I will gladly admit you mentioned median and not mean. My mistake. But thanks for the snide remark about learning more about mean, median, and mode. Your patronizing tone is well noted.

To adress your point, your entire argument rests on real median income drastically increasing over time. Which would mean everyone is much better off today than in 1970. That is also over simplifying things in my opinion.

If you account for the changes in demographics (such as household age, # of adults, race, education, etc. things aren't nearly as rosy as you seem to propose.

In fact, once you account for the shift in demographics since the 1970s it is a fact that the costs for housing, education, and health care have outpaced incomes. Sure when you factor in luxuries such as entertainment, communication, clothing, furnishings etc. it balances out. But the middle and lower income classes get hit much harder by inflation in the necessities vs the luxuries of entertainment etc.

But don't take my word for it, here is a well written article from the same federal website you continue to mention:


If you are too busy to read the entire document here is the conclusion at the end:

Conclusion
In comparing household incomes of the middle class in the United States in 1980 to today, we conclude that real incomes for today’s middle class are somewhat higher than they used it to be, particularly for households headed by two adults. It is also clear that failing to adjust for demographic shifts in the population relating to age, race, and education can indicate a more positive outlook than is truly the case.

We find, as in prior research, that prices in housing, healthcare, and education have risen more than middle-class incomes and so are relatively more expensive. However, we also find that these price increases are offset by relative price decreases in transportation, food, and recreation, among others, making real middle-class incomes slightly higher than in the past.



Be a little understanding here, the article was written back in 2020. Since then, the cost of homes, education, and health care have also grown at a much faster pace than real wages. So it would only be worse if they ran the same analysis in 2023. You would agree with that right?

And remember, your single real income data point doesn't factor in all the ridiculous debt this country is in and that enormous burden on households. I don't think you are factoring in the complete picture for young adults today. Remember, we aren't talking about everyone (which is your data point), we are talking about Millennials and Gen Z. But I could be wrong.

And oh yeah, thanks for the economics recommendation. I like Thomas Sowell. While we are making recommendations, here is a good one for you specifically:



Should be a quick and easy read for someone with such high intellect such as yourself.
And good luck with your work!