U.S. Social Security Administration, Office of Policy.
Income of the Population 55 or Older, 2004
 

Importance of Income Sources Relative to Total Income

All Units

Aged Units

Units 65 or Older

Units Receiving Income from Specified Source

Aged Units

Units 65 or Older

Relative Importance of Income Sources for Aged Units
Table 6.A1
Percentage distribution, by age, 2004
Proportion of income Aged 55–61 Aged 62–64 Aged 65 or older
Total 65–74 75 or older
Retirement benefits a
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100
0 74 40 6 8 4
1–19 b 6 11 4 7 2
20–39 5 9 8 11 5
40–59 4 8 9 11 7
60–79 3 6 11 11 11
80 or more 9 25 62 51 72
50 or more 13 35 78 68 87
90 or more 8 22 54 44 63
100 5 13 30 23 35
Mean proportion 14 37 75 67 83
Number (thousands) 15,053 4,782 25,891 12,538 13,353
Social Security c
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100
0 87 52 9 11 6
1–19 b 3 13 9 13 5
20–39 3 10 15 18 11
40–59 2 7 16 17 15
60–79 1 4 14 12 16
80 or more 4 14 38 29 46
50 or more 7 21 60 49 70
90 or more 4 12 31 24 38
100 3 9 20 15 24
Mean proportion 7 24 60 52 67
Number (thousands) 15,053 4,782 25,891 12,538 13,353
Government employee pensions d
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100
0 93 89 86 86 87
1–19 b 2 2 2 3 2
20–39 2 3 3 4 3
40–59 1 2 4 4 4
60–79 1 1 2 2 3
80 or more 1 2 2 2 2
50 or more 3 4 6 6 6
90 or more 1 1 1 1 1
100 0 1 0 0 0
Mean proportion 3 5 6 6 6
Number (thousands) 15,053 4,782 25,891 12,538 13,353
Private pensions or annuities
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100
0 90 80 70 71 69
1–19 b 4 9 12 11 13
20–39 2 4 10 9 10
40–59 1 4 6 6 6
60–79 1 2 2 2 2
80 or more 2 2 1 1 1
50 or more 3 5 4 5 4
90 or more 1 1 0 1 0
100 1 1 0 0 0
Mean proportion 4 7 9 9 9
Number (thousands) 15,053 4,782 25,891 12,538 13,353
Earnings
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100
0 16 34 76 63 89
1–19 b 2 4 5 7 3
20–39 3 5 4 6 2
40–59 5 7 5 8 2
60–79 8 10 5 8 2
80 or more 65 40 5 8 2
50 or more 77 54 12 21 4
90 or more 58 33 3 6 1
100 22 11 2 2 1
Mean proportion 73 51 12 20 5
Number (thousands) 15,053 4,782 25,891 12,538 13,353
Income from assets
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100
0 41 40 44 42 45
1–19 b 52 50 43 45 41
20–39 3 5 7 7 7
40–59 2 3 3 3 3
60–79 1 1 2 1 2
80 or more 2 2 1 1 2
50 or more 3 4 4 4 5
90 or more 2 2 1 1 1
100 1 1 1 1 1
Mean proportion 6 7 8 8 8
Number (thousands) 15,053 4,782 25,891 12,538 13,353
Public assistance
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100
0 95 95 95 95 96
1–19 b 1 1 1 2 1
20–39 1 1 1 1 1
40–59 1 1 1 1 0
60–79 0 0 0 0 0
80 or more 2 2 1 2 1
50 or more 3 2 2 2 2
90 or more 2 2 1 1 1
100 2 1 1 1 1
Mean proportion 3 3 2 2 2
Number (thousands) 15,053 4,782 25,891 12,538 13,353
NOTE: Units with zero total income or with negative total income, earnings, or income from assets are excluded.
a. Includes Social Security benefits, Railroad Retirement, government employee pensions, and private pensions or annuities.
b. Includes units with at least $1 but less than 1 percent of income from the specified source.
c. Includes retired-worker benefits, dependents' or survivors' benefits, disability benefits, transitionally insured benefits, and special age-72 benefits.
d. Includes federal, state, local, and military pensions.
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Relative Importance of Income Sources for Units 65 or Older
Table 6.A2
Percentage distribution, by quintiles of total money income, 2004
Proportion of income Total First Second Third Fourth Fifth
Retirement benefits a
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100 100
0 6 13 2 3 5 8
1–19 b 4 1 0 1 2 17
20–39 8 1 2 4 9 22
40–59 9 3 4 9 13 15
60–79 11 6 8 12 17 12
80 or more 62 76 84 71 54 26
50 or more 78 85 94 88 78 45
90 or more 54 71 77 62 44 19
100 30 55 49 29 15 4
Mean proportion 75 81 90 83 74 49
Number (thousands) 25,891 4,520 5,443 5,318 5,297 5,312
Social Security c
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100 100
0 9 15 4 5 8 12
1–19 b 9 1 1 2 5 35
20–39 15 1 3 8 22 37
40–59 16 4 7 22 33 13
60–79 14 7 14 24 23 2
80 or more 38 72 72 38 10 1
50 or more 60 81 90 76 48 7
90 or more 31 65 61 28 5 1
100 20 50 37 12 1 1
Mean proportion 60 78 84 67 48 24
Number (thousands) 25,891 4,520 5,443 5,318 5,297 5,312
Government employee pensions d
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100 100
0 86 99 96 88 80 71
1–19 b 2 0 1 2 3 6
20–39 3 0 1 3 5 7
40–59 4 0 1 3 6 8
60–79 2 0 1 2 4 5
80 or more 2 0 1 2 2 3
50 or more 6 1 2 6 10 11
90 or more 1 0 0 1 1 1
100 0 0 0 1 0 0
Mean proportion 6 1 2 6 10 13
Number (thousands) 25,891 4,520 5,443 5,318 5,297 5,312
Private pensions or annuities
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100 100
0 70 93 81 64 54 61
1–19 b 12 3 11 14 15 16
20–39 10 1 5 13 17 11
40–59 6 1 2 7 11 8
60–79 2 1 1 1 3 4
80 or more 1 1 0 1 0 1
50 or more 4 2 1 3 7 8
90 or more 0 1 0 0 0 0
100 0 1 0 0 0 0
Mean proportion 9 3 4 10 14 12
Number (thousands) 25,891 4,520 5,443 5,318 5,297 5,312
Earnings
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100 100
0 76 96 94 84 68 42
1–19 b 5 1 2 5 7 10
20–39 4 1 1 4 7 7
40–59 5 0 1 4 8 12
60–79 5 0 1 2 6 15
80 or more 5 1 1 2 5 14
50 or more 12 2 2 6 15 36
90 or more 3 1 1 2 4 8
100 2 1 1 1 2 2
Mean proportion 12 2 3 7 15 33
Number (thousands) 25,891 4,520 5,443 5,318 5,297 5,312
Income from assets
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100 100
0 44 75 59 43 29 17
1–19 b 43 18 35 46 56 55
20–39 7 2 4 7 11 11
40–59 3 1 1 2 3 7
60–79 2 0 0 1 1 6
80 or more 1 4 0 0 0 3
50 or more 4 4 1 2 3 12
90 or more 1 3 0 0 0 0
100 1 3 0 0 0 0
Mean proportion 8 5 4 6 8 16
Number (thousands) 25,891 4,520 5,443 5,318 5,297 5,312
NOTES: Quintile limits are $10,399, $16,363, $25,587, and $44,129 for aged units.
Units with zero total income or with negative total income, earnings, or income from assets are excluded.
a. Includes Social Security benefits, Railroad Retirement, government employee pensions, and private pensions or annuities.
b. Includes units with at least $1 but less than 1 percent of income from the specified source.
c. Includes retired-worker benefits, dependents' or survivors' benefits, disability benefits, transitionally insured benefits, and special age-72 benefits.
d. Includes federal, state, local, and military pensions.
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Relative Importance of Income Sources for Aged Units with Income from Specfied Source
Table 6.B1
Percentage distribution, by age, 2004
Proportion of income Aged 55–61 Aged 62–64 Aged 65 or older
Total 65–74 75 or older
Retirement benefits a
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 b 22 18 4 7 2
20–39 20 16 8 12 5
40–59 14 14 9 12 7
60–79 10 9 12 12 11
80 or more 34 43 66 56 75
50 or more 51 58 83 74 90
90 or more 29 37 57 48 66
100 18 22 32 26 37
Mean proportion 55 61 80 73 86
Number (thousands) 3,974 2,854 24,362 11,510 12,852
Social Security c
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 b 23 26 10 14 6
20–39 19 20 16 21 12
40–59 15 15 18 19 16
60–79 10 8 15 14 17
80 or more 33 30 41 33 49
50 or more 51 44 66 55 75
90 or more 30 26 34 27 40
100 23 19 21 17 25
Mean proportion 55 51 65 58 72
Number (thousands) 1,986 2,287 23,662 11,145 12,517
Government employee pensions d
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 b 26 21 18 19 17
20–39 26 29 25 26 23
40–59 20 18 28 27 28
60–79 9 13 18 17 19
80 or more 20 19 12 11 13
50 or more 39 39 44 42 46
90 or more 15 13 6 6 6
100 6 6 2 1 2
Mean proportion 45 46 46 45 48
Number (thousands) 1,060 542 3,565 1,784 1,780
Private pensions or annuities
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 b 39 43 40 38 42
20–39 22 21 33 32 33
40–59 13 19 19 21 18
60–79 9 8 6 6 6
80 or more 18 8 2 3 2
50 or more 32 24 15 17 13
90 or more 14 6 2 2 1
100 6 3 1 1 1
Mean proportion 39 33 29 30 28
Number (thousands) 1,523 954 7,757 3,663 4,094
Earnings
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 b 2 6 21 18 30
20–39 4 7 17 15 22
40–59 6 11 21 22 19
60–79 10 15 21 22 15
80 or more 78 60 21 23 15
50 or more 91 81 52 56 38
90 or more 70 50 14 15 12
100 27 17 6 6 6
Mean proportion 87 77 51 54 43
Number (thousands) 12,594 3,166 6,139 4,686 1,453
Income from assets
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 b 87 83 76 78 74
20–39 5 8 13 12 14
40–59 3 4 6 6 5
60–79 1 2 3 3 4
80 or more 3 3 2 2 3
50 or more 5 7 8 7 9
90 or more 3 3 1 1 2
100 2 2 1 1 1
Mean proportion 10 12 14 13 15
Number (thousands) 8,921 2,874 14,516 7,230 7,286
Public assistance
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 b 23 25 32 32 32
20–39 17 21 21 21 21
40–59 12 13 13 14 12
60–79 4 6 3 2 3
80 or more 43 35 31 30 32
50 or more 53 46 38 37 38
90 or more 42 32 29 28 31
100 38 26 27 27 27
Mean proportion 58 54 48 48 49
Number (thousands) 755 241 1,176 646 530
NOTE: Units with zero total income or with negative total income, earnings, or income from assets are excluded.
a. Includes Social Security benefits, Railroad Retirement, government employee pensions, and private pensions or annuities.
b. Includes units with at least $1 but less than 1 percent of income from the specified source.
c. Includes retired-worker, dependents' or survivors' benefits, disability benefits, transitionally insured benefits, and special age-72 benefits.
d. Includes federal, state, local, and military pensions.
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Relative Importance of Income Sources for Aged Units with Income from Specified Source
Table 6.B2
Percentage distribution, by age, marital status, and sex of nonmarried persons, 2004
Proportion of income Aged 55–61 Aged 62–64 Aged 65 or older
Married couples Nonmarried persons Married couples Nonmarried persons Married couples Nonmarried persons
Total Men Women Total Men Women Total Men Women
Retirement benefits a
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 b 30 12 12 12 25 10 11 9 7 2 4 2
20–39 28 11 12 11 19 11 10 12 11 6 8 6
40–59 14 13 11 15 15 13 14 12 12 8 9 7
60–79 10 9 7 9 8 11 10 12 14 10 11 10
80 or more 18 55 58 52 32 56 57 55 56 73 69 75
50 or more 35 72 72 71 46 73 74 72 75 88 84 89
90 or more 14 50 52 48 25 51 52 51 46 65 62 66
100 7 33 35 31 12 35 36 34 19 40 38 41
Mean proportion 43 71 72 70 52 73 73 73 74 85 82 86
Number (thousands) 2,248 1,726 679 1,046 1,592 1,262 461 800 9,972 14,390 3,853 10,537
Social Security c
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 b 37 7 10 6 35 16 15 16 16 6 10 4
20–39 28 10 8 11 27 12 12 13 21 13 16 11
40–59 13 18 12 21 13 17 21 16 20 16 19 15
60–79 9 11 15 9 6 11 10 12 17 15 13 15
80 or more 13 54 55 53 19 43 42 43 28 51 42 54
50 or more 28 74 75 74 29 61 61 62 54 74 65 78
90 or more 11 49 52 48 14 39 38 40 21 43 35 46
100 8 39 43 37 10 30 30 30 11 29 25 30
Mean proportion 37 74 74 73 40 64 63 64 56 72 65 75
Number (thousands) 1,012 974 344 631 1,221 1,066 391 674 9,650 14,012 3,717 10,295
Government employee pensions d
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 b 29 19 15 22 26 12 e 15 21 15 13 15
20–39 29 20 27 14 31 26 e 27 28 22 17 23
40–59 19 22 15 27 18 16 e 14 26 30 26 32
60–79 10 6 4 7 15 10 e 13 16 20 25 18
80 or more 12 33 38 30 10 35 e 32 10 14 20 11
50 or more 30 54 54 54 31 54 e 52 38 50 57 47
90 or more 8 28 34 24 6 26 e 22 5 8 10 7
100 2 14 16 12 2 13 e 11 2 2 2 2
Mean proportion 39 56 58 54 40 58 e 56 44 50 55 47
Number (thousands) 674 386 162 224 359 183 49 134 1,864 1,700 505 1,195
Private pensions or annuities
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 b 43 31 22 38 51 28 27 28 42 38 29 42
20–39 24 19 23 16 21 22 10 30 34 31 30 32
40–59 13 13 11 14 16 26 39 19 18 21 28 17
60–79 8 10 12 8 7 10 9 11 5 7 10 6
80 or more 11 27 32 24 6 13 15 12 2 3 3 3
50 or more 24 45 51 40 18 35 44 29 13 17 21 15
90 or more 7 24 24 23 5 9 15 4 1 2 2 2
100 3 10 10 10 1 6 11 3 1 1 2 1
Mean proportion 33 48 54 44 28 43 46 40 28 31 35 29
Number (thousands) 932 591 252 338 646 309 115 193 3,923 3,833 1,235 2,598
Earnings
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 b 2 3 1 3 6 7 5 8 22 19 17 20
20–39 4 4 3 4 6 10 8 10 16 17 16 17
40–59 7 5 6 4 12 10 12 8 22 19 18 20
60–79 12 6 5 7 18 8 5 10 20 22 23 21
80 or more 75 83 84 82 58 66 70 64 19 23 26 22
50 or more 92 91 93 90 82 80 82 79 51 54 58 52
90 or more 66 75 77 74 46 57 61 54 12 19 20 18
100 19 39 43 36 13 25 31 21 5 9 11 8
Mean proportion 86 89 90 88 76 78 80 76 50 54 56 52
Number (thousands) 7,773 4,821 1,852 2,969 2,078 1,089 369 720 3,890 2,249 746 1,503
Income from assets
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 b 89 84 84 84 85 79 70 83 77 75 74 76
20–39 6 4 4 4 9 7 9 6 13 13 13 13
40–59 3 3 4 3 3 7 11 4 5 6 7 5
60–79 1 2 2 2 1 3 3 2 3 3 3 4
80 or more 2 6 6 7 2 5 8 3 2 3 3 3
50 or more 3 10 10 10 5 11 16 9 7 8 9 8
90 or more 1 6 6 6 2 4 6 3 1 2 1 2
100 1 5 5 5 2 2 4 2 1 1 1 2
Mean proportion 8 13 14 13 10 15 20 12 14 15 15 14
Number (thousands) 5,812 3,109 1,167 1,942 1,828 1,046 365 681 7,147 7,369 2,026 5,343
Public assistance
Total percent 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 b 38 16 15 17 e 20 e 22 34 32 34 31
20–39 26 13 11 14 e 13 e 10 22 21 24 20
40–59 15 11 8 13 e 16 e 13 11 14 10 15
60–79 2 4 4 5 e 5 e 7 4 2 1 3
80 or more 18 55 62 51 e 46 e 49 30 31 31 31
50 or more 26 66 71 63 e 58 e 62 37 38 35 38
90 or more 16 54 60 50 e 42 e 44 30 29 28 30
100 16 49 55 45 e 33 e 35 29 26 26 26
Mean proportion 37 69 73 66 e 63 e 64 47 48 47 49
Number (thousands) 244 511 188 323 68 173 53 120 258 917 204 713
NOTE: Units with zero total income or with negative total income, earnings, or income from assets are excluded.
a. Includes Social Security benefits, Railroad Retirement, government employee pensions, and private pensions or annuities.
b. Includes units with at least $1 but less then 1 percent of income from the specified source.
c. Includes retired-worker benefits, dependents' or survivors' benefits, disability benefits, transitionally insured benefits, and special age-72 benefits.
d. Includes federal, state, local, and military pensions.
e. Fewer than 75,000 weighted cases.
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Relative Importance of Income Sources for Units 65 or Older with Income from Specified Source
Table 6.B3
Percentage distribution, by Social Security beneficiary status, marital status, and sex of nonmarried persons, 2004
Proportion of income Beneficiary a Nonbeneficiary