Average Salary by Age plus Median, Top 1%, and All Salary Percentiles in 2020

In this post are United States Salary Brackets by Age for 2020 (using the newest data we have through mid-2021). You'll also find average salary by age, plus median and top 1% salaries by age.

Salaries/wage incomes are gross (pre-tax), earned between January and December 2019 (the survey is taken in March 2020; these are "full-year 2019" salaries, and the data is pre-COVID-19).

Salary Benchmarks by Age in 2020

Age is an excellent proxy for experience in most datasets – generally, the longer you've been at a job or career, the better you are in that job or career. While that's not a universal law, it's good practice to separate salary data by age. (Although you can find aggregate salary averages and stats here).

The best summary statistics for salary are:

• Median salary by age
• Average salary by age
• Top 1% salary by age

We'll hit each summary statistic in kind, but here's a quick visualization of the main salary breakpoints for selected ages.

What is the median salary by age in the United States?

In 2020 in the United States, these were the median salaries earned by age:

• Age 25: $35,000.00
• Age 35: $51,000.00
• Age 45: $57,000.00
• Age 55: $57,000.00
• Age 65: $50,000.00

The following table lists the median salary for every age from 16-80 in the United States:

What is the average salary by age in the United States?

In 2020 in the United States, these were the average salaries earned by age:

• Age 25: $42,609.29
• Age 35: $72,005.03
• Age 45: $75,118.92
• Age 55: $77,381.38
• Age 65: $67,701.23

In this next table, I've summarized the average salary for every age from 16-80 in the United States in 2020:

What is the top 1% salary by age in the United States?

Here are the summary top 1% salary benchmarks in the US in 2020, starting at 25 years old and moving up a decade at a time:

• Age 25: $171,000.00
• Age 35: $400,000.00
• Age 45: $355,000.00
• Age 55: $480,000.00
• Age 65: $400,000.00

Remember to be appropriately skeptical with the 'upper' salaries. By definition, fewer people earn up here and the distribution isn't as well behaved. You see this in overall income by age as well (although it isn't as bad with salary, there are fewer outliers from layering other income sources).

I've also cut down the ages to 18-70.

My warning in the income by age post applies here, too: to smooth over the spikes, look at a few adjacent ages to get a 'feel,' don't take one age as the correct value. (For what that's worth!) 

Income vs. Salary

Salary is what you earn from a job, your wage income. Income is a much more expansive set of ways to earn money. Here, think: business, investment, interest, rent, etc.

We specialize in income here on DQYDJ – find all our recent income posts here. (Including household income and individual income).

Salary by Age Summary for the United States in 2020

Want a bit more resolution? Check out the salary percentile by age calculator for the full picture, but for a slightly clearer distribution, here's a roll-up:

Methodology on 2020 United States Salary Brackets

This data comes from the United States Census Bureau's Annual ASEC survey from September 2020.

Sarah Flood, Miriam King, Renae Rodgers, Steven Ruggles and J. Robert Warren. Integrated Public Use Microdata Series, Current Population Survey: Version 8.0 [dataset]. Minneapolis, MN: IPUMS, 2020. https://doi.org/10.18128/D030.V8.0

Data Quality

Her I've summarized the number of data points left after my screen, as well as the number of workers that represents per age group.

What is your screen?

You can find the worker screen in the salary research post's methodology section.