Did Iowa’s median income rise or fall last year? It depends on which census figures you use. And statistically, you could say it really didn’t change at all, according to the Iowa Policy Project.

Yesterday, the U.S. Census Bureau released figures indicating that Iowa’s median income – the middle figure at which half of incomes are below and half are above – increased. That conclusion is based on data from the “Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States 2006” report, which was compiled from data in the Current Population Survey 2007 Annual Social and Economic Supplement.

Based on those figures, Iowa’s median income increased by 1.9 percent, from $47,170 in 2004-05 to $48,075 in 2005-06.

However, the Census Bureau yesterday also released figures from a separate measure, the American Community Survey, which indicated that Iowa’s median income fell by 1.2 percent, from $45,039 in 2005 to $44,491 last year.

The Iowa Policy Project, which used the latter figures in its analysis, chose the American Community Survey figures because they represent a larger sample than the Current Population Survey figures and are more current than the CPS figures, which compared two-year averages.

Statistically, both year-over-year changes are so small that they’re “a wash,” said Mike Owen, assistant director of the nonprofit research group. The state’s 2006 median income is still below where it was in 2001, adjusted for inflation, he noted.