Average, Median, Top 1%, and all United States Household Income Percentiles

Written by:
PK

Here you'll find estimated United States household income brackets for 2025. See average, median, and top 1% household income in the United States.

The income in this post was earned between January and December 2024 (the survey took place in March-April, 2025).

We also have research on individual incomes and incomes by age.

Household Income Benchmarks in 2025

The most important – or, at least, most closely watched – income statistics are:

  • Median household income
  • Average household income
  • Top 1% household income

Median household income is the most important statistic. Medians are resistant to outliers, and better represent a "typical" household. Average income is influenced by very high earners, although it is also a decent estimate.

These next three sections are unadjusted for inflation. See the chart below for the adjustment.

What was the median household income?

In 2025, $83,592 was the median household income in the United States. This is up from $80,020 in 2024 (for inflation adjustment see below, or in the individual year links at the bottom).

What was the average household income?

The average household income was $120,952.12 in 2025. It was $114,395.26 in 2024... not adjusted for inflation.

What is the top 1% household income?

To be a top 1% income in 2025, a household needed $659,060. $631,500 was the (non-inflation-adjusted) threshold in 2024.

Selected United States Household Income Percentiles for 2025 and 2024

This section is adjusted for inflation – unlike the sections above.

Household income percentile for the US comparison, 2025 vs. 2024 (with inflation adjustment)

Across percentiles, it was a good year for household income percentiles. Adjusted for inflation, we saw only 5 income percentile 'brackets' decline, year over year – more on that in a second.

And, to anticipate your questions, household income is defined as all income earned in the household:

Household Income Percentiles for the United States in 2025

Sick of the summaries? I've got you!

Here's a higher resolution look at the data: below, find every household income percentile in 2025.

This data is not inflation adjusted. The census blended average inflation adjustment was 3.01%, year over year. That means a percentage change of under +3.01% in a percentile would mean lower purchasing power. While no brackets in 2025 were less than in 2024 nominally, the 38th, 31st, 28th, 21st, and 14th percentile of households had a decline in real income.

(Let me stress: the data is not longitudinal – it is not necessarily the same households in the same brackets between years).

Household Income Percentile20252024Absolute DifferencePercentage Difference
1%$0$0$00.00%
2%$1,470$800$67083.75%
3%$5,401$4,782$61912.94%
4%$9,600$8,523$1,07712.64%
5%$11,604$10,979$6255.69%
6%$13,200$12,624$5764.56%
7%$14,628$14,040$5884.19%
8%$16,272$15,600$6724.31%
9%$18,000$17,001$9995.88%
10%$19,889$18,855$1,0345.48%
11%$21,000$20,006$9944.97%
12%$22,501$21,695$8063.72%
13%$24,016$23,035$9814.26%
14%$25,297$24,600$6972.83%
15%$26,836$25,979$8573.30%
16%$28,464$27,179$1,2854.73%
17%$30,000$28,882$1,1183.87%
18%$31,081$30,000$1,0813.60%
19%$32,600$31,289$1,3114.19%
20%$34,476$32,958$1,5184.61%
21%$35,501$34,582$9192.66%
22%$37,001$35,748$1,2533.51%
23%$38,695$37,121$1,5744.24%
24%$40,000$38,805$1,1953.08%
25%$41,401$40,000$1,4013.50%
26%$43,182$41,572$1,6103.87%
27%$45,000$43,056$1,9444.52%
28%$46,246$45,000$1,2462.77%
29%$48,000$46,070$1,9304.19%
30%$49,448$47,760$1,6883.53%
31%$50,272$49,153$1,1192.28%
32%$52,000$50,050$1,9503.90%
33%$53,708$51,531$2,1774.22%
34%$55,127$53,050$2,0773.92%
35%$57,000$55,000$2,0003.64%
36%$58,867$56,180$2,6874.78%
37%$60,005$58,000$2,0053.46%
38%$61,458$59,840$1,6182.70%
39%$63,429$60,466$2,9634.90%
40%$65,056$62,086$2,9704.78%
41%$67,073$64,000$3,0734.80%
42%$69,300$65,487$3,8135.82%
43%$70,625$67,200$3,4255.10%
44%$72,323$69,180$3,1434.54%
45%$74,340$70,492$3,8485.46%
46%$75,801$72,436$3,3654.65%
47%$77,900$74,701$3,1994.28%
48%$80,000$76,030$3,9705.22%
49%$81,244$78,240$3,0043.84%
50%$83,592$80,020$3,5724.46%
51%$85,380$82,000$3,3804.12%
52%87,60184,177$3,424.004.07%
53%90,00086,001$3,999.004.65%
54%92,00088,186$3,814.004.32%
55%94,43290,042$4,390.004.88%
56%96,59692,003$4,593.004.99%
57%99,10094,502$4,598.004.87%
58%100,70196,481$4,220.004.37%
59%103,05099,215$3,835.003.87%
60%105,411100,822$4,589.004.55%
61%108,044103,009$5,035.004.89%
62%110,692105,432$5,260.004.99%
63%113,784108,193$5,591.005.17%
64%116,520110,408$6,112.005.54%
65%120,000113,200$6,800.006.01%
66%122,016116,000$6,016.005.19%
67%125,177119,000$6,177.005.19%
68%128,520121,141$7,379.006.09%
69%131,160124,332$6,828.005.49%
70%135,020127,200$7,820.006.15%
71%138,776130,420$8,356.006.41%
72%142,110134,037$8,073.006.02%
73%146,005137,300$8,705.006.34%
74%150,000140,820$9,180.006.52%
75%153,000144,770$8,230.005.68%
76%156,605149,035$7,570.005.08%
77%161,064152,093$8,971.005.90%
78%165,530155,943$9,587.006.15%
79%170,412160,276$10,136.006.32%
80%175,696165,068$10,628.006.44%
81%181,002170,153$10,849.006.38%
82%186,936175,930$11,006.006.26%
83%193,040181,165$11,875.006.55%
84%199,654187,501$12,153.006.48%
85%206,000194,724$11,276.005.79%
86%213,082202,004$11,078.005.48%
87%220,858209,002$11,856.005.67%
88%230,250217,001$13,249.006.11%
89%240,060226,000$14,060.006.22%
90%251,036234,769$16,267.006.93%
91%263,177246,211$16,966.006.89%
92%277,971260,391$17,580.006.75%
93%294,910275,185$19,725.007.17%
94%312,261294,610$17,651.005.99%
95%335,575315,504$20,071.006.36%
96%366,980348,100$18,880.005.42%
97%408,400391,012$17,388.004.45%
98%484,613460,943$23,670.005.14%
99%659,060631,500$27,560.004.36%

To read the chart: a dollar amount is the "threshold" between brackets. More income than a number? Higher bracket, and vice versa for lower.

What is considered a middle class income?

In 2025, middle class encompasses household income from $41,796 to $167,184 This measure of middle class uses the range from half of median household income to twice the median household income.

Of course, a lot boils down to your location. Make sure you visit these geographic income calculators:

Methodology on 2025 United States Household Income Brackets

Data originated in the United States Census Bureau's Annual ASEC survey, first released at the end of September 2025. The University of Minnesota's Minnesota Population Center harmonizes it, making it easy to do these calculations – see the household income by year post, for an example. For my setup, I use RStudio (and a lot of Excel, the world's most popular programming language).

Sarah Flood, Miriam King, Renae Rodgers, Steven Ruggles, J. Robert Warren, Daniel Backman, Etienne Breton, Grace Cooper, Julia A. Rivera Drew, Stephanie Richards, David Van Riper, and Kari C.W. Williams. IPUMS CPS: Version 13.0 [dataset]. Minneapolis, MN: IPUMS, 2025. https://doi.org/10.18128/D030.V13.0

How many samples are in the 2025 and 2024 data?

  • 2025: 55,762 data points representing around 134,963,893 households.
  • 2024: 56,251 data points representing around 132,391,325 households.

In this post, is household income gross or net?

The household income data in this post is before-tax, or gross income.

Analysis of Household Income in 2025

You know I enjoy updating these annual income posts (and you know you enjoy reading them!). You can browse others here on the Income category page.

I'm just one man, though: I can't update them all at once; some may be a year behind. This is the first post I update annually. Check back in a few days if you hit one which is a year behind.

Some of you prefer something interactive, though. I also build a household income percentile calculator. Hope you enjoyed the post (and the tool)!

Past editions:

      

PK

PK started DQYDJ in 2009 to research and discuss finance and investing and help answer financial questions. He's expanded DQYDJ to build visualizations, calculators, and interactive tools.

PK lives in New Hampshire with his wife, kids, and dog.

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