Do household surveys offer an independent check?

2023 and 2024 ACS one-year surveys

ACS 2024 combined interest, dividends or net rental income was $10.96 billion for King County and $23.25 billion for Washington, with 90% margins of error of $1.11 billion and $1.37 billion.

Different definitions and populations. BEA and ACS do not establish persistence or reversal of the exact IRS ordinary or qualified dividend series after TY2023. These are household survey estimates. Dollar amounts use each survey year’s dollar basis; changes are not constant-dollar growth rates.

What the evidence supports

Broader survey point estimates were higher

The point estimates rose from $9.09 billion to $10.96 billion in King County and from $21.15 billion to $23.25 billion statewide.

The approximate 90% margins of error for the differences are $1.43 billion and $1.93 billion.
Respective-year dollar changes are not real growth. The combined source does not identify which income component changed.

Primary source

More households reported one of the three income types

King County household estimates rose from 274,641 (90% MOE 7,688) to 293,469 (MOE 7,348); Washington estimates rose from 726,806 (MOE 11,692) to 791,021 (MOE 13,101).

Counts are households, not taxpayers or tax returns.

Primary source

Four panels of Washington BEA annual dividends, quarterly combined dividends interest and rent, ACS combined-income estimates, and household counts. ACS estimates include 90 percent margins of error. — Four panels retain the reviewed measures and uncertainty. BEA state dividends use a broader definition; quarterly combined income is an annualized rate. ACS dollars use each survey year’s dollar basis, and the bars show 90% margins of error. None continues the exact IRS series.

Method and review scope

ACS B19064 amounts and B19054 household receipt counts. Published 90% margins of error are retained. Difference uncertainty uses the review’s independent-year square-root-sum-of-squares approximation.

Sources

Source vintages, retrieval dates and hashes