Here you'll find estimated United States Individual Income Brackets for 2025. Also, find the average, median, and top 1% of individual incomes in the United States.
Incomes are earned between January and December 2024, and data is comprised of individuals who worked (or wanted to work) in 2024. (Don't miss our research on household incomes.)
Individual Income Benchmarks in 2025
The most important summary statistics for income – whether individual or household – are median, average, and top 1% income.
These statistics are for all workers in the United States, not adjusted for inflation. To limit data to "full time" workers, compare incomes in our individual income percentile calculator.
What was the median individual income?
Median individual income in the United States was $53,010. It is up from $50,200 in 2024.
What was the average individual income?
Average individual income in 2025 in the United States was $77,652.10, up from $73,471.51 in 2024.
What is the top 1% individual income?
A top 1% earner in the United States in 2025 made $450,100 or more. Top 1% is up from $430,000 in 2023.
Selected United States Individual Income Percentiles for 2025 and 2024
Individual income is defined as all income earned assigned to one individual. That is:
- Wage income (for more, see the dedicated salary research post)
- Business income
- Investment income
- Other income (see the list)
Unlike the above section, this section is adjusted for inflation (CPI). You can find the details here.
On massive caution: this data isn't longitudinal. The survey does not show you what a single individual earns year over year.
2024 Individual Income Percentiles for the United States
The following chart shows the change in every income percentile year over year. The inflation increase, year over year, was 3.01% as measured by the blended average IPUMS-CPS survey level. So, if you see an increase of under 3.01% in a bracket, it represents a loss of earnings power... though, see my warning in the next paragraph and FAQ!
As a warning, you can't compare the brackets directly. See the FAQ for more.
| Individual Income Percentile | 2025 | 2024 | Absolute Difference | Percentage Difference |
| 1% | $0 | $0 | $0 | 0.00% |
| 2% | $0 | $0 | $0 | 0.00% |
| 3% | $170 | $200 | -$30 | -15.00% |
| 4% | $1,500 | $1,636 | -$136 | -8.31% |
| 5% | $3,000 | $3,000 | $0 | 0.00% |
| 6% | $4,800 | $4,800 | $0 | 0.00% |
| 7% | $6,002 | $6,000 | $2 | 0.03% |
| 8% | $8,000 | $7,501 | $499 | 6.65% |
| 9% | $10,000 | $9,500 | $500 | 5.26% |
| 10% | $11,005 | $10,264 | $741 | 7.22% |
| 11% | $12,500 | $12,000 | $500 | 4.17% |
| 12% | $14,309 | $13,769 | $540 | 3.92% |
| 13% | $15,002 | $15,000 | $2 | 0.01% |
| 14% | $17,000 | $16,000 | $1,000 | 6.25% |
| 15% | $18,200 | $17,427 | $773 | 4.44% |
| 16% | $20,000 | $19,000 | $1,000 | 5.26% |
| 17% | $20,035 | $20,000 | $35 | 0.18% |
| 18% | $21,932 | $20,275 | $1,657 | 8.17% |
| 19% | $23,000 | $22,000 | $1,000 | 4.55% |
| 20% | $24,054 | $23,006 | $1,048 | 4.56% |
| 21% | $25,000 | $24,005 | $995 | 4.14% |
| 22% | $26,000 | $25,000 | $1,000 | 4.00% |
| 23% | $27,001 | $25,440 | $1,561 | 6.14% |
| 24% | $28,253 | $26,706 | $1,547 | 5.79% |
| 25% | $30,000 | $28,000 | $2,000 | 7.14% |
| 26% | $30,000 | $29,001 | $999 | 3.44% |
| 27% | $30,112 | $30,000 | $112 | 0.37% |
| 28% | $31,816 | $30,000 | $1,816 | 6.05% |
| 29% | $32,627 | $30,200 | $2,427 | 8.04% |
| 30% | $34,001 | $31,711 | $2,290 | 7.22% |
| 31% | $35,000 | $32,880 | $2,120 | 6.45% |
| 32% | $35,250 | $34,002 | $1,248 | 3.67% |
| 33% | $36,400 | $35,000 | $1,400 | 4.00% |
| 34% | $38,000 | $35,200 | $2,800 | 7.95% |
| 35% | $39,000 | $36,100 | $2,900 | 8.03% |
| 36% | $40,000 | $37,500 | $2,500 | 6.67% |
| 37% | $40,002 | $39,000 | $1,002 | 2.57% |
| 38% | $40,804 | $40,000 | $804 | 2.01% |
| 39% | $42,000 | $40,001 | $1,999 | 5.00% |
| 40% | $43,345 | $40,438 | $2,907 | 7.19% |
| 41% | $45,000 | $42,000 | $3,000 | 7.14% |
| 42% | $45,050 | $43,000 | $2,050 | 4.77% |
| 43% | $46,110 | $44,651 | $1,459 | 3.27% |
| 44% | $48,000 | $45,005 | $2,995 | 6.65% |
| 45% | $49,000 | $46,000 | $3,000 | 6.52% |
| 46% | $50,000 | $47,148 | $2,852 | 6.05% |
| 47% | $50,002 | $48,400 | $1,602 | 3.31% |
| 48% | $50,600 | $50,000 | $600 | 1.20% |
| 49% | $52,000 | $50,001 | $1,999 | 4.00% |
| 50% | $53,010 | $50,200 | $2,810 | 5.60% |
| 51% | $54,834 | $51,320 | $3,514 | 6.85% |
| 52% | $55,310 | $52,500 | $2,810 | 5.35% |
| 53% | $57,000 | $54,050 | $2,950 | 5.46% |
| 54% | $59,000 | $55,002 | $3,998 | 7.27% |
| 55% | $60,000 | $56,030 | $3,970 | 7.09% |
| 56% | $60,020 | $58,000 | $2,020 | 3.48% |
| 57% | $61,001 | $60,000 | $1,001 | 1.67% |
| 58% | $62,511 | $60,001 | $2,510 | 4.18% |
| 59% | $64,793 | $60,265 | $4,528 | 7.51% |
| 60% | $65,351 | $62,000 | $3,351 | 5.40% |
| 61% | $67,350 | $63,505 | $3,845 | 6.05% |
| 62% | $69,900 | $65,010 | $4,890 | 7.52% |
| 63% | $70,101 | $66,516 | $3,585 | 5.39% |
| 64% | $72,000 | $68,504 | $3,496 | 5.10% |
| 65% | $74,000 | $70,001 | $3,999 | 5.71% |
| 66% | $75,013 | $70,984 | $4,029 | 5.68% |
| 67% | $76,275 | $72,879 | $3,396 | 4.66% |
| 68% | $78,665 | $75,000 | $3,665 | 4.89% |
| 69% | $80,005 | $75,850 | $4,155 | 5.48% |
| 70% | $81,361 | $78,155 | $3,206 | 4.10% |
| 71% | $84,000 | $80,002 | $3,998 | 5.00% |
| 72% | $85,700 | $81,289 | $4,411 | 5.43% |
| 73% | $89,000 | $83,917 | $5,083 | 6.06% |
| 74% | $90,500 | $85,875 | $4,625 | 5.39% |
| 75% | $93,400 | $88,710 | $4,690 | 5.29% |
| 76% | $96,239 | $90,480 | $5,759 | 6.36% |
| 77% | $100,000 | $93,279 | $6,721 | 7.21% |
| 78% | $100,430 | $96,220 | $4,210 | 4.38% |
| 79% | $103,056 | $100,000 | $3,056 | 3.06% |
| 80% | $106,500 | $100,850 | $5,650 | 5.60% |
| 81% | $110,101 | $104,001 | $6,100 | 5.87% |
| 82% | $114,260 | $108,001 | $6,259 | 5.80% |
| 83% | $119,125 | $111,200 | $7,925 | 7.13% |
| 84% | $121,527 | $115,601 | $5,926 | 5.13% |
| 85% | $126,001 | $120,012 | $5,989 | 4.99% |
| 86% | $130,750 | $124,051 | $6,699 | 5.40% |
| 87% | $137,101 | $129,800 | $7,301 | 5.62% |
| 88% | $144,001 | $135,003 | $8,998 | 6.67% |
| 89% | $150,130 | $141,006 | $9,124 | 6.47% |
| 90% | $155,042 | $150,000 | $5,042 | 3.36% |
| 91% | $162,795 | $154,000 | $8,795 | 5.71% |
| 92% | $172,724 | $163,209 | $9,515 | 5.83% |
| 93% | $183,102 | $175,000 | $8,102 | 4.63% |
| 94% | $200,000 | $186,360 | $13,640 | 7.32% |
| 95% | $210,351 | $201,050 | $9,301 | 4.63% |
| 96% | $236,400 | $221,030 | $15,370 | 6.95% |
| 97% | $264,701 | $251,415 | $13,286 | 5.28% |
| 98% | $316,098 | $304,010 | $12,088 | 3.98% |
| 99% | $450,100 | $430,000 | $20,100 | 4.67% |
Methodology on 2025 United States Household Income Brackets
Data is sourced from the United States Census Bureau's Annual ASEC survey, first released in September 2025. The University of Minnesota's Minnesota Population Center harmonizes it. Also, see the individual income by year post, for an example of how I use the harmonized data.
Sarah Flood, Miriam King, Renae Rodgers, Steven Ruggles, J. Robert Warren, Daniel Backman, Etienne Breton, Grace Cooper, Julia A. Rivera Drew, Stephanie Richards, David Van Riper, and Kari C.W. Williams. IPUMS CPS: Version 13.0 [dataset]. Minneapolis, MN: IPUMS, 2025. https://doi.org/10.18128/D030.V13.0
Over the years – thanks to feedback (and plenty complaints) from readers – I've improved the worker screen to include people in the workforce as well as people who want to find a job. Unlike with a monthly survey, we have to do some legwork because we want to see people who were in the workforce during all (or any) of 2024.
Here's how the screen works:
- At least age 16
- Labeled as 'in workforce'
- Report working 1 or more hours in a typical week
- Report 'want' or 'maybe want' a job
You can't compare them. The employment-population ratio is a snapshot of current working conditions taken monthly. This screen is attempting to show people who were in the workforce at some point in the year, so it will be be biased higher.
Need an example? Consider a person who works a holiday job for one month in December. They would show up as "in the workforce" for my screen, though would not be in the workforce for a July monthly survey.
No, median and average income are not the same. They are both descriptions of the central tendency of a data set, but tell us different things:
- Median individual income means half of all individual workers made more, while half made less money in full-year 2024.
- Average individual income means we add up every worker's earnings in full-year 2024 then divide by the number of workers.
Median is the most important summary statistic for income data – it demarcates the point where half of workers make more money and half make less (ignoring the workers who make exactly the median, of course! ).
These statistics contain more income types than the numbers from Social Security. The ASEC numbers are the gold standard estimates of income and poverty in the United States.
The Census Bureau creates the official poverty estimates for the United States. The numbers include all types of income (importantly: including investment income).
2025: 75,234 data-points representing an estimated 183,174,900 workers.
2024: 76,302 data-points representing an estimated 180,388,021 workers.
All income numbers in this post are gross income, or before tax.
This data is not longitudinal, which means it does not track the same households year over year.
It is a different set of people answering the survey than last year, people move in and out of the workforce, the workforce changes in size, and so on. There's no guarantee that a person is in exactly the same percentile two years in a row and each percentile bracket is a varying number of people depending on the year.
Analysis of Individual Income Brackets in 2025
It's good fun putting these posts together (though tough!). Please check out the income percentile calculator, an interactive tool presenting these numbers in a more intuitive way.
See previous editions:
