More households and rising incomes a good indicator

As stated in last week’s edition of the Chronicle, we have committed to providing the most complete and concise coverage of the Franklin County housing study, which is why our coverage will continue indefinitely, providing as many articles as needed to make sure everything is reported correctly.
That being said, we know that it’s easy to get lost in the real estate lingo, academic study terminology, numbers, charts and graphs; trying to make sense of it all can be the equivalent of sitting in eighth period English before the bell rings, trying to decipher Shakespearean euphemisms. That’s why we’re dedicating the space to context, making some concise sense out of an information-heavy article.
As inferred from this week’s article “Household numbers to rise as median household incomes to rise by 11.3 percent,” rising households, in general, are good. It means that more clusters of residents will either be buying more homes in the community, or homes will need to be built. The plus side of households increasing is that median incomes are expected to rise by 11 percent in Franklin County, which means that households will not only be able to afford to purchase the home, but spend money in the communities they live in.
It’s important to note that the study is using “median household income,” as the middle number salary, when everyone’s salary in the county is put on a number line from least to greatest. This method of measuring is more accurate than an average, due to the fact that extremely high incomes can skew the data. However, median isn’t always an accurate measurement, due to the fact that on a number line, there could be a jump from $30,000 to $50,000, making $50,000 the median, when that’s not a completely accurate depiction of the number. In general, more households in the county means more persons purchasing products which would in turn raise the incomes of those who don’t work in highly specialized fields, thus indirectly raising incomes.
There is still more for us to dig into, but these pieces of data are important because it means that municipalities can afford to take risks on partnering with private contractors, or preparing lots for builders, as the investment will not be for naught. People in Franklin County will need places to live.