{
  "alt": "Scatter plot of ZIP code average retired-worker benefit against median household income on a logarithmic axis: a cloud of dots rising from the lower left to the upper right, with ten markers for tenths of ZIP codes by income that rise at every step.",
  "caption": "Dots drift up from left to right and the markers for tenths of ZIP codes by income rise at every step, with intervals that do not overlap between neighboring tenths. Dots are a random sample of {fact:n_sample_ben} of the {fact:n_zips_ben} ZIP codes with at least {fact:min_retired} retired workers, and {fact:n_outside_ben} ZIP codes fall outside the plotted range; markers are retired-worker-weighted means with 95% intervals from a bootstrap over counties.",
  "data": [],
  "id": "benefit_vs_income",
  "notes": [
    "The average is the monthly benefit dollars paid to retired workers in a ZIP code divided by its retired workers, for December 2024. SSA reports benefit totals in thousands of dollars, converted here, and rounds them. ZIP code income is the ACS 2019-2023 median household income of the matching ZCTA, which the Census Bureau tops out at a ceiling, and ZIP codes without an income are left out.",
    "The dots are drawn at random from the ZIP codes inside the plotted range with a fixed seed (stated in the methods note); every estimate uses all ZIP codes. The correlation weights ZIP codes by population; counting each ZIP code once gives {fact:r_ben_inc_unw}."
  ],
  "source": "SSA OASDI beneficiaries by ZIP code, December 2024, and ACS 2019-2023 ZCTA median household income; full counts of benefits, weighted by retired workers, intervals from a bootstrap over counties",
  "spec": {
    "overlays": [
      {
        "hi": "hi",
        "kind": "line",
        "label": "Tenths of ZIP codes by income, with 95% intervals",
        "lo": "lo",
        "rows": [
          {
            "hi": 1586.1,
            "lo": 1522.6,
            "n_units": 2863,
            "x": 37825,
            "y": 1554.1
          },
          {
            "hi": 1734.9,
            "lo": 1691.8,
            "n_units": 2847,
            "x": 47785,
            "y": 1714.2
          },
          {
            "hi": 1809.3,
            "lo": 1774.4,
            "n_units": 2854,
            "x": 53763,
            "y": 1793.2
          },
          {
            "hi": 1859.4,
            "lo": 1829.7,
            "n_units": 2854,
            "x": 58908,
            "y": 1845.7
          },
          {
            "hi": 1911,
            "lo": 1880.5,
            "n_units": 2854,
            "x": 63634,
            "y": 1896.9
          },
          {
            "hi": 1955,
            "lo": 1923.1,
            "n_units": 2856,
            "x": 68796,
            "y": 1940.3
          },
          {
            "hi": 1997.9,
            "lo": 1971.1,
            "n_units": 2854,
            "x": 74603,
            "y": 1984.6
          },
          {
            "hi": 2071.6,
            "lo": 2044.4,
            "n_units": 2855,
            "x": 83006,
            "y": 2058.6
          },
          {
            "hi": 2171.4,
            "lo": 2142,
            "n_units": 2855,
            "x": 97258,
            "y": 2157.2
          },
          {
            "hi": 2386,
            "lo": 2353.9,
            "n_units": 2855,
            "x": 135268,
            "y": 2369.8
          }
        ],
        "x": "x",
        "y": "y"
      }
    ],
    "payload": "benefit_vs_income.json",
    "x": "median_income",
    "xDomain": [
      20000,
      250000
    ],
    "xFormat": {
      "digits": 0,
      "prefix": "$",
      "thousands": true
    },
    "xLabel": "Median household income of the ZIP code area, 2019 to 2023 (dollars, log scale)",
    "xScale": "log",
    "y": "avg_ret",
    "yDomain": [
      1000,
      3000
    ],
    "yFormat": {
      "digits": 0,
      "prefix": "$",
      "thousands": true
    },
    "yLabel": "Average monthly retired-worker benefit, December 2024 (dollars)"
  },
  "subtitle": "Average monthly OASDI retired-worker benefit in dollars against median household income in dollars (log scale), one dot per sampled ZIP code area, with means for tenths of ZIP codes by income",
  "title": "The average monthly retired-worker benefit rises with ZIP code income, from {fact:ben_inc_d1} in the lowest tenth of ZIP codes to {fact:ben_inc_d10} in the highest, a correlation of {fact:r_ben_inc}",
  "type": "scatter",
  "width": "wide"
}