This report presents estimates on income, earnings, and inequality in the United States for calendar year 2025, based on information collected in the 2026 and earlier Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplements (CPS ASEC) conducted by the Census Bureau. Estimates for 2024 in this report may not match those published last year due to the implementation of Vintage 2025 population controls. Additional details are available at <www.census.gov/library/working-papers/2026/demo/sehsd-wp2026-16.html>.

The income estimates in this report are based on two measures: (1) money income, which is pretax and does not account for the value of in-kind transfers, and (2) post-tax income, which is money income net of federal and states taxes and credits, as well as payroll taxes (FICA). Appendix A provides a detailed explanation of how income is measured using the CPS ASEC.

• In 2025, median household income was $87,460, an increase of 2.6 percent from the 2024 estimate of $85,210 (Figure 1 and Table 1). Household income in 2025 was the highest on record dating back to 1967 (Table 2).
• Between 2024 and 2025, median income increased by 3.0 percent for White households, 2.9 percent for non-Hispanic White households, and 4.8 percent for Black households. Median income did not change significantly for Asian or Hispanic households (Figure 2 and Table 1).
• Median household income after accounting for taxes and credits increased by 3.1 percent, from $73,760 in 2024 to $76,060 in 2025 (Table 3).
• Income inequality as measured by the Gini index was not significantly different between 2024 and 2025 (Figure 3 and Table 5).
• Household income increased 1.7 percent at the 90th percentile but did not significantly change at the 10th percentile between 2024 and 2025 (Table 5).
• Among full-time, year-round workers, median earnings increased 3.2 percent for women but did not change significantly for men between 2024 and 2025 (Figure 5 and Table 11).
• For full-time, year-round workers, the female-to-male earnings ratio in 2025 increased to 83.9 percent from 80.6 percent in 2024 (Figure 6 and Table 12). 

To adjust for changes in the cost of living over time, historical income and earnings estimates in this report are expressed in real or 2025 dollars. The current method for inflation-adjustment is based on the Chained Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (C-CPI-U) between 2000 and 2025 and the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers Retroactive Series (R-CPI-U-RS) prior to 2000. More information on the inflation adjustment and the annual index values are available in Appendix A.

All comparative statements have undergone statistical testing and are statistically significant at the 90 percent confidence level unless otherwise noted.