American incomes plummet by 15 percent in 2009

New tax data analyzed by Reuters shows that average American incomes plummeted by more than 15 percent in 2009 compared to 2007 incomes.

Average income was $54,283, an 4.2 million fewer taxpayers reported earning any income at all that year. More than 40 percent of all tax returns were from individuals or families who earned so little they did not have to pay income tax. The average wages of those who filed but did not pay income taxes was $14,483.

But 1,470 of the 235,413 taxpayers who earn more than a million dollars also paid no income taxes in 2009, according to Reuters.

Those lower tax revenues have driven state and local budget crises around the country, with some counties teetering dangerously close to bankruptcy. Tax revenue has ticked up slowly across the country since 2009, but those gains have not been enough to offset medical and education spending increases or the loss of federal stimulus funds, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.