1.1 5.4 0.7 0.4 0.1 0.1
Mean proportion (recipients only) 39.3 54.2 33.0 17.9 10.6 8.5
Number (thousands) 20,145 3,310 3,843 4,068 4,340 4,584
  Persons in families of 3 or more
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 88.8 81.7 89.4 91.2 92.7 94.1
1–19 7.8 8.5 9.0 8.6 6.0 5.9
20–39 2.2 5.9 1.6 0 1.3 0
40–59 0.6 2.2 0 0.2 0 0
60–79 0.2 0.7 0 0 0 0
80 or more 0.3 1.1 0 0 0 0
50 or more 0.7 2.6 0 0.1 0 0
90 or more 0.2 0.8 0 0 0 0
100 0.2 0.8 0 0 0 0
Mean proportion 1.9 5.0 1.2 0.8 0.7 0.2
Mean proportion (recipients only) 17.4 27.3 10.9 9.2 9.4 2.8
Number (thousands) 6,107 1,702 1,211 1,203 1,240 752
NOTES: Persons in families with zero total income or with negative total income, earnings, or income from assets are excluded.
Per-capita family total money income quintile limits are $11,417, $16,710, $24,007, and $38,237.
The relative importance of a source of income may not accurately reflect the resources available to elderly persons or elderly aged units. The survey on which these data are based does not include some potentially important resources as income, including lump-sum pension payments and capital gains. In addition, these statistics do not take into consideration noncash benefits that supplement money income (housing and energy subsidies or food stamps) or the amount of savings available to supplement monthly income. Consult the Frequently Asked Questions for further information.
Relative Importance of Family Income Sources for Persons 65 or Older Table 8.B9 Percentage distribution, by source of family income, sex, and ratio of family total money income to the poverty threshold, 2010
Proportion of family income All persons Men Women
Under 1.00 1.00– 1.24 1.25– 1.49 1.50– 1.99 2.00 or more Under 1.00 1.00– 1.24 1.25– 1.49 1.50– 1.99 2.00 or more Under 1.00 1.00– 1.24 1.25– 1.49 1.50– 1.99 2.00 or more
  Earnings
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 88.4 85.8 86.9 80.4 49.5 85.9 83.4 86.2 78.2 48.6 89.5 87.1 87.3 81.8 50.3
1–19 2.1 3.0 3.8 3.9 6.9 2.1 2.9 3.7 4.5 7.2 2.1 3.0 3.8 3.5 6.6
20–39 1.5 2.6 2.4 3.4 7.8 2.2 2.1 2.3 3.4 8.3 1.2 2.8 2.5 3.4 7.3
40–59 1.5 1.8 2.5 4.6 10.0 2.0 1.6 2.8 5.1 10.6 1.3 2.0 2.3 4.3 9.5
60–79 1.6 2.1 1.7 3.3 12.3 1.7 3.0 1.6 3.2 12.1 1.5 1.5 1.8 3.4 12.5
80 or more 4.9 4.8 2.7 4.3 13.5 6.0 6.9 3.5 5.6 13.2 4.4 3.6 2.3 3.6 13.8
50 or more 7.2 8.2 5.8 10.1 31.3 8.7 11.2 6.0 11.8 31.3 6.6 6.5 5.7 9.1 31.3
90 or more 4.3 4.4 2.3 3.2 7.7 4.9 6.8 2.7 4.5 7.7 4.0 3.1 2.2 2.3 7.7
100 3.7 3.6 1.9 2.0 2.5 3.9 6.0 2.3 2.8 2.4 3.6 2.3 1.8 1.5 2.5
Mean proportion 7.3 8.2 6.1 10.2 29.1 9.0 10.7 6.8 11.6 29.2 6.5 6.8 5.8 9.3 29.1
Mean proportion (recipients only) 62.9 57.6 46.7 51.9 57.7 63.9 64.5 48.8 53.3 56.8 62.3 52.5 45.6 50.9 58.6
Number (thousands) 3,071 2,237 2,689 5,061 25,399 962 820 893 1,948 12,133 2,109 1,417 1,797 3,113 13,265
  Retirement benefits
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 18.6 7.9 4.7 5.0 8.0 23.4 11.0 5.8 6.5 8.0 16.4 6.1 4.2 4.0 7.9
1–19 0.6 0.9 0.9 1.3 11.1 1.0 0.6 1.9 1.1 10.7 0.4 1.1 0.4 1.4 11.4
20–39 1.7 2.1 2.5 4.4 16.2 1.2 2.3 2.0 4.5 16.3 1.9 2.0 2.7 4.3 16.0
40–59 3.1 3.9 4.8 6.9 13.2 3.5 5.1 6.0 7.1 13.1 2.8 3.3 4.2 6.8 13.3
60–79 6.2 7.6 6.5 7.6 13.8 6.0 8.8 7.2 7.0 13.7 6.3 6.9 6.1 8.0 13.8
80 or more 69.8 77.6 80.6 74.8 37.8 64.9 72.2 77.0 73.8 38.1 72.1 80.7 82.3 75.4 37.5
50 or more 78.0 87.2 90.1 85.3 57.9 73.0 83.4 88.4 84.1 58.1 80.2 89.4 90.9 86.1 57.6
90 or more 65.1 70.9 73.1 66.3 31.1 60.5 66.7 71.5 64.4 31.1 67.1 73.3 73.8 67.5 31.1
100 49.6 47.9 47.5 38.2 10.9 47.0 47.9 49.9 38.8 10.9 50.8 47.9 46.3 37.8 10.8
Mean proportion 75.2 84.3 86.9 83.1 58.6 70.3 80.5 84.8 81.7 58.8 77.4 86.5 87.9 83.9 58.4
Mean proportion (recipients only) 92.4 91.5 91.2 87.4 63.7 91.8 90.5 90.1 87.4 64.0 92.6 92.1 91.7 87.4 63.4
Number (thousands) 3,071 2,237 2,689 5,061 25,399 962 820 893 1,948 12,133 2,109 1,417 1,797 3,113 13,265
  Social Security
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 21.3 9.6 6.1 7.4 11.2 26.6 12.1 7.7 9.0 11.3 18.9 8.2 5.3 6.4 11.2
1–19 0.8 1.2 1.9 1.9 18.3 0.9 0.9 3.0 1.7 18.4 0.7 1.4 1.4 2.0 18.3
20–39 1.9 2.9 3.1 5.4 26.3 1.6 2.8 2.4 5.3 26.8 2.0 2.9 3.5 5.4 25.8
40–59 3.4 4.5 5.7 10.3 20.5 4.2 5.3 6.2 10.7 20.4 3.0 4.1 5.4 10.1 20.5
60–79 7.3 10.9 9.6 13.8 13.1 6.6 11.4 9.2 10.5 12.8 7.6 10.6 9.8 15.9 13.4
80 or more 65.3 70.9 73.6 61.3 10.6 60.0 67.6 71.5 62.8 10.3 67.7 72.9 74.6 60.3 10.8
50 or more 74.7 84.0 87.0 80.2 32.8 69.3 81.4 85.1 79.1 32.2 77.1 85.5 87.9 80.9 33.3
90 or more 60.1 63.0 63.2 48.8 6.6 55.4 61.6 63.8 50.8 6.5 62.2 63.7 62.9 47.5 6.6
100 45.2 42.2 40.3 24.6 2.4 42.9 43.2 42.6 26.4 2.4 46.3 41.6 39.2 23.5 2.4
Mean proportion 71.6 80.3 82.4 75.3 38.9 66.4 77.8 80.7 74.9 38.6 74.0 81.7 83.2 75.6 39.2
Mean proportion (recipients only) 91.0 88.9 87.7 81.4 43.8 90.4 88.5 87.4 82.3 43.5 91.2 89.1 87.9 80.8 44.1
Number (thousands) 3,071 2,237 2,689 5,061 25,399 962 820 893 1,948 12,133 2,109 1,417 1,797 3,113 13,265
  Government employee pensions
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 97.9 96.6 95.9 92.8 77.3 97.9 97.5 97.1 93.7 77.4 98.0 96.1 95.3 92.2 77.2
1–19 0.6 0.2 1.4 1.8 5.7 0.9 0.5 1.1 1.8 5.6 0.4 0.1 1.5 1.8 5.8
20–39 0.4 1.8 1.1 2.0 6.2 0.1 1.6 0.7 1.4 6.1 0.6 2.0 1.3 2.4 6.3
40–59 0.2 0.4 0.9 1.5 5.5 0.5 0 0.2 1.2 5.4 0.1 0.6 1.2 1.7 5.5
60–79 0 0.5 0.3 0.6 3.4 0 0.1 0.1 0.8 3.5 0.1 0.7 0.4 0.5 3.4
80 or more 0.7 0.4 0.5 1.3 1.8 0.5 0.3 0.8 1.1 2.0 0.8 0.5 0.3 1.5 1.7
50 or more 0.8 1.0 1.0 2.6 7.9 0.6 0.4 0.9 2.3 8.0 0.9 1.4 1.0 2.8 7.8
90 or more 0.6 0.4 0 0.8 1.0 0.4 0.3 0.1 0.5 1.1 0.7 0.5 0 1.0 1.0
100 0.5 0.2 0 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 0.1 0.3 0.2 0.6 0.3 0 0.3 0.1
Mean proportion 1.0 1.5 1.5 3.2 9.3 0.8 0.9 1.2 2.8 9.4 1.1 1.9 1.7 3.5 9.2
Mean proportion (recipients only) 50.0 44.7 37.0 44.7 40.9 41.3 35.6 40.5 44.6 41.4 54.0 48.0 36.0 44.7 40.5
Number (thousands) 3,071 2,237 2,689 5,061 25,399 962 820 893 1,948 12,133 2,109 1,417 1,797 3,113 13,265
  Private pensions or annuities
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 94.8 91.7 88.5 77.9 62.6 95.3 94.2 90.4 80.7 61.4 94.6 90.3 87.5 76.2 63.8
1–19 1.6 4.0 7.5 14.9 16.1 1.3 2.3 6.1 13.6 16.5 1.8 5.0 8.1 15.7 15.7
20–39 1.3 2.8 2.5 5.2 12.5 0.7 2.1 1.6 3.4 12.6 1.5 3.2 2.9 6.3 12.5
40–59 0.4 0.5 0.5 1.3 6.3 0.5 0.5 0.4 1.6 7.0 0.4 0.4 0.6 1.1 5.7
60–79 0.3 0.3 0.5 0.3 2.1 0.4 0.4 0.4 0.3 2.2 0.3 0.3 0.5 0.3 1.9
80 or more 1.5 0.7 0.5 0.4 0.4 1.9 0.5 1.1 0.4 0.3 1.4 0.8 0.3 0.3 0.5
50 or more 1.9 1.1 1.2 0.9 4.6 2.5 0.9 1.7 1.0 4.8 1.6 1.3 1.0 0.8 4.4
90 or more 1.4 0.6 0.4 0.2 0.2 1.8 0.3 1.1 0.2 0.1 1.2 0.8 0.1 0.3 0.3
100 0.9 0.1 0.4 0.2 0.1 1.2 0.1 1.1 0.2 0 0.7 0 0.1 0.2 0.1
Mean proportion 2.4 2.2 2.6 4.0 9.9 2.7 1.8 2.7 3.4 10.4 2.3 2.5 2.6 4.4 9.5
Mean proportion (recipients only) 47.1 27.0 22.5 18.1 26.6 57.2 30.6 27.7 17.8 26.8 43.0 25.8 20.6 18.3 26.3
Number (thousands) 3,071 2,237 2,689 5,061 25,399 962 820 893 1,948 12,133 2,109 1,417 1,797 3,113 13,265
  Income from assets
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 75.8 69.9 64.3 56.7 30.5 73.3 74.7 68.3 59.7 30.1 77.0 67.2 62.3 54.9 30.9
1–19 17.6 27.9 31.7 39.0 53.5 17.8 23.8 26.4 36.4 54.4 17.6 30.2 34.3 40.6 52.8
20–39 1.5 1.5 3.0 3.1 9.1 2.0 1.3 4.1 2.9 9.1 1.3 1.6 2.5 3.3 9.2
40–59 0.3 0.7 1.1 0.9 4.0 0.7 0.2 1.2 0.7 3.9 0.1 1.0 1.0 1.0 4.1
60–79 0.4 0.1 0 0 2.2 0.5 0 0.1 0 2.1 0.3 0.1 0 0 2.3
80 or more 4.3 0 0 0.3 0.6 5.7 0 0 0.4 0.5 3.7 0 0 0.2 0.8
50 or more 4.7 0.2 0.1 0.5 4.3 6.4 0 0.1 0.5 4.0 4.0 0.4 0.2 0.4 4.5
90 or more 4.3 0 0 0.3 0.1 5.7 0 0 0.4 0.1 3.7 0 0 0.2 0.2
100 4.3 0 0 0.3 0 5.6 0 0 0.4 0 3.7 0 0 0.2 0
Mean proportion 5.8 1.6 2.4 3.3 8.8 7.7 1.2 2.5 3.2 8.6 5.0 1.8 2.3 3.3 9.0
Mean proportion (recipients only) 24.2 5.2 6.7 7.5 12.7 28.9 4.7 7.9 7.8 12.2 21.7 5.4 6.2 7.3 13.0
Number (thousands) 3,071 2,237 2,689 5,061 25,399 962 820 893 1,948 12,133 2,109 1,417 1,797 3,113 13,265
  Cash public assistance
Total percent 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
0 84.2 88.8 92.9 95.5 97.5 84.9 87.3 92.0 96.5 97.9 83.9 89.6 93.4 94.9 97.1
1–19 4.8 3.8 2.3 2.0 2.0 3.7 3.1 2.4 1.8 1.6 5.3 4.3 2.3 2.1 2.3
20–39 3.1 3.8 1.3 1.6 0.4 2.5 4.6 0.8 0.7 0.4 3.4 3.4 1.5 2.1 0.4
40–59 1.3 1.5 1.1 0.8 0.1 1.1 2.5 1.2 0.8 0 1.4 0.9 1.1 0.7 0.1
60–79 0.6 0.7 0.8 0 0 0.3 0.9 1.4 0 0.1 0.7 0.5 0.5 0 0
80 or more 6.0 1.4 1.5 0.2 0 7.4 1.6 2.2 0.2 0 5.3 1.3 1.1 0.2 0
50 or more 7.0 2.7 2.6 0.5 0.1 8.2 3.6 4.0 0.4 0.1 6.5 2.2 1.9 0.5 0
90 or more 5.8 1.2 1.5 0.2 0 6.9 1.3 2.2 0.2 0 5.3 1.2 1.1 0.2 0
100 5.4 1.2 1.5 0.2 0 5.8 1.2 2.2 0.2 0 5.2 1.2 1.1 0.2 0
Mean proportion 8.3 4.0 3.2 1.2 0.3 9.1 5.0 4.3 0.9 0.3 7.9 3.5 2.7 1.4 0.4
Mean proportion (recipients only) 52.5 36.0 45.8 26.5 13.2 60.1 39.8 53.2 25.3 14.3 49.2 33.3 41.4 27.0 12.5
Number (thousands) 3,071 2,237 2,689 5,061 25,399 962 820 893 1,948 12,133 2,109 1,417 1,797 3,113 13,265
NOTES: Persons in families with zero total income or with negative total income, earnings, or income from assets are excluded.
The family money income of aged persons is compared with the official poverty lines of families in 2010.
The relative importance of a source of income may not accurately reflect the resources available to elderly persons or elderly aged units. The survey on which these data are based does not include some potentially important resources as income, including lump-sum pension payments and capital gains. In addition, these statistics do not take into consideration noncash benefits that supplement money income (housing and energy subsidies or food stamps) or the amount of savings available to supplement monthly income. Consult the Frequently Asked Questions for further information.