Income is up, poverty is down, but Trump’s economy still needs improvement

Published September 20, 2026 5:00am ET



If a Democrat were in the White House, the headlines from the Census Bureau’s annual report on income in the United States would have been glowing. Household income, after adjusting for inflation, is at an all-time high. Poverty, including child poverty, is falling and is at an all-time low.

This is great news. President Donald Trump deserves credit. But there is also evidence in the report that he is missing the mark on some of his goals, and more work needs to be done, especially on permitting reform and rolling back burdensome environmental regulations.

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