The U.S. Census Bureau reported on September 9, 2025, that the real median household income in the United States for 2024 was $83,730. This figure is not statistically different from the previous year’s estimate of $82,690. The official poverty rate decreased by 0.4 percentage points to 10.6% in 2024, with 35.9 million people living in poverty.
The data come from three reports: “Income in the United States: 2024,” “Poverty in the United States: 2024,” and “Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2024.” These reports are based on information collected through the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC), which is jointly sponsored by the Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
According to these findings, “Median household income was $83,730 in 2024, not statistically different from the 2023 estimate of $82,690.” Changes in median income varied across racial and ethnic groups between 2023 and 2024: Asian households saw a rise of 5.1%, Hispanic households increased by 5.5%, while Black households experienced a decline of 3.3%. There were no significant changes for White or White non-Hispanic households.
Income inequality as measured by the Gini index did not show a significant change between years. At the same time, household income at the 90th percentile rose by 4.2%, but there were no notable changes at either the lower or middle percentiles.
For full-time, year-round workers, men’s median earnings increased by 3.7%, while women’s earnings did not change significantly over this period. The female-to-male earnings ratio fell to 80.9% from its previous value of 82.7% in 2023; this marks a second consecutive annual decrease.
Post-tax median household income grew by about 1.8%, reaching $72,330 in 2024 compared to $71,040 in the prior year.
The weighted average poverty threshold for a family of four was set at $32,130 for calendar year 2024 (see https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/historical-poverty-thresholds.html). The official poverty rate declined among White, Asian and Hispanic individuals but remained unchanged for other groups discussed.
The Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) rate stood at 12.9% for both years under review; however, SPM rates increased among those aged sixty-five and older as well as Black individuals between years examined. Social Security remained central as an antipoverty program—moving nearly twenty-nine million people out of SPM-defined poverty during this period.
In terms of health insurance coverage during calendar year 2024, “In 2024, most people (92.0% or 310 million) had health insurance for some or all of the year.” An estimated eight percent—or about twenty-seven million people—were uninsured throughout all of last year according to CPS ASEC data.
Private health insurance coverage continued to be more common than public coverage at rates of sixty-six percent versus thirty-six percent respectively; employment-based insurance covered just over half (53.8%) of Americans during some part of last year while Medicare reached nineteen percent and Medicaid provided coverage to roughly eighteen percent.
There were small increases in private coverage rates driven largely by direct-purchase plans; meanwhile public coverage rates fell due primarily to lower Medicaid enrollment numbers when compared with previous years’ figures.
The CPS ASEC survey response rate improved slightly—from sixty-one point seven percent previously up to sixty-two percent—but remains below pre-pandemic levels; officials note that declining response rates may increase risk of bias but adjustments are made using survey weights and population controls.
Regional estimates along with state-level tables are available within each report’s release materials; further technical documentation can be found at https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar25.pdf.
