Income and wealth percentile in the United States
a year per adult, before tax; half of adults in United States earn less
The wealth ladder in United States
The middle adult in the United States holds $124,041 in net worth. The top 10% of holders begins at $1,236,932 and the top 1% at $8,347,505, which is 67 times the middle.
In the United States the middle adult earns $51,700 a year before tax and holds $124,041 in net worth. The top 10% of earners begins at $170,597, and the top 1% of wealth at $8,347,505. Figures are per adult, in USD.
Built for United States
Calculators and reference pages that answer for the United States specifically.
Every published line
Income and net worth per adult in the United States, in USD.
| The line | Income | Net worth |
|---|---|---|
| Median | $51,700 | $124,041 |
| Average | $89,720 | $816,045 |
| Top 10% | $170,597 | $1,236,932 |
| Top 1% | $571,509 | $8,347,505 |
| Top 0.1% | $2,222,746 | $50,443,673 |
| Top 0.01% | $8,000,000 | $250,000,000 |
What the numbers say about the United States
American income looks high in global terms. Median income per adult is around $51,700, and the average sits near $89,720. The gap between those two numbers already hints at the real story. The United States has the widest wealth distribution of any developed economy, and the spread comes almost entirely from what happens above the 90th percentile. The middle holds up reasonably well by international standards. The top runs away from everyone else.
Wealth concentration is even sharper. Median household net worth is roughly $124,000 per adult, but the average is over $816,000. The top 1% threshold for wealth sits above $8.3 million, and the top 0.1% above $50 million. Most of that comes from a handful of asset classes that have appreciated rapidly since the 1980s, especially equities, tech-company stock options, and real estate in supply-constrained metro areas. A successful exit at a venture-backed startup can move a household from the median into the top 1% of wealth in one quarter.
Geography matters more than in any other rich country. California, New York, and Massachusetts produce most of the high-income jobs, especially in technology and finance. Median household income in San Francisco or Boston runs roughly double that of West Virginia or Mississippi. Cost of living follows, but not at the same multiplier. The result is a country with two parallel income realities. Coastal metros offer high wages and high prices, attracting talent and concentrating wealth. The interior has lower wages, lower prices, and slower wealth formation. The middle class in San Jose looks rich on paper compared to the middle class in rural Kentucky, until you see what either group can actually buy with what is left after housing.
Two structural debts weigh on the middle. Healthcare costs absorb roughly 18 percent of GDP, mostly through employer plans and out-of-pocket spending that does not show up as income but shrinks disposable wealth meaningfully across a working life. Student debt totals around $1.7 trillion. A typical college-educated American in their thirties carries balance-sheet drag that European peers simply do not have. These two facts hold the middle of the wealth distribution lower than the income figures alone would suggest.
The gap by race is the other persistent fact. Median Black household wealth is roughly an eighth of median white household wealth, a ratio that has barely improved in three decades. The gap by age is widening too. Older Americans benefited from housing appreciation. Younger ones face higher home prices and student debt. Both gaps will likely widen further over the next decade, even with no new shock.
Common questions
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Where do these figures come from?
Nearby by median income
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Method and sources
- World Inequality DatabasePretax national income per adult and net household wealth per adult.
- World Bank Informal Economy DatabaseInformal output as a share of GDP, the input to the level correction.
How the lines are worked out
The national distribution is fitted as a log-normal body with a Pareto top tail and read at each published point, per adult. Where a country’s own records measure less activity than its output implies, the level of the distribution is lifted toward the implied figure and the spread is left as published: that correction is set out in full on how we measure.
How a percentile is read off it
A percentile is the share of adults at or below a figure. The percentile methodology page states the fit, the anchors and the vintage.
What these figures do not cover
- Per adult, not per household. Couples are counted separately, so household figures run higher.
- Income is gross, before income tax and employee contributions.
- Local currency at the reference rate carried with the record, $1 = $1.00.
- A national figure says nothing about a region or an occupation inside it.
Last updated July 2026.
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