Income in the United States

Income in the United States is measured by the various federal agencies including the Internal Revenue Service, Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Commerce, and the US Census Bureau. Additionally, various agencies, including the Congressional Budget Office compile reports on income statistics. The primary classifications are by household or individual. The top quintile in personal income in 2022 was $117,162 (included in the chart below). The differences between household and personal income are considerable, since 61% of households now have two or more income earners. Median personal income in 2020 was $56,287 for workers with full-time employment.

This difference becomes very apparent when comparing the percentage of households with six figure incomes to that of individuals. Overall, including all households/individuals regardless of employment status, the median household income was $67,521 in 2020 while the median personal income (including all individuals aged 15 and over, regardless of employment status) was $35,805.

While wages for women have increased greatly, median earnings of male wage earners have remained stagnant since the late 1970s. Household income, however, has risen due to the increasing number of households with more than one income earner and women's increased presence in the labor force.

Income minimum by percentile Note: The minimums in the table are minimums neither for household nor for individual incomes, but rather for the Adjusted Gross Incomes from individual tax returns, excluding returns from dependents (persons who can be claimed as dependents on another person's or couple's tax return). Since these returns include those that are for married couples filing jointly, some of them will have incomes that are greater than the individual incomes. And since the returns include those that are for persons who are married but filing separately, and since the incomes on the returns do not include the incomes of dependents, some of them will have incomes that are lower than the incomes of the households of whom the filer is a member. Therefore, the minimums in the table are in between what the minimums would be for individual incomes and what they would be for household incomes.

Source: Internal Revenue Service

Year Top 0.001% Top 0.01% Top 0.10% Top 1% Top 2% Top 3% Top 4% Top 5% Top 10% Top 20% Top 25% Top 30% Top 40% Top 50% 2001 $31,331,335 $6,869,952 $1,393,718 $306,635 $207,592 $167,788 $145,667 $132,082 $96,151 $67,818 $59,026 $51,863 $40,293 $31,418 2002 $25,921,482 $5,891,214 $1,245,352 $296,194 $200,654 $164,409 $144,575 $130,750 $95,699 $67,928 $59,066 $51,721 $40,073 $31,299 2003 $28,489,160 $6,386,149 $1,317,088 $305,939 $205,565 $168,248 $147,132 $133,741 $97,470 $69,304 $59,896 $52,353 $40,383 $31,447 2004 $38,780,500 $8,455,107 $1,617,918 $339,993 $224,320 $181,127 $156,665 $140,758 $101,838 $72,069 $62,794 $54,765 $42,081 $32,622 2005 $50,796,495 $10,738,867 $1,938,175 $379,261 $245,392 $194,726 $167,281 $149,216 $106,864 $74,790 $64,821 $56,583 $43,361 $33,484 2006 $54,665,360 $11,649,460 $2,124,625 $402,603 $258,800 $205,835 $176,455 $157,390 $112,016 $77,776 $67,291 $58,505 $44,748 $34,417 2007 $62,955,875 $12,747,384 $2,251,017 $426,439 $270,440 $214,832 $184,473 $164,883 $116,396 $80,723 $69,559 $60,617 $46,200 $35,541 2008 $49,546,782 $10,097,827 $1,867,652 $392,513 $260,381 $209,750 $181,624 $163,512 $116,813 $80,886 $69,813 $60,535 $46,120 $35,340 2009 $34,381,494 $7,206,540 $1,469,393 $351,968 $243,096 $198,731 $174,432 $157,342 $114,181 $79,237 $68,216 $58,876 $44,529 $34,156 2010 $45,039,369 $8,762,618 $1,634,386 $369,691 $252,785 $205,942 $179,023 $161,579 $116,623 $80,462 $69,126 $59,512 $44,895 $34,338 2011 $41,965,258 $8,830,028 $1,717,675 $388,905 $262,933 $213,441 $185,812 $167,728 $120,136 $82,241 $70,492 $60,789 $45,722 $34,823 2012 $62,068,187 $12,104,014 $2,161,175 $434,682 $285,908 $227,923 $196,416 $175,817 $125,195 $85,440 $73,354 $63,222 $47,475 $36,055 2013 $45,097,112 $9,460,540 $1,860,848 $428,713 $287,018 $231,507 $200,472 $179,760 $127,695 $87,434 $74,955 $64,650 $48,463 $36,841 2014 $56,981,718 $11,407,987 $2,136,762 $465,626 $306,650 $245,902 $211,261 $188,996 $133,445 $90,606 $77,714 $66,868 $50,083 $38,173 2015 $59,380,503 $11,930,649 $2,220,264 $480,930 $316,913 $253,979 $218,911 $195,778 $138,031 $93,212 $79,655 $68,632 $51,571 $39,275 2016 $53,052,900 $10,963,921 $2,124,117 $480,804 $319,796 $256,673 $221,381 $197,651 $139,713 $94,620 $80,921 $69,581 $52,529 $40,078 2017 $63,430,119 $12,899,070 $2,374,937 $515,371 $339,478 $271,182 $232,955 $208,053 $145,135 $97,870 $83,682 $72,268 $54,672 $41,740 2018 $68,934,261 $13,576,286 $2,514,209 $540,009 $359,368 $286,106 $245,050 $217,913 $151,935 $101,765 $87,044 $75,083 $57,092 $43,614 2019 $60,658,598 $12,623,539 $2,458,432 $546,434 $364,693 $291,384 $249,320 $221,572 $154,589 $103,012 $87,917 $75,991 $57,685 $44,269 2020 $77,008,517 $14,757,246 $2,614,565 $548,336 $366,358 $290,860 $248,513 $220,521 $152,321 $100,723 $85,853 $73,572 $55,231 $42,184 2021 $118,014,696 $22,756,244 $3,775,593 $682,577 $438,779 $342,107 $287,682 $252,840 $169,800 $110,805 $94,440 $81,227 $61,108 $46,6372022$85,464,888$17,855,123$3,271,387$663,164$438,918$349,616$296,859$261,591$178,611$117,162$99,857$85,961$65,388$50,339

Demographic summary

Income in the United States

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