Real median household income

What the household in the exact middle of the income distribution received in a year, after inflation.

What it measures

Pre-tax money income from all sources — wages, self-employment, interest, dividends, Social Security, pensions, public assistance — for the median household, in constant dollars.

How it is measured

The Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey, asked each March about the previous calendar year, published by the Census Bureau.

Reading it over a presidential term

One observation per year. A four-year term has about four points, dated by the income year rather than the survey year, so the coverage filter and the attribution lag both matter more here than on a monthly series.

What it leaves out

Money income before taxes: it excludes taxes paid and credits received, employer-paid health insurance, food and housing assistance, and capital gains. A 2013 redesign of the income questions breaks the comparison across that year. When Census changes the inflation basis it restates the entire history, so dollar values from an older vintage of this series will not match the current one.

Chart this series · See it by president · Download the data · The source at FRED