"The 2015 ASEC utilized a redesigned set of income questions, so the household income figures reported for calendar year 2014 may not be fully comparable to earlier years. The 2014 ASEC tested the new redesigned income questions by offering five-eighths of the sample the traditional income questions and three-eighths of the sample the redesigned questions. Median household income for calendar year 2013 was $53,585 (in 2013 dollars) based on the redesigned income questions compared with an estimated $51,939 using the traditional income questions. The difference reflects both the different questionnaire and the different sampled households responding to the questionnaires." http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/12/09/methodology/

Nonetheless, even though these numbers attempt to take costs into account, and even if they were accurate, remaining stagnant over almost two decades of intense technological development indicates a societal failure.

Also keep in mind that a lot of that intense technological development has resulted in falling costs for a wide variety of goods over time.

http://www.aei.org/publication/the-chart-of-the-century-make...

One of the bigger questions that society needs to answer is why the costs of the things that have been rising so much faster than incomes are doing so.

How do you measure the value of that health insureance? You can of course post the sticker price, but the healthcare that the dollar buys you is difficult to measure. Life expectancy tells that the rest of the OECD is there with the US but pays 25 % of the costs.

Also keep in mind that a lot of that intense technological development has resulted in falling costs for a wide variety of goods over time

It's like a certain re-work of the Bible. Their version of Revelation 6 reads : "A pound of bread will now be 90 Euros. But the price of a Porsche will remain unchanged." And we all thought that the Apocalypse of St John was literature, not an accurate prediction of the future! Yes, technological progress can bring down the price of an i-Pad but won't do anything about the rent.

I don't really think it is a question that needs to be answered, but a problem that needs to be resolved. It's pretty well documented that income inequality in the US is at an all time high and will only get worse with more automation and recent changes to the tax codes.