The U.S. Census Bureau reported on September 9, 2025, that the real median household income in the United States for 2024 was $83,730, which is not statistically different from the previous year’s estimate of $82,690. The official poverty rate dropped by 0.4 percentage points to 10.6% in 2024.
These statistics come 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 Census Bureau notes that while the official poverty measure relies on pretax money income and excludes tax credits, an alternative metric—the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM)—takes into account post-tax income and government assistance programs.
According to the data collected through the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC), which is jointly sponsored by the Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 92.0% of Americans had health insurance coverage for all or part of last year. An estimated 27.1 million people—8.0% of the population—remained uninsured at any point during 2024.
“Median household income was $83,730 in 2024, not statistically different from the 2023 estimate of $82,690,” according to findings presented by the agency.
There were differences among demographic groups regarding changes in median income between 2023 and 2024. Median income rose by more than five percent for Asian households and Hispanic households but declined by just over three percent for Black households; it did not change significantly for White or White non-Hispanic households.
For those working full-time throughout most of last year, men saw a rise in median earnings by nearly four percent while women’s earnings showed no significant change compared with a year earlier. The female-to-male earnings ratio fell to approximately eighty-one percent—a second consecutive annual decrease.
Post-tax household incomes increased modestly as well: “Median post-tax household income increased by 1.8% from $71,040 in 2023 to $72,330 in 2024.”
The official poverty threshold set for a family of four stood at $32,130 for last year (full thresholds available at https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/historical-poverty-thresholds.html). In total numbers, there were roughly thirty-six million people living below this line nationwide during that period.
While SPM rates did not differ significantly from a year ago overall—remaining at about thirteen percent—they increased among older adults aged sixty-five and up as well as Black individuals specifically. Social Security remained a key program reducing poverty under SPM guidelines: “Social Security continues to be the largest antipoverty program, moving 28.7 million individuals out of SPM poverty in 2024.”
Regarding health insurance coverage trends across age groups and plan types last year:
– Private health insurance covered about two-thirds (66%) of Americans.
– Employment-based plans were most common (54%), followed by Medicare (19%), Medicaid (18%), direct-purchase plans (11%), TRICARE (3%), and VA/CHAMPVA coverage (1%).
– Private coverage rates rose slightly due mainly to increases in direct-purchase plans.
– Public coverage rates decreased somewhat because Medicaid enrollment declined.
– Among children under nineteen years old as well as adults aged nineteen through sixty-four years old both saw slight increases in private insurance uptake alongside drops in public coverage participation.
The CPS ASEC’s response rate remained below pre-pandemic levels but edged up marginally over last year’s survey cycle; adjustments are made within survey weights to address potential bias caused by nonresponse or sampling error.
For additional technical information on these estimates see https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar25.pdf.
