In 2023, the real median household income for householders aged 15 to 24 was at 54,930 U.S. dollars. The highest median household income was found amongst those aged between 45 and 54. Household median income for the United States since 1990 can be accessed here.

Graph and download economic data for Real Median Personal Income in the United States (MEPAINUSA672N) from 1974 to 2024 about personal income, personal, median, income, real, and USA.

In 2023, just over 50 percent of Americans had an annual household income that was less than 75,000 U.S. dollars. The median household income was 80,610 U.S. dollars in 2023. Income and wealth in the United States After the economic recession in 2009, income inequality in the U.S. is more prominent across many metropolitan areas. The Northeast region is regarded as one of the wealthiest in the country. Maryland, New Jersey, and Massachusetts were among the states with the highest median household income in 2020. In terms of income by race and ethnicity, the average income of Asian households was 94,903 U.S. dollars in 2020, while the median income for Black households was around half of that figure. What is the U.S. poverty threshold? The U.S. Census Bureau annually updates its list of poverty levels. Preliminary estimates show that the average poverty threshold for a family of four people was 26,500 U.S. dollars in 2021, which is around 100 U.S. dollars less than the previous year. There were an estimated 37.9 million people in poverty across the United States in 2021, which was around 11.6 percent of the population. Approximately 19.5 percent of those in poverty were Black, while 8.2 percent were white.

In 2022, San Francisco had the highest median household income of cities ranking within the top 25 in terms of population, with a median household income in of 136,692 U.S. dollars. In that year, San Jose in California was ranked second, and Seattle, Washington third.

Following a fall after the great recession, median household income in the United States has been increasing in recent years. As of 2022, median household income by state was highest in Maryland, Washington, D.C., Utah, and Massachusetts. It was lowest in Mississippi, West Virginia, and Arkansas. Families with an annual income of 25,000 and 49,999 U.S. dollars made up the largest income bracket in America, with about 25.26 million households.

Data on median household income can be compared to statistics on personal income in the U.S. released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Personal income rose to around 21.8 trillion U.S. dollars in 2022, the highest value recorded. Personal income is a measure of the total income received by persons from all sources, while median household income is “the amount with divides the income distribution into two equal groups,” according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Half of the population in question lives above median income and half lives below. Though total personal income has increased in recent years, this wealth is not distributed throughout the population. In practical terms, income of most households has decreased. One additional statistic illustrates this disparity: for the lowest quintile of workers, mean household income has remained more or less steady for the past decade at about 13 to 16 thousand constant U.S. dollars annually. Meanwhile, income for the top five percent of workers has actually risen from about 285,000 U.S. dollars in 1990 to about 499,900 U.S. dollars in 2020.

This statistic shows the median household income in the United States from 1990 to 2023 in 2023 U.S. dollars. The median household income was 80,610 U.S. dollars in 2023, an increase from the previous year. Household incomeThe median household income depicts the income of households, including the income of the householder and all other individuals aged 15 years or over living in the household. Income includes wages and salaries, unemployment insurance, disability payments, child support payments received, regular rental receipts, as well as any personal business, investment, or other kinds of income received routinely. The median household income in the United States varies from state to state. In 2020, the median household income was 86,725 U.S. dollars in Massachusetts, while the median household income in Mississippi was approximately 44,966 U.S. dollars at that time. Household income is also used to determine the poverty line in the United States. In 2021, about 11.6 percent of the U.S. population was living in poverty. The child poverty rate, which represents people under the age of 18 living in poverty, has been growing steadily over the first decade since the turn of the century, from 16.2 percent of the children living below the poverty line in year 2000 to 22 percent in 2010. In 2021, it had lowered to 15.3 percent. The state with the widest gap between the rich and the poor was New York, with a Gini coefficient score of 0.51 in 2019. The Gini coefficient is calculated by looking at average income rates. A score of zero would reflect perfect income equality and a score of one indicates a society where one person would have all the money and all other people have nothing.

U.S. citizens with a professional degree had the highest median household income in 2023, at 172,100 U.S. dollars. In comparison, those with less than a 9th grade education made significantly less money, at 35,690 U.S. dollars. Household income The median household income in the United States has fluctuated since 1990, but rose to around 70,000 U.S. dollars in 2021. Maryland had the highest median household income in the United States in 2021. Maryland’s high levels of wealth is due to several reasons, and includes the state's proximity to the nation's capital. Household income and ethnicity The median income of white non-Hispanic households in the United States had been on the rise since 1990, but declining since 2019. While income has also been on the rise, the median income of Hispanic households was much lower than those of white, non-Hispanic private households. However, the median income of Black households is even lower than Hispanic households. Income inequality is a problem without an easy solution in the United States, especially since ethnicity is a contributing factor. Systemic racism contributes to the non-White population suffering from income inequality, which causes the opportunity for growth to stagnate.

A dataset listing the richest zip codes in New Jersey per the most current US Census data, including information on rank and average income.

A dataset listing the richest zip codes in North Carolina per the most current US Census data, including information on rank and average income.

A dataset listing the richest zip codes in Missouri per the most current US Census data, including information on rank and average income.

Families of tax filers; Single-earner and dual-earner census families by number of children (final T1 Family File; T1FF).

Graph and download economic data for Net Worth Held by the Bottom 50% (1st to 50th Wealth Percentiles) (WFRBLB50107) from Q3 1989 to Q2 2025 about net worth, wealth, percentile, Net, and USA.

In the first quarter of 2025, almost two-thirds percent of the total wealth in the United States was owned by the top 10 percent of earners. In comparison, the lowest 50 percent of earners only owned 2.5 percent of the total wealth. Income inequality in the U.S. Despite the idea that the United States is a country where hard work and pulling yourself up by your bootstraps will inevitably lead to success, this is often not the case. In 2023, 7.4 percent of U.S. households had an annual income under 15,000 U.S. dollars. With such a small percentage of people in the United States owning such a vast majority of the country’s wealth, the gap between the rich and poor in America remains stark. The top one percent The United States was the country with the most billionaires in the world in 2025. Elon Musk, with a net worth of 342 billion U.S. dollars, was among the richest people in the United States in 2025. Over the past 50 years, the CEO-to-worker compensation ratio has exploded, causing the gap between rich and poor to grow, with some economists theorizing that this gap is the largest it has been since right before the Great Depression.

During a 2024 survey, around 19 percent of the Cuban population had a monthly income lower than 67 U.S. dollars, and only 21 percent had an income higher than 417 USD. During that same survey, 61 percent of the respondents stated that they struggle to buy the necessary means to survive. Employment in Cuba Cuba has almost no unemployment at all. In 2022, the unemployment rate for the Caribbean country was 1.16 percent. In that year, over 74 percent of the workforce was estimated to be employees. However, most of them are employed in the public sector, as this segment employs nearly 62.4 percent of the entire labor force. Food insecurity Despite having almost all the entire workforce employed, the Cuban population faces many challenges. In a survey in 2024, 72 percent of the population claimed that the food crisis that the country faces is the main social problem, followed by salaries with 49 percent. The difficulty of accessing food is widespread, as one in two Cubans have admitted to gone without food at least one day in 2023.

The typical American picture of a family with 2.5 kids might not be as relevant as it once was: In 2023, there was an average of 1.94 children under 18 per family in the United States. This is a decrease from 2.33 children under 18 per family in 1960.

Familial structure in the United States

If there’s one thing the United States is known for, it’s diversity. Whether this is diversity in ethnicity, culture, or family structure, there is something for everyone in the U.S. Two-parent households in the U.S. are declining, and the number of families with no children are increasing. The number of families with children has stayed more or less constant since 2000.

Adoptions in the U.S.

Families in the U.S. don’t necessarily consist of parents and their own biological children. In 2021, around 35,940 children were adopted by married couples, and 13,307 children were adopted by single women.

This statistic depicts the median annual family income in Canada in 2021, distinguished by province. In 2021, the median annual family income in Alberta was 106,960 Canadian dollars.

In all countries in Europe, there was a significant gender pay gap when looking at average monthly earnings in 2022. This pay gap varied between countries, however, with the differences between the two countries with the highest average earnings being illustrative of this. While in Luxembourg men earned on average 8,027 U.S. Dollars a month and women earned 6,666 U.S. Dollars (a gap of roughly 1,350 Euros), in Switzerland men earned 7,719 U.S. Dollars - a whole 2,500 U.S. dollars more than the average earnings for women, at 5,159 dollars.

In January 2025, apartment rents recorded an annual growth in most U.S. states. Nevertheless, the national average rent declined by about *** percent. West Virginia was the state with the largest rental increase, while Colorado measured the largest decline. California, one of the most expensive states to rent an apartment, such as California, saw an increase of about *** percent from the previous year. How much should you earn to afford to rent an apartment in different states in the U.S.? Both employment opportunities and the living costs vary widely across the country. In California, which is among the most competitive housing markets in the U.S., the hourly wage needed to afford a two-bedroom apartment rental was roughly ** U.S. dollars, more than twice higher than in North Carolina, Louisiana, or Michigan in 2024. When it comes to the median household income, on the other hand, California does not even make it in the top ten states. How much should you earn to afford a home in some of U.S. largest metros? In 2022, the annual salary needed to buy a median-priced home in the U.S. was ****** U.S. dollars. However, in some of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States, where housing prices are up to two or three times higher, homebuyers would have to earn more than 100,000 U.S. dollars to afford a home. In San Jose, which was the most expensive metro, the annual salary needed for a median-priced home was approximately ******* U.S. dollars.

In 2025, households in California needed an hourly wage of over 50 U.S. dollars to afford the rent of a two-bedroom apartment. Hawaii had the second-least affordable two-bedroom apartments, as a household would have to earn at least around 49 U.S. dollars per hour in order to afford rent payments. These figures are considerably higher than the average minimum wage in place in many states. There was no state in which a minimum wageworker could afford rent for the average two-bedroom apartment, if they worked 40 hours a week. Where are the least affordable counties and metros? The least affordable rents were predominately in Californian counties and metropolitan areas in 2025. District of Columbia has the highest minimum wages in the country, which stood at 17.5 U.S. dollars per hour as of January 2025. Thus, the affordability of two-bedroom apartments highlights how disproportionately high housing costs are in the state.