Americans’ median household income rose 2.6% to $87,460 last year, the Census Bureau said Tuesday. The total, which is adjusted for inflation, is the highest on record since the agency began tracking the income data in 1967.
It also marks a rise above pre-pandemic levels, topping the $85,320 recorded for 2019. Even so, years of relatively stagnant income growth and persistently higher inflation have eroded Americans’ purchasing power and made affordability concerns a prime political issue. “Household income has risen 2.5% since 2019,” Christopher Rugaber of the Associated Press notes. “Yet over the previous six-year period, from 2013 to 2019, a period of very low inflation and declining unemployment, it jumped 19%.”
Median after-tax income rose by 3.1%, from $73,760 in 2024 to $76,060 in 2025.
The official poverty rate, meanwhile, fell 0.5 percentage points to 10.2%, while an alternative measure of the poverty rate that accounts for government programs, taxes and certain out-of-pocket expenses was 13.1%. Social Security remains the largest antipoverty program, as the Census Bureau says it moved 28.8 million people out of poverty in 2025, based on the alternative measure.
The Census report showed little change in income inequality, as the top 10% of households by income saw an average increase of 1.7% last year to just over $261,000, while the poorest 10% saw a 0.8% decline to just over $20,000.