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

Written by:
PK

In this post are United States Salary Brackets by Age for 2023. 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 2022 (the survey was conducted in early 2023).

Salary Benchmarks by Age in 2023

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 full-year 2022 in the United States, these were the median salaries earned by age:

  • Age 25: $41,000.00
  • Age 35: $55,900.00
  • Age 45: $60,000.00
  • Age 55: $65,000.00
  • Age 65: $55,000.00

The following table lists the median salary for every age from 16-70 in the United States for 2023:

AgeMedian Salary
16$10,000.00
17$9,000.00
18$14,000.00
19$22,000.00
20$25,000.00
21$25,000.00
22$27,000.00
23$32,000.00
24$37,000.00
25$41,000.00
26$47,000.00
27$46,800.00
28$50,000.00
29$50,000.00
30$50,000.00
31$54,000.00
32$52,000.00
33$55,000.00
34$60,000.00
35$55,900.00
36$60,000.00
37$60,000.00
38$60,000.00
39$61,000.00
40$59,000.00
41$60,000.00
42$60,000.00
43$60,000.00
44$63,000.00
45$60,000.00
46$64,000.00
47$63,000.00
48$60,000.00
49$62,864.00
50$60,000.00
51$64,000.00
52$62,000.00
53$65,000.00
54$62,000.00
55$65,000.00
56$60,000.00
57$61,000.00
58$60,000.00
59$55,000.00
60$55,000.00
61$60,000.00
62$55,000.00
63$57,200.00
64$62,000.00
65$55,000.00
66$53,000.00
67$50,000.00
68$50,000.00
69$55,000.00
70$38,000.00

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

In full year 2022 in the United States, these were the average salaries earned by age:

  • Age 25: $51,358.29
  • Age 35: $75,771.95
  • Age 45: $83,492.78
  • Age 55: $82,291.66
  • Age 65: $72,797.99

In this next table, I've summarized the average salary for every age from 16-70 in the United States in 2023:

AgeAverage Salary
16$15,326.90
17$12,402.94
18$20,822.24
19$25,662.69
20$27,537.89
21$28,095.45
22$33,573.67
23$38,278.59
24$43,702.78
25$51,358.29
26$55,723.35
27$59,446.48
28$63,042.77
29$61,845.50
30$67,134.58
31$71,060.19
32$72,487.64
33$70,483.34
34$73,420.97
35$75,771.95
36$79,030.40
37$82,723.84
38$80,948.51
39$76,101.30
40$81,981.37
41$79,778.46
42$89,710.22
43$79,797.44
44$88,048.20
45$83,492.78
46$87,729.18
47$81,872.90
48$81,330.33
49$84,966.71
50$89,785.68
51$88,337.34
52$85,380.92
53$83,690.31
54$87,908.88
55$82,291.66
56$84,419.03
57$83,662.01
58$79,114.10
59$77,266.03
60$77,182.23
61$77,211.25
62$80,398.81
63$81,937.18
64$88,373.91
65$72,797.99
66$77,745.21
67$63,480.34
68$72,603.15
69$74,505.92
70$59,247.49

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

Here are the summary top 1% salary benchmarks in the US in full year 2022, starting at 25 years old and moving up a decade at a time:

  • Age 25: $191,000
  • Age 35: $400,000
  • Age 45: $500,000
  • Age 55: $350,000
  • Age 65: $334,785

Remember to be appropriately skeptical with top 1% salaries. By definition, fewer people earn up here and the distribution isn't as well behaved.

AgeTop 1% Salary
16$70,000.00
17$60,000.00
18$100,000.00
19$100,000.00
20$90,000.00
21$75,000.00
22$105,000.00
23$150,000.00
24$170,000.00
25$191,000.00
26$200,000.00
27$235,000.00
28$253,700.00
29$215,000.00
30$300,000.00
31$350,000.00
32$420,000.00
33$317,000.00
34$350,000.00
35$400,000.00
36$420,000.00
37$450,000.00
38$375,000.00
39$350,000.00
40$460,000.00
41$350,000.00
42$840,000.00
43$350,000.00
44$460,000.00
45$500,000.00
46$500,000.00
47$450,000.00
48$410,000.00
49$350,000.00
50$750,000.00
51$400,000.00
52$530,000.00
53$375,000.00
54$500,000.00
55$350,000.00
56$500,000.00
57$500,000.00
58$372,585.00
59$357,000.00
60$600,000.00
61$400,000.00
62$540,000.00
63$500,000.00
64$420,000.00
65$334,785.00
66$600,000.00
67$400,000.00
68$520,000.00
69$400,000.00
70$350,000.00

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 2023

Want a bit more resolution? Check out the salary percentile by age calculator for the full picture.

You can also find past years here:

Methodology on 2023 United States Salary Brackets

This data comes from the United States Census Bureau's Annual ASEC survey from September 2023.

Sarah Flood, Miriam King, Renae Rodgers, Steven Ruggles, J. Robert Warren, Daniel Backman, Annie Chen, Grace Cooper, Stephanie Richards, Megan Schouweiler, and Michael Westberry. IPUMS CPS: Version 11.0 [dataset]. Minneapolis, MN: IPUMS, 2023. https://doi.org/10.18128/D030.V11.0

Here is an estimate of the number of workers in age group, along with the sample count:

AgeSamplesCount of Workers
16132256,247
17292578,975
18425856,931
194761,107,092
206101,609,597
216771,814,723
227572,090,027
238962,594,835
249452,830,429
251,0652,884,790
261,0772,927,605
271,1243,007,614
281,1793,036,665
291,2643,243,738
301,2923,296,714
311,3903,319,514
321,3863,314,684
331,4153,358,656
341,3783,194,486
351,4253,208,120
361,4223,115,692
371,4253,151,560
381,4672,982,396
391,3712,915,999
401,5193,123,576
411,4052,963,898
421,4092,969,046
431,3762,883,393
441,3552,836,279
451,3132,648,920
461,2702,687,311
471,2842,754,233
481,2212,752,213
491,1492,522,210
501,1822,566,221
511,2282,818,073
521,2612,865,301
531,2132,744,922
541,0412,430,360
559732,356,147
561,0772,566,280
571,0392,482,325
581,0082,434,425
599842,475,565
609452,306,180
617981,953,618
627841,927,034
637011,622,696
646551,619,529
655711,315,634
664451,048,591
67347793,257
68304718,313
69242602,917
70233518,159

What is your screen?

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

      

PK

PK started DQYDJ in 2009 to research and discuss finance and investing and help answer financial questions. He's expanded DQYDJ to build visualizations, calculators, and interactive tools.

PK lives in New Hampshire with his wife, kids, and dog.

Don't Quit Your Day Job...

DQYDJ may be compensated by our partners if you make purchases through links. See our disclosures page. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Sign Up For Emails
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram