The real median household income in the US fell 2.3% between 2021 and 2022, in part due to fast-rising inflation, from $76,330 to $74,580. A household’s “real” income — also called “constant" income — is its income adjusted for inflation, to better indicate purchasing power.
A household’s income is calculated by adding up the pretax annual income earned by anyone in a household aged 15 or older. To determine the national median income, the Census Bureau ranks all US households by income and splits that list exactly in half: the bottom half of households fall below the median income, and the other half are above.
