OCC 2012-29

Subject: Community Reinvestment Act
Date: September 24, 2012

To: Chief Executive Officers and Compliance Officers of All National Banks, Federal Savings Associations, Federal Branches and Agencies, Department and Division Heads, All Examining Personnel, and Other Interested Parties

Description: Income Level for Median Family Income

Attached are the recently published Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC)-calculated Median Family Income (MFI) data. The 2012 MFI data incorporate information from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey.

The FFIEC estimates median family incomes for metropolitan statistical areas (MSA), metropolitan divisions (MD), and nonmetropolitan portions of each state. These data are used to determine income levels of geographies in Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) performance evaluations. The annual FFIEC data are used to determine 2012 borrower income levels in CRA performance evaluations.

The regulations implementing the CRA—12 CFR 25 and 12 CFR 195—classify the income level of a person or geography as low, moderate, middle, or upper, based on the area median income. Area median income is defined as “the median family income for the MSA, if a person or geography is located in an MSA, or for the metropolitan division, if a person or geography is located in an MSA that has been subdivided into metropolitan divisions”; or “the statewide nonmetropolitan median family income, if a person or geography is located outside an MSA.”

Please direct questions regarding this bulletin to your supervisory office or to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s Compliance Policy Department at (202) 874-4428.

Grovetta N. Gardineer
Deputy Comptroller for Compliance Policy

News and Issuances

Description: Income Level for Median Family Income

Related Link

Toolbox