Income in the United States


Income in the United States is measured by the various federal agencies including the Internal Revenue Service, Bureau of Labor Statistics, US Department of Commerce, and the US Census Bureau. Additionally, various agencies, including the Congressional Budget Office compile reports on income statistics. The primary classifications are by household or individual. The top quintile in personal income in 2022 was $117,162. The differences between household and personal income are considerable, since 61% of households now have two or more income earners. Median personal income in 2020 was $56,287 for workers with full-time employment.
This difference becomes very apparent when comparing the percentage of households with six figure incomes to that of individuals. Overall, including all households/individuals regardless of employment status, the median household income was $67,521 in 2020 while the median personal income was $35,805.
While wages for women have increased greatly, median earnings of male wage earners have remained stagnant since the late 1970s. Household income, however, has risen due to the increasing number of households with more than one income earner and women's increased presence in the labor force.

Income minimum by percentile

Note: The minimums in the table are minimums neither for household nor for individual incomes, but rather for the Adjusted Gross Incomes from individual tax returns, excluding returns from dependents. Since these returns include those that are for married couples filing jointly, some of them will have incomes that are greater than the individual incomes. And since the returns include those that are for persons who are married but filing separately, and since the incomes on the returns do not include the incomes of dependents, some of them will have incomes that are lower than the incomes of the households of whom the filer is a member. Therefore, the minimums in the table are in between what the minimums would be for individual incomes and what they would be for household incomes.
Source: Internal Revenue Service
YearTop 0.001%Top 0.01%Top 0.10%Top 1%Top 2%Top 3%Top 4%Top 5%Top 10%Top 20%Top 25%Top 30%Top 40%Top 50%
2001$31,331,335$6,869,952$1,393,718$306,635$207,592$167,788$145,667$132,082$96,151$67,818$59,026$51,863$40,293$31,418
2002$25,921,482$5,891,214$1,245,352$296,194$200,654$164,409$144,575$130,750$95,699$67,928$59,066$51,721$40,073$31,299
2003$28,489,160$6,386,149$1,317,088$305,939$205,565$168,248$147,132$133,741$97,470$69,304$59,896$52,353$40,383$31,447
2004$38,780,500$8,455,107$1,617,918$339,993$224,320$181,127$156,665$140,758$101,838$72,069$62,794$54,765$42,081$32,622
2005$50,796,495$10,738,867$1,938,175$379,261$245,392$194,726$167,281$149,216$106,864$74,790$64,821$56,583$43,361$33,484
2006$54,665,360$11,649,460$2,124,625$402,603$258,800$205,835$176,455$157,390$112,016$77,776$67,291$58,505$44,748$34,417
2007$62,955,875$12,747,384$2,251,017$426,439$270,440$214,832$184,473$164,883$116,396$80,723$69,559$60,617$46,200$35,541
2008$49,546,782$10,097,827$1,867,652$392,513$260,381$209,750$181,624$163,512$116,813$80,886$69,813$60,535$46,120$35,340
2009$34,381,494$7,206,540$1,469,393$351,968$243,096$198,731$174,432$157,342$114,181$79,237$68,216$58,876$44,529$34,156
2010$45,039,369$8,762,618$1,634,386$369,691$252,785$205,942$179,023$161,579$116,623$80,462$69,126$59,512$44,895$34,338
2011$41,965,258$8,830,028$1,717,675$388,905$262,933$213,441$185,812$167,728$120,136$82,241$70,492$60,789$45,722$34,823
2012$62,068,187$12,104,014$2,161,175$434,682$285,908$227,923$196,416$175,817$125,195$85,440$73,354$63,222$47,475$36,055
2013$45,097,112$9,460,540$1,860,848$428,713$287,018$231,507$200,472$179,760$127,695$87,434$74,955$64,650$48,463$36,841
2014$56,981,718$11,407,987$2,136,762$465,626$306,650$245,902$211,261$188,996$133,445$90,606$77,714$66,868$50,083$38,173
2015$59,380,503$11,930,649$2,220,264$480,930$316,913$253,979$218,911$195,778$138,031$93,212$79,655$68,632$51,571$39,275
2016$53,052,900$10,963,921$2,124,117$480,804$319,796$256,673$221,381$197,651$139,713$94,620$80,921$69,581$52,529$40,078
2017$63,430,119$12,899,070$2,374,937$515,371$339,478$271,182$232,955$208,053$145,135$97,870$83,682$72,268$54,672$41,740
2018$68,934,261$13,576,286$2,514,209$540,009$359,368$286,106$245,050$217,913$151,935$101,765$87,044$75,083$57,092$43,614
2019$60,658,598$12,623,539$2,458,432$546,434$364,693$291,384$249,320$221,572$154,589$103,012$87,917$75,991$57,685$44,269
2020$77,008,517$14,757,246$2,614,565$548,336$366,358$290,860$248,513$220,521$152,321$100,723$85,853$73,572$55,231$42,184
2021$118,014,696$22,756,244$3,775,593$682,577$438,779$342,107$287,682$252,840$169,800$110,805$94,440$81,227$61,108$46,637
2022$85,464,888$17,855,123$3,271,387$663,164$438,918$349,616$296,859$261,591$178,611$117,162$99,857$85,961$65,388$50,339