In the U.S., the share of the population living in poverty fluctuated significantly throughout the six decades between 1987 and 2023. In 2023, the poverty level across all races and ethnicities was 11.1 percent. Black Americans have been the ethnic group with the highest share of their population living in poverty almost every year since 1974. In 1979 alone, Black poverty was well over double the national average, and over four times the poverty rate in white communities; in 1982, almost 48 percent of the Black population lived in poverty. Although poverty rates have been trending downward across all ethnic groups, 17.8 percent of Black Americans and 18.9 percent of American Indian and Alaskan Natives still lived below the poverty line in 2022.

In 2024 the median annual income of Asian households in the United States was 121,700 U.S. dollars. They were followed by White households, who's median earnings were 92,530 U.S. dollars. Furthermore, Black Americans and American Indian and Alaska Native families had the lowest household incomes. That year, median income among all U.S. household rose to 83,730 U.S. dollars.

These data provide official index crime rates and social and economic indicators of crime rates at three levels of aggregation (city, state, and metropolitan areas) for four decennial years: 1950, 1960, 1970, and 1980. Information is provided on Uniform Crime Reports murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny theft, and vehicle theft rates per 100,000 population. Social and economic indicators include percent black population, percent divorced males, the mean and median family incomes, families below the poverty line, and percent unemployed for each area. The availability of the data for the crime rates in 1980 determined the geographic locations included in the data collection. Data from earlier years do not exist for all geographic locations for which data were available in 1980.