LMI Data Books: Data Dictionary

All definitions are provided in alphabetical order.

10th District: The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City is the 10th District of the Federal Reserve system. The Kansas City Fed’s district covers Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Wyoming, eastern Missouri, and northern New Mexico.

Age: The U.S. Census asks people to provide the ages of all people living in their household. We have combined age categories for simplicity.

Area median income: A calculation of the median family income for a metropolitan area provided by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council. FFIEC sets area median incomes in non-metro areas to the combined median family income of non-metro counties across a state.

Average weekly wages by wage-level: Wage levels are determined by the FFIEC breaks for annual income levels using the one-earner median wage in a county. The reported average weekly wages are an employment weighted average weekly wage by wage level using the average weekly wage from QCEW as a reference point. See the methodology page for more information.

Census tract: The U.S. Census Bureau creates a geographic unit that is a subset of a county and contains approximately 25,000 people. These geographic units are adjusted every 10 years with the decennial census based on population changes. Thus, it is not possible to easily compare tracts over time.

Educational attainment: The Census asks people to provide the highest level of education they have completed. We have combined some categories of education for simplicity.

Employment by wage level: The number of jobs by wage level. This number is estimated as the share of jobs within a wage level as determined by the occupational and wage composition of an industry in a geography. This is shown as both an aggregation of all industries and by individual industry.

Employment status: The Census asks people to report their status in the labor market. Someone employed is actively employed at the time of the survey while someone unemployed is still actively looking for work but does not have a job at the time of the survey. Someone not in the labor market is unemployed and is not actively looking for work. This designation may include those who are retired or disabled in addition to those who are able to work but have given up the search.

High-wage: A worker may be considered low-income if their wage is higher than 125 percent of the one-earner median wage of the state. A place may be considered low-income if the median family income is higher than 125 percent of the area median income.

Homeownership rate: The share of households in a geography who report owning their homes.

Low-wage: A worker may be considered low-income if their wage is 50 percent or less of the one-earner median wage of the state. A place may be considered low-income if the median family income is 50 percent or less of the area median income.

Median family income: A calculation of the total earnings of a family within a household. Family income calculations do not include single person households (considered non-family households) and thus are higher than median household income due to the higher potential for multiple earners. This number cannot be easily compared to household income.

Median household income: A calculation of the total earnings within a household. Households may be made up of non-family units or multiple families. As such this number cannot be easily compared to family income.

Middle-wage: A worker may be considered low-income if their wage is between 80 and 125 percent of the one-earner median wage of the state. A place may be considered low-income if the median family income is 80–125 percent of the area median income.

Moderate-wage: A worker may be considered low-income if their wage is between 50 and 80 percent of the one-earner median wage of the state. A place may be considered low-income if the median family income is 50–80 percent of the area median income.

Poverty rate: The share of the population who live in households that earn below the federal poverty level: $32,150 for a family of four in 2025.

Race/Ethnicity: The Census asks people to identify the race and ethnicity of all people living in their household. We have combined some categories of race/ethnicity for simplicity. All individual race categories are those reporting they are non-Hispanic. Hispanic counts all persons classifying themselves as Hispanic without regard to their reported race. Those reported as two or more races are combined into the “Other” race category for simplicity.

Share of families by family income: The U.S. Census Bureau provides data on the share of families by pre-specified family income levels. The data shown here combines some income categories but is generally the same as what is shared directly from the Census Bureau.

Vacancy rate: The Census reports the vacancy rate as a share of housing units they identify at the time of the survey that do not have any occupants, or for which the occupants currently reside elsewhere.