Real median household income rose to the highest level on record last year, a new Census Bureau report reveals.
In 2025, inflation-adjusted household income hit $87,460, an increase of 2.6% from 2024 and the highest annual mark since the government began tracking the statistic in 1967. Meanwhile, median post-tax household income increased by 3.1% from $73,760 in 2024 to $76,060 in 2025.
By demographic group, comparisons of 2024 and 2025 real, pre-tax median household income include:
- Blacks households: up 4.8%.
- White households: up 3.0%.
- Non-Hispanic White households: up 2.9%.
- Hispanic households: no significant change.
- Asian households: no significant change.
Among full-time, year-round workers, median earnings increased 3.2% for women but did not change significantly for men between 2024 and 2025.
Aided by the increase in income, the nation’s official poverty rate fell 0.5 percentage points to 10.2%, as both the poverty rate for children (13.4%) and Hispanics (13.9%) declined to historically low levels in 2025.
“Real wages are outpacing inflation,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testified during a House Financial Services Committee hearing Tuesday, highlighting the shrinking income gap:
“The bottom 25 percent of wage earners are seeing larger wage increases than those at the top. And the Working Families Tax Cuts (Act) has delivered the largest share of tax relief directly to millions of low and middle-income Americans.”
Under @POTUS, the private sector has created over 1 million jobs. Real wages are outpacing inflation. The bottom 25 percent of wage earners are seeing larger wage increases than those at the top. And the Working Families Tax Cuts has delivered the largest share of tax relief… pic.twitter.com/VWNeYoAc23
— Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (@SecScottBessent) September 15, 2026
