The Family Incomeand Expenditure Survey (FIES), which is conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO) every three years, is the official source of income and expenditure statistics used in the Philippine Statistical System (PSS). For Northern Mindanao, NSO disseminated the results of the 2009 FIES last June 22, 2011. 2009 FIES results showed that in Northern Mindanao, average income of families whose heads did not finish elementary lies below poverty threshold (poverty threshold for a family of five estimated at PhP 82,840 for 2009).

Results further showed that the average income of families whose heads are academic degree holders is 2.7 times more than the average income of families whose heads finished only high school.Moreover, 94.7 percent of families headed by academic degree holders belong to income classes above family poverty threshold (100,000 and over) while only 76.8 percent and 57.7 percent of families whose heads are college levels and high school graduates, respectively, belong to the said income class. NSO estimates that in 2009, 12.3 percent of the families in Northern Mindanao are headed by academic degree holders, 11.3 percent are headed by college levels, and 17.8 percent are headed by high school graduates. Family heads of more than half (58.6 percent) of the families in Northern Mindanao did not finish high school.

For more statistics, visit the National Statistical Information Center (NSIC) library, which is open to the public for free from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Mondays to Fridays. The NSIC is a one-stop shop of statistical information and services managed by the NSCB. The Northern Mindanao Branch is currently located at Door 8, MortolaBuilding, J. R. Borja Street, Cagayan de Oro City.