Accounting for Regional Price Differences

We are often asked for a price adjusted income estimate, which sounds simple but is in fact extremely complex. There are, of course, many web sites which let you convert an income level in one city to its equivalent in another city – so if I live in Des Moines, Iowa,...

Data for Financial Institutions

Financial institutions—whether banks, credit unions, or investment firms—rely heavily on accurate data to inform key decisions. From opening new branches and assessing risk to analyzing markets, comprehensive demographic and geographic data is critical for success....

New for 2024B: Disposable Income

The AGS synthetic household model was introduced with the completely new Household Finances database earlier this year. Over the past few months, we have been busy expanding the demographic content of the household model in order to provide a base for the new Consumer...

Finding Big Investors

Most of the major financial institutions have established separate private branches, or at least special investment teams, for their large clients. The SEC limits many transactions to high net worth individuals. Two categories are generally used – Accredited investors...

Better Income Measures

In the first two parts of this series on income, we considered the various definitions of income commonly used and how exclusions of capital gains and non-cash payments can affect small area estimates in different ways. Here we consider measures of income that may...

Bias In Small Area Income Estimates

Last week we talked about the complexity of the concept of income. We continue here by focusing on the Census Bureau definition, and how that definition introduces spatial biases that could substantially impact your location decisions. So how does the Census define...