Idaho household income rebounded in 2012

State's figure ranked 37th among the states

Median household income in Idaho jumped 5 percent in 2012, ending a three-year slide that produced one of the worst recession losses in household income in the nation.

New U.S. Census Bureau estimates put 2012 median household income at $45,489, which means half the state's 580,000 households had higher incomes and half had lower.

Idaho's growth rate in 2012 tied Oregon's to rank third nationally. But the actual household income figure ranked 37th among the states and the District of Columbia. Alaska, Delaware, Virginia and Wyoming saw median household income slip from 2011 to 2012.

Nationally, median household income rose 1.7 percent to $51,374.

Idaho's median household income remains over 4 percent below its peak of $47,576 in 2008 after three years of decline that reduced income 8.9 percent. Only Nevada and Georgia saw greater recession-induced declines.

Nationally median household income fell two years straight for a loss of 3.8 percent before rebounding in 2011.

The Census estimates also showed Idaho's poverty rate declining for adults but rising for children from 2011.

The rate for adults dropped from 15 percent to 14.1 percent in 2012 while the rate for children under 18 rose slightly from 20.4 percent to 20.7 percent.

Health insurance coverage also improved modestly, rising from 83.5 percent to 83.8 percent, but slightly more people were covered by public insurance programs like Medicare and Medicaid - up from 28.5 percent in 2011 to 29.6 percent in 2012.