2010-11287. State Median Income Estimate for a Four-Person Family: Notice of the Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2011 State Median Income Estimates for Use Under the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) (Catalog of Federal Domestic ...

AGENCY:

Administration for Children and Families, Office of Community Services, Division of Energy Assistance, HHS.

ACTION:

Notice of State median income estimates for FFY 2011.

SUMMARY:

This notice announces to LIHEAP grantees the estimated median income of four-person families in each State and the District of Columbia for FFY 2011 (October 1, 2010, to September 30, 2011). LIHEAP grantees that choose to base their income eligibility criteria on these State median income estimates may adopt these estimates (up to 60 percent) on the estimates' date of publication in the Federal Register or on a later date as discussed below. This enables these grantees to implement this notice during the period between the heating and cooling seasons. However, by October 1, 2010, or the beginning of the grantees' fiscal years, whichever is later, these grantees must adjust their income eligibility criteria so that such criteria are in accord with the FFY 2011 State median income estimates.

This listing of 60 percent of estimated State median incomes provides one of the maximum income criteria that LIHEAP grantees may use in determining a household's income eligibility for LIHEAP.

DATES:

Effective Date: For each LIHEAP grantee, these estimates become effective at any time between their date of publication in the Federal Register and the later of October 1, 2010, or the beginning of that grantee's fiscal year.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Peter Edelman, Office of Community Services, Division of Energy Assistance, 5th Floor West, 370 L'Enfant Promenade, SW., Washington, DC 20447, Telephone: [phone], e-mail: [e-mail].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Under the provisions of section 2603(11) of Title XXVI of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, Public Law (Pub. L.) 97-35, as amended, HHS announces the estimated median income of four-person families for each State, the District of Columbia, and the United States for FFY 2011 (October 1, 2010, through September 30, 2011).

Section 2605(b)(2)(B)(ii) of this Act provides that 60 percent of the median income for each State and the District of Columbia (State median income, or SMI), as annually established by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, is one of the income criteria that LIHEAP grantees may use in determining a household's eligibility for LIHEAP.

LIHEAP was last authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Public Law 109-58, which was enacted on August 8, 2005. This authorization expired on September 30, 2007, and reauthorization remains pending.

The SMI estimates that HHS publishes in this notice are three-year estimates derived from the American Community Survey (ACS) conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce (Census Bureau). HHS obtained these estimates directly from the Census Bureau. For additional information about the ACS State median income estimates, see http://www.census.gov/​hhes/​www/​income/​medincsizeandstate.html. For additional information about the ACS in general, see http://www.census.gov/​acs/​www/​ or contact the Census Bureau's Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division at [phone].

Under the advice of the Census Bureau, HHS switched to three-year estimates rather than single-year estimates to reduce the large year-to-year fluctuations that the single-year estimates tend to generate for certain States and the District of Columbia. The change from the single-year to three-year estimates caused the FFY 2010 estimates to drop by about two percent on average. HHS plans to use the Census Bureau's ACS-derived SMI three-year estimates for all fiscal years after 2010. For further information about ACS one-year and three-year estimates, see http://factfinder.census.gov/​jsp/​saff/​SAFFInfo.jsp?​_​content=​acs_​guidance.html.

The State median income estimates, like those derived from any survey, are subject to two types of errors: (1) Nonsampling Error, which consists of random errors that increase the variability of the data and non-random errors that consistently direct the data into a specific direction; and (2) Sampling Error, which consists of the error that arises from the use of probability sampling to create the sample. For additional information about the accuracy of the ACS State median income estimates, see http://www.census.gov/​acs/​www/​Downloads/​ACS/​accuracy2005-2007.pdf.

A State-by-State listing of SMI and 60 percent of SMI for a four-person family for FFY 2011 follows. The listing describes the method for adjusting SMI for families of different sizes as specified in regulations applicable to LIHEAP, at 45 CFR 96.85(b), which were published in the Federal Register on March 3, 1988, at 53 FR 6824 and amended on October 15, 1999, at 64 FR 55858.

Dated: April 27, 2010.

Yolanda J. Butler,

Acting Director, Office of Community Services.

Estimated State Median Income for a Four-Person Family, by State, for Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2011, for Use in the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)

States	Estimated state median income for a four-person family 1	60 percent of estimated state median income for a four-person family 2 3
Alabama	$64,613	$38,768
Alaska	84,350	50,610
Arizona	70,110	42,066
Arkansas	56,595	33,957
California	79,704	47,822
Colorado	80,519	48,311
Connecticut	101,643	60,986
Delaware	84,223	50,534
District of Columbia	68,304	40,982
Florida	69,801	41,881
Georgia	70,322	42,193
Hawaii	90,199	54,119
Idaho	63,634	38,180
Illinois	81,187	48,712
Indiana	71,006	42,604
Iowa	73,401	44,041
Kansas	73,321	43,993
Kentucky	64,597	38,758
Louisiana	65,700	39,420
Maine	68,992	41,395
Maryland	101,413	60,848
Massachusetts	98,561	59,137
Michigan	76,385	45,831
Minnesota	87,000	52,200
Mississippi	56,628	33,977
Missouri	69,565	41,739
Montana	65,585	39,351
Nebraska	72,817	43,690
Nevada	71,963	43,178
New Hampshire	93,433	56,060
New Jersey	102,472	61,483
New Mexico	55,279	33,167
New York	81,884	49,130
North Carolina	67,798	40,679
North Dakota	73,101	43,861
Ohio	73,794	44,276
Oklahoma	60,830	36,498
Oregon	71,541	42,925
Pennsylvania	78,665	47,199
Rhode Island	85,963	51,578
South Carolina	64,825	38,895
South Dakota	68,631	41,179
Tennessee	64,203	38,522
Texas	65,348	39,209
Utah	69,814	41,888
Vermont	74,354	44,612
Virginia	84,911	50,947
Washington	81,684	49,010
West Virginia	58,622	35,173
Wisconsin	78,742	47,245
Wyoming	78,905	47,343
Note: FFY 2011 covers the period of October 1, 2010, through September 30, 2011. The estimated median income for a four-person family living in the United States for this period is $75,648. These estimates become effective for LIHEAP at any time between the date of this publication and October 1, 2010, or the beginning of a LIHEAP grantee's fiscal year, whichever is later.
1 Prepared by the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce (Census Bureau), from three-year estimates from the 2006, 2007 and 2008 American Community Surveys (ACSs). These estimates, like those derived from any survey, are subject to two types of errors: (1) Nonsampling Error, which consists of random errors that increase the variability of the data and non-random errors that consistently direct the data into a specific direction; and (2) Sampling Error, which consists of the error that arises from the use of probability sampling to create the sample.
2 These figures were calculated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Community Services, Division of Energy Assistance (DEA) by multiplying the estimated State median income for a four-person family for each State by 60 percent.
3 To adjust for different sizes of family, 45 CFR 96.85 calls for multiplying 60 percent of a State's estimated median income for a four-person family by the following percentages: 52 percent for one person, 68 percent for two persons, 84 percent for three persons, 100 percent for four persons, 116 percent for five persons, and 132 percent for six persons. For each additional family member above six persons, 45 CFR 96.85 calls for adding 3 percentage points to the percentage for a six-person family (132 percent) and multiply the new percentage by 60 percent of a State's estimated median income for a four-person family.