By The Associated Press

Demographics and details about racial progress in the United States and the AP-Ipsos poll on attitudes about Martin Luther King Day and racial progress. The survey information comes from a poll of 1,242 adults, conducted last Monday through Thursday for the AP by the international polling firm Ipsos. The sample included 312 blacks. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, slightly larger for blacks. The comparative racial information comes from the Census Bureau.

WHO COMMEMORATES THE HOLIDAY: Blacks, at 60 percent, were more likely than whites, at 15 percent, to commemorate the holiday. At 13 percent, people age 65 and older were less likely than people in other age groups to participate. People in urban areas, at 30 percent, were more likely than those in the suburbs or rural areas to participate. Single people were more likely than married people to participate. Democrats, at 30 percent, were twice as likely as Republicans, at 14 percent, to get involved.

PROGRESS TOWARD THE DREAM: Whites, at 78 percent, were more likely than blacks, at 66 percent, to feel that significant progress has been made toward racial equality. Young adults, at 85 percent, were the most likely to feel significant progress has been made.

Those who live in the suburbs were more likely than those in the cities to think progress has been made. Republicans, at 84 percent, were more likely than Democrats, at 72 percent, to think much progress has been made.

SHOULD THERE BE A HOLIDAY: Blacks, at 96 percent, were more likely than whites, at 67 percent, to feel that King’s birthday should be a national holiday.

People under 50 were more likely than those over 50 to think MLK Day should be a national holiday. Those with a college degree were more likely to feel that way than those with a high school education or less.

Democrats, at 84 percent, were more likely than Republicans or independents, to feel the day should be a holiday.

ECONOMIC COMPARISON: Comparative numbers on median incomes of whites and blacks from the Census. The median salary is the midpoint of the salary range.

• In 1955, when Rosa Parks helped spark the civil rights movement by refusing to give up her seat on a bus, blacks’ median annual income was 43 percent of the median income of whites.

• In 1968, the year King was killed, blacks’ median annual income was 63 percent of whites’ median income.

• In 1986, the year King’s birthday was made a national holiday, blacks’ median annual income was 68 percent of whites’ median income.

• In 2003, the most recent year available in the Census data, blacks’ median annual income was 81 percent of whites’ median income.