Dec. 10 (UPI) -- American households headed by veterans are more likely to have a higher income than the households of non-veterans, a Pew Research Center analysis indicates.
Using census data, Pew said the median annual income for a veteran household in 2017 was $88,700, compared to $76,100 for a non-veteran household. That was a more than $12,000 -- or 16.6 percent -- difference.
A similar gap in income has persisted for about four decades, Pew said Monday.
In 1980, veteran households had a median income of about $77,000 compared to $61,500 for non-veteran households.
The income disparity exists among most racial demographics and all education levels. Asian veterans, however, had a lower median income ($95,300) than their non-veteran counterparts ($100,800).
Despite the higher median incomes, the Pew analysis found that the poverty rate for veterans (from 4.4 percent to 6.6 percent) has grown more than for non-veterans (from 12.7 percent to 13 percent).
In its analysis, Pew adjusted incomes for household size and scaled them to reflect a three-person household in 2018 dollars. It focused on individuals during their "prime working years," between ages 25 and 54, "to control for the fact that veterans tend to be much older than non-veterans."
