WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama and his family paid more than $160,000 in federal taxes last year on earnings of $789,674, the White House said today.

The president’s 2011 federal income tax return shows that about half of the first family’s income is the president’s salary. The rest comes from sales of Obama’s books.

Obama’s effective tax rate is just above 20 percent — lower than many Americans who earn less.

He has made tax-rate fairness a campaign issue, arguing that millionaires and other wealthy people should not pay a smaller share of their incomes in taxes than people who earn much less.

“He believes that people like him should be paying an effective tax rate that is no lower than the rate paid by hard-working, middle-class Americans,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said today.

The White House did not say exactly what rate Obama thinks would have been fair for him in 2011, but using a calculator posted on the White House website, more than 56,000 millionaires would have paid taxes at a lower rate.

The White House released a copy of the president’s tax return, which also shows charitable donations of more than $172,000.

Obama is donating after-tax proceeds from his children’s book to the Fisher House Foundation. The charity helps veterans and military families receiving medical treatment.