Household Income

You have a house. Or an apartment. Or a tent. And you live there with your spouse, two kids, and an angry dog. Add up what you and your spouse make per year and that's your household income. (The stat only counts earnings from people over 15, so the kids' income might not count. Throw in whatever the dog brings in, though, as long as the pooch is old enough).

Household income often gets used to measure how rich or poor an area is. If you live in a gated community where you can walk out your back door and onto the first tee of a championship-level golf course, your area probably has a high median household income. If you're squatting in an abandoned building and cooking rat meat over a trashcan fire each night for dinner, the median household income in your area is probably very low.

Household income represents one way to track how much people earn. Other ways to measure income include family income, or per capita income.

Family income is similar to household income, but it doesn't count people living together as roommates. You have to be related or married (and living together) to count as a family. Also, family income doesn't include single-person households...however, they do get included in household income.

Meanwhile, per capita income shows the income for each individual person.