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, while the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) rate remained at 12.9%. According to the 2025 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC), 92.0% of Americans had health insurance coverage for all or part of 2024, leaving an estimated 27.1 million people uninsured at any point during the year.
These statistics are based on 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 is calculated using pretax money income and does not include tax credits, while the SPM incorporates post-tax income and government assistance programs as well as geographic variations in housing costs.
The CPS ASEC collects information about job status, income, and health insurance coverage for the prior calendar year through surveys conducted each February through April. This survey is a key source of annual national estimates for these indicators and is jointly sponsored by the Census Bureau and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Survey response rates have not returned to pre-pandemic levels; for the 2025 CPS ASEC, the weighted response rate was reported at 62.0%, up slightly from last year’s 61.7%. Lower response rates increase potential bias, but adjustments are made to survey weights to help ensure results remain representative of the population.
The report highlights changes across demographic groups between 2023 and 2024:
– Median income rose by 5.1% for Asian households and by 5.5% for Hispanic households but declined by 3.3% for Black households.
– There was no significant change in median income for White or White non-Hispanic households.
– Income inequality as measured by the Gini index did not change significantly.
– At higher income levels (90th percentile), household income increased by 4.2%, while incomes at lower percentiles showed no significant change.
For full-time, year-round workers, men saw a median earnings increase of 3.7%, while women’s earnings did not change significantly compared to last year. The female-to-male earnings ratio fell to 80.9% from last year’s figure of 82.7%, marking a second consecutive annual decrease.
Median post-tax household income increased by 1.8%, rising from $71,040 in 2023 to $72,330 in 2024. When calculated with post-tax figures rather than pretax ones, measured inequality was found to be lower by about 8.7%.
The official poverty threshold for a family of four was set at $32,130 in accordance with guidelines from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and adjusted using inflation data from the Consumer Price Index (https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/historical-poverty-thresholds.html).
In terms of poverty rates:
– The number of people living below the official poverty line dropped to approximately 35.9 million.
– Poverty rates declined among White, Asian, and Hispanic individuals but were unchanged among other race groups covered in the report.
– SPM rates increased only among those aged over sixty-five years old and Black individuals.
– Social Security continued as a major antipoverty program, moving an estimated 28.7 million people out of SPM-defined poverty.
Most groups analyzed had higher SPM poverty rates than official rates except children under eighteen years old and those living with cohabiting partners.
On health insurance coverage:
– Private insurance remained more common than public coverage at rates of roughly two-thirds (66.1%) versus just over one-third (35.5%) respectively.
– Employment-based insurance covered over half (53.8%) of Americans; Medicare covered about one-fifth (19.1%), Medicaid covered nearly one-sixth (17.6%), direct-purchase plans covered about one-tenth (10.7%), TRICARE accounted for under three percent (2.8%), while VA/CHAMPVA made up just over one percent (1.2%).
– Private coverage increased slightly overall due mainly to growth in direct-purchase plans; public coverage fell because Medicaid enrollment declined.
– For children under nineteen years old and adults aged nineteen to sixty-four years old, private coverage increased while public coverage decreased compared with last year’s figures.
Regional data on these measures are available within each respective report along with state-level tables using three-year averages included in press materials.
Further details regarding methodology can be found at https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/techdocs/cpsmar25.pdf.
