What are the best classification methods for median income of census tracts?

[__17]

Would natural breaks (Jenks) be a good classification methods along with 3 classes for median income of census tracts? I'm still in the process of understanding which classification method is best for certain variables. Thanks!

[DanPatterson_Retired]

a good understanding of an classification system depends upon a thorough knowledge of its distribution.

'Median' is just the middle in a sequence of numbers.  It can be totally useless ( ie 1, 2, 3, 4, 10000) as can be the average.  It would be best to produce a frequency histogram or better still a cumulative relative frequency CRF, distribution (ogive) to see the overall pattern.

Sometimes a 'trim mean' or 'trim median' is a better representation (ie cut of the upper and lower portion of a CRF, then calculate/determine the mean or median.

Once you have  a sense of 'middle-ness' then you can focus on how to characterize spread.

Having said this, most people will just use what other people use with whatever classes appear as default.