Article · Jobs and income
Median household income in the United States
The median US household had an income of $87,460 in 2025: half of the country's 137.1 million households earned more, half less. After inflation the median rose 2.6% from 2024, to the highest level on record. The average (mean) household income was $126,700 — 45% higher, because the largest incomes pull the average up.
half of 137.1 million households earned more; after inflation it rose 2.6% from 2024
45% above the median: the largest incomes lift the average
the top 5% at $354,000; the lowest fifth is below $35,800
from $56,230 in 2025 dollars ($7,143 in dollars of 1967)
Massachusetts; the lowest: Mississippi, $57,570
What is the median household income in the US?
Line up all 137.1 million US households by their income in 2025, and the one in the middle had $87,460. That is the median household income. The Census Bureau publishes it every September from its Current Population Survey; the figures for 2025 came out on September 15, 2026.
Income here is money income before taxes: wages and salaries, self-employment, Social Security and pensions, interest, dividends and cash benefits. Capital gains and noncash help such as food assistance or health insurance are not counted. A household is everyone living in one home — a family, a couple, roommates, or one person living alone.
Median or average? $87,460 against $126,700
The average (mean) household income in 2025 was $126,700, 45% more than the median. A few very large incomes raise the average but not the median, so the median is the better picture of a typical household. In 1967 the average was only 12% above the median; the gap has widened as the top pulled ahead.
After inflation, in 2025 dollars, the median rose 56% since 1967, from $56,230; the average rose 101%. The longest wait for a new high came after 2007: the median did not beat that year's level until 2016, 9 years later. In dollars of each year the median is 12.2 times its 1967 level of $7,143, but most of that is inflation — the switch shows the chart both ways.
The income ladder: what puts a household in the top 20% or the top 5%
Census splits households into five equal fifths by income. In 2025 the lowest fifth had less than $35,800; the second fifth up to $68,600; the middle fifth up to $110,300; the fourth up to $182,400. A household needed $182,400 or more to be in the top 20%, and $354,000 or more to be in the top 5%.
The chart shows these rungs every year since 1967. In dollars of each year they all climb; switch to 2025 dollars to see the real change — the upper rungs rose much faster than the lower ones.
The ladder as a table, every fifth year
| Year | Lowest fifth, up to | Second, up to | Median | Middle, up to | Top 20% from | Top 5% from |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $35,800 | $68,600 | $87,460 | $110,300 | $182,400 | $354,000 |
| 2022 | $30,000 | $58,020 | $74,580 | $94,000 | $153,000 | $295,000 |
| 2017* | $24,820 | $47,220 | $61,140 | $77,150 | $126,600 | $244,100 |
| 2012 | $20,600 | $39,760 | $51,020 | $64,580 | $104,100 | $191,200 |
| 2007 | $20,290 | $39,100 | $50,230 | $62,000 | $100,000 | $177,000 |
| 2002 | $17,920 | $33,380 | $42,410 | $53,160 | $84,020 | $150,000 |
| 1997 | $15,400 | $29,200 | $37,010 | $46,000 | $71,500 | $126,600 |
| 1992 | $12,600 | $24,140 | $30,640 | $37,900 | $58,010 | $99,020 |
| 1987 | $10,800 | $20,500 | $26,060 | $32,000 | $48,360 | $80,930 |
| 1982 | $8,400 | $15,980 | $20,170 | $24,410 | $36,400 | $60,090 |
| 1977 | $5,734 | $10,800 | $13,570 | $16,460 | $24,000 | $38,000 |
| 1972 | $4,050 | $7,800 | $9,697 | $11,530 | $16,500 | $26,560 |
| 1967 | $3,000 | $5,850 | $7,143 | $8,303 | $11,840 | $19,000 |
Dollars of each year; with the switch, Census's 2025 dollars. * Census gives this year twice after a change in its survey; the estimate comparable with later years is used.
Where does a household income rank?
Type a household's yearly income before taxes to see roughly where it fell among all US households in 2025.
In 2025 the median was $87,460; the top 20% started at $182,400 and the top 5% at $354,000.
An estimate: between the limits Census publishes (the 20th, 40th, 50th, 60th, 80th and 95th percentiles) the rank is drawn in a straight line, and from zero below the 20th.
How far apart the rungs moved since 1967
In 2025 dollars, the top of the lowest fifth rose from $23,620 in 1967 to $35,800: +52%. The top of the middle fifth changed by +69%, the line of the top 20% by +96%, and the line of the top 5% by +137%, from $149,600 to $354,000.
In 1967 the top-5% line was 6.3 times the top of the lowest fifth; in 2025, 9.9 times. Every rung is higher than in 1967 after inflation, but the ladder has stretched.
Median household income by state
Over 2023–2025, the highest median household income was in Massachusetts, $115,200 a year, then Maryland ($111,800) and District of Columbia ($110,300). The lowest were Mississippi ($57,570) and Louisiana ($61,020); the top state's median is 2.0 times the bottom one's. 24 of the 50 states and DC are above the US median of $85,800 for the same years.
These are three-year averages in 2025 dollars: Census publishes them because one year of its survey is too small a sample for a single state. Even so, each has a margin of error of a few thousand dollars, so states next to each other in the ranking may not truly differ.
All states as a table
| # | State | Median, 2023–2025 | Margin of error | Against the US |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Massachusetts | $115,200 | ±$5,499 | +34% |
| 2 | Maryland | $111,800 | ±$5,322 | +30% |
| 3 | District of Columbia | $110,300 | ±$4,377 | +29% |
| 4 | New Hampshire | $109,700 | ±$5,639 | +28% |
| 5 | Utah | $105,100 | ±$5,371 | +22% |
| 6 | New Jersey | $104,600 | ±$4,446 | +22% |
| 7 | Colorado | $104,100 | ±$8,014 | +21% |
| 8 | Washington | $103,100 | ±$5,095 | +20% |
| 9 | Hawaii | $102,700 | ±$4,265 | +20% |
| 10 | Virginia | $100,500 | ±$4,270 | +17% |
| 11 | Connecticut | $99,530 | ±$6,578 | +16% |
| 12 | California | $99,500 | ±$1,668 | +16% |
| 13 | Alaska | $99,240 | ±$6,253 | +16% |
| 14 | Minnesota | $94,760 | ±$3,473 | +10% |
| 15 | Nebraska | $94,070 | ±$4,440 | +10% |
| 16 | Delaware | $92,750 | ±$4,389 | +8% |
| 17 | Oregon | $92,580 | ±$5,323 | +8% |
| 18 | Rhode Island | $92,180 | ±$4,478 | +7% |
| 19 | Vermont | $90,470 | ±$4,369 | +5% |
| 20 | Illinois | $90,240 | ±$3,918 | +5% |
| 21 | Maine | $89,140 | ±$4,930 | +4% |
| 22 | Kansas | $87,760 | ±$4,993 | +2% |
| 23 | New York | $87,100 | ±$2,989 | +2% |
| 24 | Arizona | $86,630 | ±$3,404 | +1% |
| 25 | Nevada | $85,450 | ±$5,177 | −0% |
| 26 | Wisconsin | $85,310 | ±$3,912 | −1% |
| 27 | North Dakota | $84,980 | ±$4,919 | −1% |
| 28 | Montana | $84,550 | ±$5,123 | −1% |
| 29 | Iowa | $84,450 | ±$5,185 | −2% |
| 30 | Texas | $83,820 | ±$1,964 | −2% |
| 31 | Pennsylvania | $83,800 | ±$3,231 | −2% |
| 32 | South Dakota | $83,070 | ±$4,545 | −3% |
| 33 | Idaho | $82,930 | ±$2,940 | −3% |
| 34 | Missouri | $82,150 | ±$3,969 | −4% |
| 35 | Ohio | $81,300 | ±$3,978 | −5% |
| 36 | Wyoming | $80,820 | ±$4,114 | −6% |
| 37 | Georgia | $80,470 | ±$3,185 | −6% |
| 38 | Michigan | $79,500 | ±$2,971 | −7% |
| 39 | Indiana | $78,380 | ±$4,057 | −9% |
| 40 | South Carolina | $77,630 | ±$2,556 | −10% |
| 41 | Florida | $76,970 | ±$1,819 | −10% |
| 42 | Tennessee | $76,330 | ±$3,682 | −11% |
| 43 | North Carolina | $73,620 | ±$2,856 | −14% |
| 44 | Oklahoma | $70,880 | ±$2,514 | −17% |
| 45 | Kentucky | $68,290 | ±$3,576 | −20% |
| 46 | Arkansas | $66,890 | ±$3,030 | −22% |
| 47 | Alabama | $66,200 | ±$5,348 | −23% |
| 48 | New Mexico | $65,310 | ±$3,196 | −24% |
| 49 | West Virginia | $63,210 | ±$1,986 | −26% |
| 50 | Louisiana | $61,020 | ±$2,227 | −29% |
| 51 | Mississippi | $57,570 | ±$2,002 | −33% |
Three-year moving averages in 2025 dollars. Margin of error: 1.645 standard errors (90% confidence), from the standard errors Census publishes.
Household income by age
Income follows the working life. In 2025, households headed by someone aged 45–54 had the highest median, $120,100. The youngest, under 25, had $60,870, and households headed by someone 65 or older $59,680 — most of them living on pensions and Social Security rather than pay.
The gray lines across the bars are 1967, in 2025 dollars. Households headed by someone 65 or older gained the most since then: from $21,730 to $59,680, +175% after inflation.
Questions people ask
What is the median household income in the US?
$87,460 in 2025, the latest year Census has published (on September 15, 2026). After inflation it rose 2.6% from 2024, when it was $85,210 in 2025 dollars.
What is the average household income in the US?
The mean household income was $126,700 in 2025, 45% above the median of $87,460. The highest incomes pull the mean up, which is why the median is the usual measure of a typical household.
What income puts a household in the top 20% or the top 5%?
In 2025, $182,400 a year before taxes put a household in the top 20%, and $354,000 in the top 5%. The middle fifth ran from $68,600 to $110,300.
What is the average family income in the US?
Families — two or more related people living together — had a median income of $110,500 and a mean of $152,400 in 2025. Families earn more than households overall, because households also include people living alone.
Which state has the highest median household income?
Massachusetts: $115,200 a year on average over 2023–2025, in 2025 dollars, ahead of Maryland and District of Columbia. The lowest is Mississippi, $57,570.
Go deeper
How the numbers are calculated
- Data: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplements (CPS ASEC), Historical Income Tables — households: H-1 (limits of each fifth and the top 5%), H-5 (median and mean), H-8B (states, three-year averages), H-10 (age of householder); families: F-5. Public domain (a work of the US government).
- Money income before taxes as Census defines it; households as of March of the following year, income of the calendar year.
- 2025 dollars are Census's own: adjusted with the chained consumer price index (C-CPI-U) from 2000 and the research series R-CPI-U-RS before. Other pages of this site use the CPI-U, so their “today's dollars” can differ a little.
- Census gives 2013 and 2017 twice (a redesigned questionnaire for 2013, a new processing system for 2017); the series uses the estimate comparable with later years.
- States: three-year moving averages and standard errors from Census; the margin shown is 1.645 standard errors.
- Where an income ranks: a straight-line estimate between the published percentiles of 2025; below the 20th percentile, from zero.
- Statistics about households. Nothing here is financial advice.