Median Income

The means test compares a debtor's gross income to that of the state's median income. This figure, as published by the United States Trustee, represents the income level of a household what would fall in the middle of a ranked list of households by income. If you have exactly the median household income, the same number of households have more income than you as the number of households that have less income than you. Median income does not account for county-to-county variation in income levels.

Blog Posts

We have discussed Median Income in the following posts on our bankruptcy blog:

New Means Testing Incomes: NC Family Median Incomes Lowest Since 2008

Oct 26, 2011

The United States Trustee this month released the updated means testing figures to be used in bankruptcy cases filed on or after 11/1/2011. In North Carolina, the median income levels for households of 2, 3, and 4 people has declined from 3/15/2011 values. This is the third year in a row where these November median income values are lower than the March figure, and median household incomes for 2, 3, and 4 member households have not been at a lower amount since early 2008 in North Carolina.

The previous and new median income figures are as follows:

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When New Means Testing Numbers Matter

Oct 30, 2012

The United States Trustee publishes official means testing numbers, which are used to complete the bankruptcy means test. The practice is for the United States Trustee to publish new means testing numbers twice annually, reflecting changes in the underlying data obtained from the census bureau and the internal revenue service. A few weeks lay between the publication of the new numbers and their effectiveness on new bankruptcy cases filed thereafter. For example, the UST published on October 12, 2012 a new set of numbers to be effective on November 1.

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