The latest data released by the United States Census Bureau on Tuesday, September 15th, showed that the median household income in the United States in 2025, adjusted for inflation, reached $87,460, a 2.6% growth from the previous year, reaching the highest level recorded since 1967.
Among them, Asian households had the highest median income, exceeding $120,000 (approximately $126,300), with a 1.6% growth from the previous year. White households saw a 3.0% increase in median income, non-Hispanic/Non-Latino White households grew by 2.9%, and African American households grew by 4.8%. The median incomes of Asian and Hispanic households showed no significant changes. The growth differences among ethnic groups were not statistically significant.
The Census Bureau pointed out that the median household income in 2025 has surpassed pre-pandemic levels in 2019 ($85,000). These estimates are based on pre-tax monetary income and do not include in-kind benefits. The median household income is calculated by arranging all households by income from low to high and selecting the middle value (representing that half of the households have income higher than this amount, and the other half have income lower than this amount), providing a more accurate reflection of the actual economic conditions and sentiments of average families.
A report released on the same day also showed that the official poverty rate in the United States in 2025 decreased by 0.5 percentage points to 10.2%; the uninsured rate remained relatively stable at 7.9%; the child poverty rate decreased by 1 percentage point to 13.4%, the lowest in history. While the income of full-time, year-round female workers increased by 3.2%, there was no significant change in the median income of all full-time, year-round workers.
The Census Bureau released three reports, namely “Income in the United States: 2025,” “Poverty in the United States: 2025,” and “Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2025,” all based on data from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement Survey of the Current Population Survey (CPS).
The CPS, jointly sponsored by the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), is conducted monthly and is a primary source of U.S. labor force statistics.
Despite some income growth, years of high inflation have kept prices of groceries, utilities, housing costs, and other essentials high, causing many Americans to still feel financially strained. Both Republicans and Democrats acknowledge that the U.S. is facing an economic affordability crisis, and this year, with the outbreak of the U.S.-Iran war, the soaring prices of gasoline and oil are further exacerbating this crisis.
According to CNBC, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent welcomed these census data during his testimony to the House Committee on Tuesday. CNBC noted that most of the 2025 data preceded the widespread social security reductions implemented through legislation passed in the summer of 2025, hence not reflecting subsequent economic changes.
(References: U.S. Census Bureau official website, CNN, Yahoo Finance)