The U.S. Census Bureau has released new data showing that real median household income in the United States was $83,730 in 2024, which is not statistically different from the previous year’s estimate of $82,690. The official poverty rate decreased by 0.4 percentage points to 10.6% in 2024.
These results are based on findings from three reports: “Income in the United States: 2024,” “Poverty in the United States: 2024,” and “Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2024.” The official poverty measure relies on pretax money income and does not include tax credits, while the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) offers an alternative view by considering post-tax income and government assistance programs.
The SPM rate for 2024 was reported at 12.9%, with no significant change from last year. According to the Census Bureau, Social Security remains a key factor in reducing poverty, moving nearly 28.7 million people out of SPM poverty during the year.
Health insurance coverage also remained steady, with about 92% of Americans having health insurance for all or part of 2024. An estimated 27.1 million people, or roughly 8%, were uninsured at any point during the year.
Employment-based health insurance continued to be most common, covering over half of the population for some or all of the calendar year. Private health coverage increased slightly compared to last year, while public coverage saw a decrease driven mainly by lower Medicaid enrollment.
Median household income trends varied among racial and ethnic groups between 2023 and 2024. Asian households saw an increase of about 5.1%, Hispanic households increased by approximately 5.5%, but Black households experienced a decline of around 3.3%. Median incomes for White and White non-Hispanic households did not change significantly.
For full-time, year-round workers, men’s median earnings rose by about 3.7%. However, women’s earnings did not see a significant change over this period. The female-to-male earnings ratio dropped to about 80.9% from last year’s figure of roughly 82.7%.
Post-tax household income rose by approximately 1.8% from $71,040 in 2023 to $72,330 in 2024.
The weighted average poverty threshold for a family of four was set at $32,130 for the year according to Census Bureau tables.
The Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC), which underpins these reports, had a weighted response rate of about 62%. This is slightly higher than last year’s rate but still below pre-pandemic levels.
“Since response rates remain below pre-pandemic levels, examining how respondents differ from nonrespondents is important, as this difference could affect the accuracy of the estimates,” according to information provided by Census officials.
More details regarding sample differences and nonresponse bias can be found on their Research Matters blog titled “Using Administrative Data to Evaluate Nonresponse Bias in the 2025 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement.”
Additional technical documentation on data sources and estimate accuracy is available through resources published by the U.S. Census Bureau here.
