US Household PulseThe United States economy,
from the household inward
1 series not refreshed · updated Nov 3, 2026 Methodology
CPI 3.7%Unemployment 4.2%30Y mortgage 7.24%Saving 3.8¢ per $1Debt service 11.11%Fed funds 3.88%10Y Treasury 4.91%U.S. debt $40.502TDebt / household $300,483Household pressure 43.2

What does the typical household earn?

Median household income

Median household income from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement, in current dollars and in inflation-adjusted dollars.

$87,460
Inflation-adjusted (Census), 2025
+2.6% from a year earlier
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$60,000$65,000$70,000$75,000$80,000$85,000$90,000198519901995200020052010201520202025$87,460
Shaded: U.S. recessions (NBER)Inflation-adjusted (Census)

What this measures

Half of U.S. households earn more than the median and half earn less. Unlike an average, a handful of very high incomes cannot pull it up. It counts money income before taxes and excludes non-cash benefits.

Census publishes it once a year, each September, for the previous calendar year, so it is the slowest-moving figure on this site.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau CPS ASEC via FRED (MEHOINUSA646N, MEHOINUSA672N). Updated automatically when the source publishes. How we handle data · Embed this chart

The household economy, once a month

A short email after each month’s inflation and jobs data: what changed, what it means for a household budget, and nothing else.