9999999 = N.I.U. (Not in Universe).

The Census Bureau applies different disclosure avoidance measures across time for individuals with high income in this variable. Detailed explanations of these methods, topcodes, and replacement value and swap value thresholds are available here.

Description

INCINT indicates how much pre-tax income (if any) the respondent received from interest on saving accounts, certificates of deposit, money market funds, bonds, treasury notes, IRAs, and/or other investments which paid interest.

Amounts are expressed as they were reported to the interviewer; users must adjust for inflation using Consumer Price Index adjustment factors.

Comparability

Along with the effects of inflation and shifts in the universe of the variable, INCINT may be affected by changes in question wording. The number of specific sources of interest income mentioned on the CPS interview form increased over time. In the earliest years, respondents were asked about "interest on savings or bonds, etc." After 1980, the form mentioned several possible sources of interest, including "certificates of deposit, money market funds, bonds or treasury notes" and "other savings or investments which pay interest." IRA's were added to the list of prompts beginning in 1988. The more extensive listing of sources of interest income may have resulted in more complete reporting in later years.

For 1962-1967, the value of income incorporated in the INCINT variable is subsumed in the INCUNERN variable, which encompasses all income from sources other than wages and salaries (INCWAGE), non-farm businesses (INCBUS), and farms (INCFARM).

For 1968-1975, income from interest was incorporated in the INCIDR variable, which also reported income from dividends, rents, and trusts. Documentation on the INCIDR variable discusses how to achieve comparability for this variable from 1968 forward, by combining totals from INCINT with totals from other variables.

Comparability with IPUMS-USA

Universe

Flags

Unharmonized Variables

• UH_INCINT_A2
• UH_INCINT_A3
• UH_INCINT_A4
• UH_INCINT_A5
• UH_INCINT_A6
• UH_INCINT_A7