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They are rated on this page United States Individual Income Classes for 2021. Also look for the average, median, and highest 1% of an individual’s income in the United States.
Individual incomes are limited to Americans who worked (oz wanted to work) in 2020. Revenues are generated between January and December 2020.
Don’t miss ours household income surveys.
Individual income performance criteria in 2021
The most important aggregate statistics for income – individual or household – are:
- Median income
- Average income
- Maximum 1% of income
Please note that these statistics are for all workers in the United States. If you want to limit the data to full-time workers who choose 30 or 40 hours (and more) per week of your choice, compare the incomes in our individual income percentile calculator.
What was the average income of an individual?
The median individual income in the United States was $ 44,225. It was from $ 43,206 in 2020.
The figures for 2020 are not adjusted for inflation (nor are the following questions and answers).
What was the average income of an individual?
The average individual income in 2021 in the United States was $ 63,214.03, up from $ 62,518.13 in 2020.
What is the highest 1% of an individual’s income?
To be in the United States with the highest earnings of 1% in 2021, you had to earn $ 357,552. The top 1% is less $ 361,020.00 in 2020.
Is the average income equal to the average income?
no, median in on average income they are not the same. Both are descriptions Central aspiration data set, but tell us different things:
- The median income of an individual means that half of all individual workers earned more and half less money throughout 2020.
- Average income of an individual it means adding up the earnings of each worker for the entire year 2020 and then dividing by the number of workers.
The median is the most important aggregate statistic for income data – it demarcates the point where half of the workers earn more money and half less (of course, we ignore the workers who earn the exact median!).
Selected percentages of United States individual income for 2021 and 2020
An individual ‘s income is defined as all earned income allocated to one individual. think:
- Salary income (for more see earmarked wage survey publication)
- Business income
- Investment income
- Other income (see list)
Unlike the heading above, this heading is adjusted for inflation (CPI). Details can be found here.
About great caution: these data are not longitudinal. Research does not show you how much one individual earns per year.
Percentages of individual income for the United States
The following chart shows the change in each percentile of income from year to year.
As a warning, you cannot directly compare parentheses. The changes are only suggestive – keep in mind that the workforce can increase or decrease, and people can move between parentheses (and enter and exit the workforce).
| Percentile of individual income | 2021 | 2020 | An absolute increase | Percentage of change |
| 1.00% | $ 0 | $ 0 | $ 0 | 0.00% |
| 2.00% | $ 0 | $ 0 | $ 0 | 0.00% |
| 3.00% | $ 52 | $ 400 | -348 $ | -669.23% |
| 4.00% | $ 1040 | $ 1500 | -460 $ | -44.23% |
| 5.00% | $ 2,200 | $ 2,500 | $ -300 | -13.64% |
| 6.00% | $ 3,510 | $ 3,503 | $ 7 | 0.20% |
| 7.00% | $ 4,990 | $ 5,000 | -10 $ | -0.20% |
| 8.00% | $ 6,000 | $ 6,000 | $ 0 | 0.00% |
| 9.00% | $ 7,171 | $ 7,250 | -79 dollars | -1.10% |
| 10.00% | $ 8,500 | $ 8,600 | -100 $ | -1.18% |
| 11.00% | $ 10,000 | $ 10,000 | $ 0 | 0.00% |
| 12.00% | $ 10,703 | $ 10,750 | -47 $ | -0.44% |
| 13.00% | $ 12,000 | $ 12,000 | $ 0 | 0.00% |
| 14.00% | $ 13,000 | $ 13,000 | $ 0 | 0.00% |
| 15.00% | $ 14,311 | $ 14,005 | $ 306 | 2.14% |
| 16.00% | $ 15,001 | $ 15,000 | $ 1 | 0.01% |
| 17.00% | $ 16,000 | $ 16,000 | $ 0 | 0.00% |
| 18.00% | $ 17,020 | $ 17,000 | $ 20 | 0.12% |
| 19.00% | $ 18,010 | $ 18,000 | $ 10 | 0.06% |
| 20.00% | $ 19,404 | $ 19,002 | $ 402 | 2.07% |
| 21.00% | $ 20,000 | $ 20,000 | $ 0 | 0.00% |
| 22.00% | $ 20,104 | $ 20,002 | $ 102 | 0.51% |
| 23.00% | $ 21,306 | $ 21,000 | $ 306 | 1.44% |
| 24.00% | $ 22,400 | $ 22,000 | $ 400 | 1.79% |
| 25.00% | $ 23,357 | $ 23,000 | $ 357 | 1.53% |
| 26.00% | $ 24,003 | $ 24,000 | $ 3 | 0.01% |
| 27,00% | $ 25,000 | $ 25,000 | $ 0 | 0.00% |
| 28.00% | $ 25,050 | $ 25,000 | $ 50 | 0.20% |
| 29,00% | $ 26,002 | $ 25,300 | $ 702 | 2.70% |
| 30.00% | $ 27,003 | $ 26,101 | $ 902 | 3.34% |
| 31,00% | $ 28,000 | $ 27,205 | $ 795 | 2.84% |
| 32,00% | $ 29,000 | $ 28,009 | $ 991 | 3.42% |
| 33,00% | $ 30,000 | $ 29,250 | $ 750 | 2.50% |
| 34,00% | $ 30,000 | $ 30,000 | $ 0 | 0.00% |
| 35,00% | $ 30,199 | $ 30,001 | $ 198 | 0.66% |
| 36,00% | $ 31,385 | $ 30,631 | $ 754 | 2.40% |
| 37,00% | $ 32,111 | $ 31,988 | $ 123 | 0.38% |
| 38,00% | $ 33,300 | $ 32,528 | $ 772 | 2.32% |
| 39,00% | $ 34,830 | $ 34,000 | $ 830 | 2.38% |
| 40,00% | $ 35,000 | $ 35,000 | $ 0 | 0.00% |
| 41,00% | $ 35,700 | $ 35,010 | $ 690 | 1.93% |
| 42,00% | $ 36,400 | $ 36,000 | $ 400 | 1.10% |
| 43,00% | $ 37,671 | $ 37,000 | $ 671 | 1.78% |
| 44,00% | $ 38,879 | $ 38,006 | $ 873 | 2.25% |
| 45,00% | $ 40,000 | $ 39,441 | $ 559 | 1.40% |
| 46,00% | $ 40,001 | $ 40,000 | $ 1 | 0.00% |
| 47,00% | $ 40,600 | $ 40,024 | $ 576 | 1.42% |
| 48.00% | $ 42,000 | $ 41,000 | $ 1000 | 2.38% |
| 49,00% | $ 43,000 | $ 42,004 | $ 996 | 2.32% |
| 50.00% | $ 44,225 | $ 43,206 | $ 1019 | 2.30% |
| 51,00% | $ 45,001 | $ 45,000 | $ 1 | 0.00% |
| 52,00% | $ 46,000 | $ 45,040 | $ 960 | 2.09% |
| 53,00% | $ 47,200 | $ 46,021 | $ 1179 | 2.50% |
| 54,00% | $ 48,473 | $ 47,840 | $ 633 | 1.31% |
| 55,00% | $ 50,000 | $ 48,820 | $ 1180 | 2.36% |
| 56,00% | $ 50,002 | $ 50,000 | $ 2 | 0.00% |
| 57,00% | $ 50,402 | $ 50,005 | $ 397 | 0.79% |
| 58,00% | $ 51,850 | $ 50,500 | $ 1350 | 2.60% |
| 59,00% | $ 52,700 | $ 52,000 | $ 700 | 1.33% |
| 60.00% | $ 54,100 | $ 53,007 | $ 1093 | 2.02% |
| 61,00% | $ 55,028 | $ 55,000 | $ 28 | 0.05% |
| 62,00% | $ 56,206 | $ 55,200 | $ 1006 | 1.79% |
| 63,00% | $ 58,002 | $ 56,648 | $ 1354 | 2.33% |
| 64,00% | $ 60,000 | $ 58,202 | $ 1798 | 3.00% |
| 65,00% | $ 60,010 | $ 60,000 | $ 10 | 0.02% |
| 66,00% | $ 61,000 | $ 60,051 | $ 949 | 1.56% |
| 67,00% | $ 62,601 | $ 61,175 | $ 1426 | 2.28% |
| 68,00% | $ 64,886 | $ 63,000 | $ 1886 | 2.91% |
| 69,00% | $ 65,400 | $ 65,000 | $ 400 | 0.61% |
| 70,00% | $ 67,402 | $ 66,017 | $ 1385 | 2.05% |
| 71,00% | $ 69,887 | $ 68,112 | $ 1775 | 2.54% |
| 72,00% | $ 70,213 | $ 70,001 | $ 212 | 0.30% |
| 73.00% | $ 72,281 | $ 71,020 | $ 1261 | 1.74% |
| 74,00% | $ 75,000 | $ 73,301 | $ 1699 | 2.27% |
| 75,00% | $ 75,815 | $ 75,050 | $ 765 | 1.01% |
| 76.00% | $ 78,152 | $ 77,004 | $ 1148 | 1.47% |
| 77.00% | $ 80,011 | $ 80,000 | $ 11 | 0.01% |
| 78.00% | $ 82,008 | $ 80,702 | $ 1306 | 1.59% |
| 79,00% | $ 85,001 | $ 83,561 | $ 1440 | 1.69% |
| 80.00% | $ 87,600 | $ 85,950 | $ 1650 | 1.88% |
| 81.00% | $ 90,055 | $ 89,427 | $ 628 | 0.70% |
| 82.00% | $ 93,200 | $ 91,240 | $ 1,960 | 2.10% |
| 83.00% | $ 97,027 | $ 95,020 | 2007 $ | 2.07% |
| 84.00% | $ 100,012 | $ 99,455 | $ 557 | 0.56% |
| 85.00% | $ 102,200 | $ 100,500 | $ 1700 | 1.66% |
| 86.00% | $ 107,000 | $ 104,244 | $ 2756 | 2.58% |
| 87.00% | $ 111,300 | $ 110,000 | $ 1300 | 1.17% |
| 88.00% | $ 118,000 | $ 114,920 | $ 3,080 | 2.61% |
| 89.00% | $ 122,485 | $ 120,055 | $ 2,430 | 1.98% |
| 90.00% | $ 129,181 | $ 125,105 | $ 4,076 | 3.16% |
| 91.00% | $ 136,000 | $ 131,612 | $ 4,388 | 3.23% |
| 92.00% | $ 145,025 | $ 140,162 | $ 4,863 | 3.35% |
| 93.00% | $ 151,660 | $ 150,023 | $ 1637 | 1.08% |
| 94.00% | $ 160,512 | $ 160,000 | $ 512 | 0.32% |
| 95.00% | $ 175,300 | $ 174,000 | $ 1300 | 0.74% |
| 96.00% | $ 196,006 | $ 192,430 | $ 3,576 | 1.82% |
| 97.00% | $ 220,005 | $ 216,105 | $ 3,900 | 1.77% |
| 98.00% | $ 259,608 | $ 256,300 | $ 3,308 | 1.27% |
| 99.00% | $ 357,552 | $ 361,020 | $ -3,468 | -0.97% |
Methodology on United States Household Income Classes for 2021
I get this data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s annual ASEC survey, published September 2021. I use harmonized data from University of Minnesota, Minnesota Population Center v R.
Sarah Flood, Miriam King, Renae Rodgers, Steven Ruggles, J. Robert Warren and Michael Westberry. Integrated public data microdata series, current population survey: version 9.0 [dataset]. Minneapolis, MN: IPUMS, 2021. https://doi.org/10.18128/D030.V9.0
What is your “worker” screen?
Over the years – thanks to feedback (and complaints) from readers – I have improved the workers ’screen to include people in the workforce and people who they want to find service. Unlike the monthly survey, we need to take a few steps because we want to see people who have been in the workforce throughout (or any) year 2020.
The screen works like this:
- At least 16 years
- Marked as “in the workforce”
- Report that you work 1 or more hours in a normal week
- Sign up for a “I want” or “maybe I want” job
How does the annual income and your determination of the workforce compare to the ratio of the working population?
You can’t compare them. The employment-to-population ratio is a snapshot of current working conditions taken on a monthly basis. This screen tries to show people who have been in the workforce at some point in the year, so it will be more biased.
Why do these figures not match the Social Security Administration’s earnings statistics?
These statistics contain more types of income than social security numbers. ASEC figures are the gold standard for assessing income and poverty in the United States.
Census Bureau make official poverty assessments for the United States. The figures include all types of income (important: including investment income).
How many samples are in the data for 2021 and 2020?
- 2021: 84,967 data points representing approximately 174,458,178 workers.
- 2020: 82,990 data points representing an estimated 176,214,306 workers.
Is an individual’s income gross or net?
All income numbers in this job are gross income, or before tax.
Can you compare this data on an individual’s income from year to year?
As noted above, these data are not longitudinal. It’s a different set of people responding to the survey than last year, people are moving and exiting the workforce, and the workforce is changing in size. It did not guarantee that a person is in exactly the same percentile for two years in a row and each percentage is a different number of people depending on the year.
Analysis of income classes of individuals in 2021
As with other research, it’s good to combine this – but I understand if this form is too large. Please check income percentile calculator, an interactive tool that presents these numbers in a (perhaps!) more intuitive way.
As a bonus: you can also check the typical hours worked per week!
See previous editions:
MY NUMBER 1 RECOMMENDATION TO CREATE FULL TIME INCOME ONLINE: CLICK HERE