Median Household Income in July 2019

July 2019 saw median household income in the United States reach new record highs in both real and inflation-adjusted terms, with the typical American household earning $65,084 according to Sentier Research’s latest monthly report. That’s a 0.4% increase over the $64,430 estimate the demographic analytics firm announced for June 2019.

The following chart shows the nominal (red) and inflation-adjusted (blue) trends for median household income in the United States from January 2000 through July 2019, with July 2019′s estimate marking the top of both scales. The inflation-adjusted figures are presented in terms of constant July 2019 U.S. dollars.

Year over year, median household income for July 2019 rose by 4.2%, or by 2.4% after adjusting for inflation.

The monthly data reported by Sentier Research is showing signs of a rebound after having hit a speedbump earlier in 2019.

Analyst’s Notes

Our alternate methodology for estimating median household income from data reported by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis would put the figure at $65,020 for July 2019, which is within 0.1% of Sentier Research’s estimate for the month.

In generating inflation-adjusted portion of the Median Household Income in the 21st Century chart and the corresponding year-over-year growth rate chart above, we’ve used the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) to adjust the nominal median household income estimates for inflation, so that they are expressed in terms of the U.S. dollars for the month for which we’re reporting the newest income data.

References

Sentier Research. Household Income Trends: January 2000 through July 2019.  [Excel Spreadsheet with Nominal Median Household Incomes for January 2000 through January 2013 courtesy of Doug Short]. [PDF Document]. Accessed 30 August 2019. [Note: We've converted all data to be in terms of current (nominal) U.S. dollars.] 

U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumer Price Index, All Urban Consumers – (CPI-U), U.S. City Average, All Items, 1982-84=100. [Online Database (via Federal Reserve Economic Data)]. Last Updated: 13 August 2019. Accessed: 13 August 2019.