Income Upshot, from Marketplace’s Wealth and Poverty Desk, is a data visualization tool that tracks the relationship between what we make and how we live, work and play. It uses data from sources like the U.S. Census Bureau, marketing firms and academic researchers to explore how much someone’s income says about their lifestyle and consumer behavior.
For example, what does it mean to make the median income in America (roughly $50,000 a year)? Well, around two-thirds of people making that income are married, a large majority own their homes, four percent have pet birds and nearly half prefer beer to any other alcoholic beverage.