data.cms.gov
Income and Asset Ownership
The Income and Asset Ownership data, derived from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS), provide information on income sources, income levels, asset ownership, and asset values among Medicare beneficiaries.
Freshness
- Last posted
- Period covered
- Jan 1, 2023 to Dec 31, 2023
- Update frequency
- Annually
Dates as CMS lists them in its catalog.
Columns 22
| Column | What it means | Type |
|---|---|---|
Socio-demographic characteristicsCharacteristics | Socio-demographic characteristics of Medicare beneficiaries. | string |
Own homeHome_ownership | Homeownership rate among Medicare beneficiaries. | number |
Own bank deposit accountsOwn_bank_deposit_accounts | Bank deposit account (checking, savings, or CDs) ownership rate among Medicare beneficiary households. | number |
Own a checking accountChecking_account | Checking account ownership rate among Medicare beneficiary households. | number |
Own a savings accountSavings_account | Savings account ownership rate among Medicare beneficiary households. | number |
Own certificates of depositCertificates_of_deposit | Certificate of deposit ownership rate among Medicare beneficiary households. | number |
Own stocks or mutual fundsStocks_or_mutual_funds | Stock and mutual fund ownership rate among Medicare beneficiary households. | number |
Own retirement accountsRetirement_accounts | Percentage of Medicare beneficiary households who own retirement accounts (401(k), 403(b), or IRA). | number |
Receive Social SecurityReceive_social_security | Percentage of Medicare beneficiary households who received Social Security or Railroad Retirement payments in the previous month. | number |
Receive Supplemental Security Income (SSI)Receive_supplemental_security_income | Percentage of Medicare beneficiary households who received SSI payments in the previous month. | number |
Receive pension incomeReceive_pension | Percentage of Medicare beneficiary households who received job-related or union-related pension benefits in the previous month. | number |
Worked for pay last monthGot_paid_to_work_last_month | Percentage of Medicare beneficiaries who worked for pay in the previous month. | number |
Median combined incomeMedian_combined_income | Income data are self-reported by respondents for the calendar year. Respondents report the total annual income received by beneficiary household from all sources, including Social Security, Railroad Retirement, SSI, VA benefits, pensions, retirement accounts, interest, bank accounts, businesses, real estate, and employment, before taxes or deductions. Income figures represent the best available estimate based on the most recent information provided. | number |
Median combined earningsMedian_combined_earnings | Median monthly employment earnings received by beneficiary and spouse/partner. | number |
Median_monthly_earningsMedian_monthly_earnings | number | |
Median home equityMedian_home_equity | Median home equity value for beneficiaries who own their homes (calculated as home value minus remaining mortgage balance). | number |
Median combined value of bank deposit accountsMedian_comb_val_of_bank_deposit_acc | Median combined value of checking accounts, savings accounts, and CDs held by beneficiary and spouse/partner. | number |
Median combined value of stocks and mutual fundsMedian_combined_stocks_mutual_funds | Median value of stock and mutual fund holdings for beneficiary and spouse/partner. | number |
Median combined value of retirement accountsMedian_combined_retirement_accounts | Median value of retirement accounts (401(k), 403(b), IRA, etc.) held by beneficiary and spouse/partner. | number |
Median combined amount received from retirement accountsMedian_combined_amount_received_retirement_accounts | Median annual amount received from retirement accounts (401(k), 403(b), IRA, etc.) by beneficiary and spouse/partner. | number |
Median combined value of monthly social security paymentsMedian_combined_social_security_payments | Median combined monthly amount received from Social Security by beneficiary and spouse/partner. | number |
Median combined pension paymentsMedian_combined_pension_payments | Median combined monthly pension benefits received by beneficiary and spouse/partner. | number |
No column matches that filter.
At a glance
- Catalog
- data.cms.gov
- Publisher
- Office of Enterprise Data and Analytics (OEDA)
- Rows
- 74
- Columns
- 22
- State column
- None found
- Topics
- Medicare Advantage and Part D plans, Medicaid and CHIP, Spending and use of services, Quality and ratings
- Contact
- MCBS@cms.hhs.gov
API
Free, no key needed. This request returns the first 10 rows as JSON:
https://data.cms.gov/data-api/v1/dataset/090bac79-c8b2-4e8a-bc3e-6bee002bcd6e/data?size=10
Versions 3
The newest version is the one linked above. Older releases stay on the official site.
- 2023-01-01posted Sep 12, 2025
- 2022-01-01posted Sep 10, 2025
- 2021-01-02posted Sep 10, 2025
CMS's description
The Income and Asset Ownership data, derived from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS), provide information on income sources, income levels, asset ownership, and asset values among Medicare beneficiaries. The data are further segmented by demographic and health characteristics within the Medicare population.
Methodology and other documents from CMS:
The summary at the top is the first sentence of this description. Record id cms:090bac79-c8b2-4e8a-bc3e-6bee002bcd6e. This record as JSON.