The U.S. Census Bureau has reported that the real median household income in 2024 was $83,730, which is not statistically different from the 2023 estimate of $82,690. The official poverty rate decreased by 0.4 percentage points to 10.6% in 2024, with an estimated 35.9 million people living in poverty.
The findings are detailed in three reports: “Income in the United States: 2024,” “Poverty in the United States: 2024,” and “Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2024.” These reports use data from the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC), a key source for national statistics on income, poverty, and health insurance coverage.
The Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) rate for 2024 was reported at 12.9%, showing no significant change from the previous year. The SPM provides an alternative perspective on economic well-being by accounting for government programs and tax credits that are not included in the official poverty measure.
Median household income increased by over five percent for Asian and Hispanic households but declined by about three percent for Black households between 2023 and 2024. Median income levels did not change significantly for White or White non-Hispanic households during this period.
For full-time, year-round workers, median earnings rose by nearly four percent for men but showed no significant change for women compared to last year. The female-to-male earnings ratio dropped to 80.9% from last year’s figure of 82.7%, marking a second consecutive annual decrease.
Post-tax household income saw a modest increase of nearly two percent, rising from $71,040 in 2023 to $72,330 in 2024.
In terms of health insurance coverage, approximately ninety-two percent of the population had health insurance at some point during the year; about eight percent were uninsured throughout all of 2024. Private health insurance remained more common than public coverage—at rates of sixty-six percent and thirty-five percent respectively—with employment-based plans covering just over half of Americans.
Private health insurance coverage rates increased slightly among both children under nineteen and adults aged nineteen to sixty-four compared to last year, while public coverage rates decreased for these groups.
The CPS ASEC response rate improved marginally this year but remains below pre-pandemic levels at sixty-two percent weighted response rate versus sixty-one point seven percent last year. To address potential bias due to lower response rates, survey weights are adjusted accordingly.
Further details on data sources and statistical accuracy can be found at https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar25.pdf.
“These findings come from three Census Bureau reports: ‘Income in the United States: 2024,’ ‘Poverty in the United States: 2024,’ and ‘Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2024.’ While the official poverty measure is based on the concept of money income, which is pretax and does not include tax credits, the SPM is a post-tax and transfer poverty measure. The SPM provides an alternative way of measuring poverty in the United States and serves as an additional indicator of economic well-being. The Census Bureau has published poverty estimates using the SPM annually since 2011 in collaboration with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).”
“For consistency with past reports, the income estimates in the ‘Income in the United States: 2024’ report are based on the concept of money income. Appendix B of the income report provides post-tax estimates of median household income and income inequality metrics.”
“The CPS ASEC — conducted in February, March and April — is designed to provide annual, national estimates of income, poverty and health insurance, collecting information about job status, income and health insurance coverage for the prior calendar year.”
“As response rates decline, the risk of bias increases. To reduce bias, adjustments are made to survey weights for nonresponse.”
“Since response rates remain below pre-pandemic levels, examining how respondents differ from nonrespondents is important as this difference could affect accuracy.”
“The SPM extends official poverty measures by accounting for several government programs designed to assist low-income families that are not included in official calculations.”
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