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.

Graph and download economic data for Income Before Taxes: Income Before Taxes by Quintiles of Income Before Taxes: Highest 20 Percent (81st to 100th Percentile) (CXUINCBEFTXLB0106M) from 1984 to 2023 about percentile, tax, income, 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.

Graph and download economic data for Income Before Taxes: Wages and Salaries by Deciles of Income Before Taxes: Lowest 10 Percent (1st to 10th Percentile) (CXU900000LB1502M) from 2014 to 2023 about percentile, salaries, tax, wages, income, and USA.

In 2023, the gross median household income for Asian households in the United States stood at 112,800 U.S. dollars. Median household income in the United States, of all racial and ethnic groups, came out to 80,610 U.S. dollars in 2023. Asian and Caucasian (white not Hispanic) households had relatively high median incomes, while the median income of Hispanic, Black, American Indian, and Alaskan Native households all came in lower than the national median. A number of related statistics illustrate further the current state of racial inequality in the United States. Unemployment is highest among Black or African American individuals in the U.S. with 8.6 percent unemployed, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2021. Hispanic individuals (of any race) were most likely to go without health insurance as of 2021, with 22.8 percent uninsured.

Income share held by highest 10% in United States was reported at 30.4 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. United States - Income share held by highest 10% - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on August of 2025.

Graph and download economic data for Median Personal Income in the United States (MEPAINUSA646N) from 1974 to 2023 about personal income, personal, median, income, and USA.

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.

Graph and download economic data for Income After Taxes: Income After Taxes by Deciles of Income Before Taxes: Fourth 10 Percent (31st to 40th Percentile) (CXUINCAFTTXLB1505M) from 2014 to 2023 about percentile, tax, income, and USA.

Graph and download economic data for Net Worth Held by the Top 1% (99th to 100th Wealth Percentiles) (WFRBLT01026) from Q3 1989 to Q1 2025 about net worth, wealth, percentile, Net, and USA.

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.

United States US: Income Share Held by Highest 10% data was reported at 30.600 % in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 30.100 % for 2013. United States US: Income Share Held by Highest 10% data is updated yearly, averaging 30.100 % from Dec 1979 (Median) to 2016, with 11 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 30.600 % in 2016 and a record low of 25.300 % in 1979. United States US: Income Share Held by Highest 10% data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.World Bank.WDI: Poverty. Percentage share of income or consumption is the share that accrues to subgroups of population indicated by deciles or quintiles.; ; World Bank, Development Research Group. Data are based on primary household survey data obtained from government statistical agencies and World Bank country departments. Data for high-income economies are from the Luxembourg Income Study database. For more information and methodology, please see PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/index.htm).; ; The World Bank’s internationally comparable poverty monitoring database now draws on income or detailed consumption data from more than one thousand six hundred household surveys across 164 countries in six regions and 25 other high income countries (industrialized economies). While income distribution data are published for all countries with data available, poverty data are published for low- and middle-income countries and countries eligible to receive loans from the World Bank (such as Chile) and recently graduated countries (such as Estonia) only. See PovcalNet (http://iresearch.worldbank.org/PovcalNet/WhatIsNew.aspx) for definitions of geographical regions and industrialized countries.

In the third quarter of 2024, the top ten percent of earners in the United States held over ** percent of total wealth. This is fairly consistent with the second quarter of 2024. Comparatively, the wealth of the bottom ** percent of earners has been slowly increasing since the start of the *****, though remains low. Wealth distribution in the United States by generation can be found here.

Graph and download economic data for Expenditures: Total Average Annual Expenditures by Quintiles of Income Before Taxes: Highest 20 Percent (81st to 100th Percentile) (CXUTOTALEXPLB0106M) from 1984 to 2023 about percentile, average, tax, expenditures, income, and USA.

Consumer Expenditures - Income Before Taxes: Wages and Salaries by Deciles of Income Before Taxes: Highest 10 Percent (91st to 100th Percentile) was 278010.00000 U.S. $ in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, Consumer Expenditures - Income Before Taxes: Wages and Salaries by Deciles of Income Before Taxes: Highest 10 Percent (91st to 100th Percentile) reached a record high of 278010.00000 in January of 2023 and a record low of 189082.00000 in January of 2014. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Consumer Expenditures - Income Before Taxes: Wages and Salaries by Deciles of Income Before Taxes: Highest 10 Percent (91st to 100th Percentile) - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on July of 2025.

This table presents income shares, thresholds, tax shares, and total counts of individual Canadian tax filers, with a focus on high income individuals (95% income threshold, 99% threshold, etc.). Income thresholds are geography-specific; for example, the number of Nova Scotians in the top 1% will be calculated as the number of taxfiling Nova Scotians whose total income exceeded the 99% income threshold of Nova Scotian tax filers. Different definitions of income are available in the table namely market, total, and after-tax income, both with and without capital gains.

Personal Income in the United States increased 0.30 percent in June of 2025 over the previous month. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United States Personal Income - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

In 2023, about 26.9 percent of Asian private households in the U.S. had an annual income of 200,000 U.S. dollars and more. Comparatively, around 13.9 percent of Black households had an annual income under 15,000 U.S. dollars.

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.

Definitions:Urban: Contiguous urban census tracts with a population of 50,000 or greater. Urban census tracts are tracts where at least 10 percent of the tract's land areas is designated as urban by the Census Bureau using the 2020 urbanized area criteria.Rural Center: Contiguous urban census tracts with a population of less than 50,000. Urban census tracts are tracts where at least 10 percent of the tract's land area is designated as urban by the Census Bureau using the 2020 urbanized area criteria.Rural: Census tracts where less than 10 percent of the tract's land area is designated as urban by the Census Bureau using the 2020 urbanized area criteria.Disadvantaged Community (DAC): Census tracts that score within the top 25th percentile of the Office of Environmental Health Hazards Assessment’s California Communities Environmental Health Screening Tool (CalEnviroScreen) 4.0 scores, as well as areas of high pollution and low population, such as ports.Low-income Community (LIC): Census tracts with median household incomes at or below 80 percent of the statewide median income or with median household incomes at or below the threshold designated as low income by the Department of Housing and Community Development’s list of state income limits adopted pursuant to Section 50093 of the California Health and Safety Code.Middle-income Community (MIC): Census tracts with median household incomes between 80 to 120 percent of the statewide median income, or with median household incomes between the threshold designated as low- and moderate-income by the Department of Housing and Community Development’s list of state income limits adopted pursuant to section 50093 of the California Health and Safety Code. High-income Community (HIC): Census tracts with median household income at or above 120 percent of the statewide median income or with median household incomes at or above the threshold designated as moderate-income by the Department of Housing and Community Development’s list of state income limits adopted pursuant to section 50093 of the California Health and Safety Code.Data Dictionary:ObjectID1_: Unique IDShape: Geometric form of the featureSTATEFP: State FIPS CodeCOUNTYFP: County FIPS CodeCOUNTY: County NameTract: Census Tract IDPopulation_2019_5YR: Population from the American Community Survey 2019 5-Year EstimatesPop_dens: Census tract designation as Urban, Rural Center, or RuralDAC: Census tract designation as Disadvantaged or not (DAC or Not DAC)Income_Group: Census tract designation as Low-, Middle-, or High-income Community (LIC, MIC, or HIC)Priority_pop: Census tract designation as Low-income and/or Disadvantaged or not (LIC and/or DAC, or Not LIC and/or DAC)Shape_Length: Census tract shape area (square meters)Shape_Area: Census tract shape length (square meters)Data sources:Urban, rural center, and rural designations are from the 2025 Senate Bill (SB) 1000 AssessmentDisadvantaged community designations are from the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) under Senate Bill (SB) 535Low-income community designations are from the California Air Resources Board under Assembly Bill (AB) 1550. Middle- and high-income designations are from the SB 1000 Assessments.