U.S. Median Household Income Hits Record $87,460, Highest Since 1967
Median household income just hit an all time high
U.S. median household income rose to $87,460 in 2025, the highest level since the Census Bureau began tracking the series in 1967, according to the bureau's annual income report released September 15.
The figure is up 2.6% from a revised $85,210 in 2024 after adjusting for inflation, and it tops the previous record of $85,320 set in 2019, measured in 2025 dollars. In 1967, the median was $56,230 in today's dollars, meaning the typical household's real income is up about 55.5% since then.
After taxes, median household income rose 3.1% to $76,060. Post tax income was not a record, since it remained below the pandemic era levels of 2020 and 2021, when stimulus payments and credits lifted household finances.
Poverty fell and the pay gap narrowed
The official poverty rate fell 0.5 percentage points to 10.2%, leaving 34.5 million people in poverty, one of the lowest readings in the series. Child poverty dropped to a record low 13.4%.
Black households posted the largest gain of any racial group, up 4.8% to $59,980. Median income rose 3.0% for White households to $91,930, while Asian households had the highest median at $126,300 and Hispanic households were at $73,260, though the bureau said changes for those two groups were not statistically significant.
Census officials pointed to more workers holding full time, year round jobs. Median earnings for full time, year round workers climbed 3.2% among women and were flat among men, narrowing the gender pay gap for the first time in a decade.
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How this could hit the options market
Record real incomes are a tailwind for consumer discretionary names. Stronger household balance sheets support the bull case for AMZN, WMT and travel names like BKNG, and options traders often express that view with call spreads into holiday season guidance.
The data also feeds the rate debate. Resilient incomes give the Federal Reserve less urgency to cut, which matters for rate sensitive positioning in SPY and QQQ around each CPI print and FOMC meeting.
Consumer credit names such as V and MA benefit when wage growth outruns inflation. Flow into those names after strong income data is worth watching for confirmation.
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