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Americans consider themselves members of the middle economic
class, and relatively few are extremely wealthy or extremely poor.
According to U.S. Census Bureau figures, 20.7 percent of all
American families make more than $50,000 a year; 4.7 percent of all
American families have incomes less than $5,000; and the median
annual income for all American families is about $30,853.
Americans live in a variety of housing that includes single detached
homes, apartments, townhouses and mobile homes. Seventy-one
percent, however, live in single detached homes with a median cost of
$104,500. In 2003 slightly over one-half of all homes were owned by
the occupants. The living space of all dwelling units has increased.
The median number of rooms in each dwelling has grown from 4.9
rooms per unit in 1960 to 5.2 rooms in 2003, despite the shrinking
family size. About 3.6 percent of all Americans live in public (govern-
ment-supplied or subsidized) housing.
The government plays an important role in the US economy. From
the founding of the Republic, for example, the federal government has
strongly supported the development of transportation. It financed the
first major canal system and later subsidized the railroads and the
airlines. It has developed river valleys and built dams and power
stations.
For farmers, the government has provided electricity, scientific
advice, and a guaranteed minimum price for basic food crops. For all
citizens, it checks the purity of food and drugs insures bank deposits
and guarantees certain types of loans for housing.
America's individual 50 states have been most active in building
roads and in the field of education. Each year the states spend over
$308 thousand million (2003) on schools and provide a free public
education for 25 million primary-school pupils and 15 million youths
in secondary schools. (In addition, 5.7 thousand youths attend private
primary and secondary schools.) More than half the students who
graduate from secondary schools attend colleges and universities, 77.8
percent of which are supported by public funds. The United States
leads the world in the percentage of the population that receives a
higher education. Total enrollment in schools of higher education is
12.5 million.
Despite the fact that the U.S. government supports many segments
of the nation's economy, economists estimate that the public sector
accounts for only one-fifth of American economic activity, with the
remainder in private hands.