What is the income of a US household?
Updates published annually
About $77,700 in median income in 2023. Household income is the total money received in a year — wages, pensions, investments, public assistance, and more — by everyone in a household over 15.
$77.7K
Median household income (2023)
0.2%
Percent decrease (2022 to 2023)
Median incomes change over time due to a range of factors: inflation, economic growth or recessions, shifts in industries and technology, changes in workforce education and demographics, and policy adjustments like minimum wage laws or tax reforms.
After adjusting for inflation, the median household income decreased from $77,800 in 2022 to $77,700 in 2023. Median household income was highest in 2019 among the years for which data is available.
2020 data is excluded due to problems in data collection caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Between 2022 and 2023, median household income decreased less than 1% to $77.7K.
Median household income, adjusted for inflation (2023 dollars)
The median household income is a useful summary, but it doesn’t fully capture the income landscape. Examining the income distribution provides insight into economic diversity and reveals patterns in income concentrations across different brackets. This perspective helps to better understand the range of and disparities in household earnings.
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In 2023, 38.9% of households in the US made more than $100K and 32.3% made less than $50K.
In 2023, about 40% of households in the US made more than $100K.
Share of households in each income group (2023)
Household income can differ depending on the makeup of the household.
Married couple households (with and without kids) had a higher median income than other types of familial households in 2023. Among nonfamily households, male householders not living alone had a higher median income than female householders not living alone.
In 2023, married-couple households had the highest median income.
Median income by household type (2023)
Lastly, household income also varies by geography due to differences in cost of living, local job markets, and economic opportunities (e.g. the presence of high-paying industries or declining sectors). Regional policies (like minimum wage), access to education, and other economic factors can also play a role in shaping local income levels.
Among all states, median household incomes ranged from $99.9K in Massachusetts to $54.2K in Mississippi in 2023.
In 2023, Massachusetts had the highest median household income and Mississippi had the lowest.
Median household income by state (2023)
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Methodology
USAFacts standardizes data, in areas such as time and demographics, to make it easier to understand and compare.
The analysis was generated with the help of AI and reviewed by USAFacts for accuracy.
Page sources
USAFacts endeavors to share the most up-to-date information available. We sourced the data on this page directly from government agencies; however, the intervals at which agencies publish updated data vary.
US Census Bureau
American Community Survey (ACS)
