US Household Income Distribution 2023, Census Chart in Text

Key points from the chart

The chart counts US households in each $5,000 band of income for 2023, using US Census Bureau data.
Median household income was $80,610, which falls in the $80,000 to $85,000 bar. The Census Bureau reports this was a 4.0% real increase on 2022 [2].
The most common band below $200,000 is $50,000 to $55,000, with 4.72 million households.
19.04 million households, 14.4% of the total, earn over $200,000. The Census table does not split them further, so they share one bar, cut off at the top of the chart.
Adding the bars gives about 132.2 million households, and about 41% of them have incomes of $100,000 or more (our sums).

US household income distribution in text

Title: US Household Income Distribution (All Households, 2023), in Millions of Households. Top right: All data from the US Census Bureau “Income in the United States: 2023”. Graphic by u/TA-MajestyPalm. A red arrow over the $80k to $85k bar is labelled Median Household Income $80,610. The over $200k bar runs off the chart with the value 19.04.

Notes printed under the chart: The US Census Bureau does not differentiate income over $200k, despite 14.4% of households earning over this figure. For ease of reading all other categories, households over $200k extend off the chart, but this bar rises 4 times as high as the next highest bar. Each colour category represents 20% (1 in 5) of all households in the US.

Household income	Households (millions)	Colour band
Under $5k	4.07	Lowest fifth (orange)
$5k to $10k	1.78	Lowest fifth (orange)
$10k to $15k	3.97	Lowest fifth (orange)
$15k to $20k	4.30	Lowest fifth (orange)
$20k to $25k	4.55	Lowest fifth (orange)
$25k to $30k	4.60	Lowest fifth (orange)
$30k to $35k	4.59	Lowest fifth (orange)
$35k to $40k	4.63	Second fifth (yellow)
$40k to $45k	4.40	Second fifth (yellow)
$45k to $50k	4.52	Second fifth (yellow)
$50k to $55k	4.72	Second fifth (yellow)
$55k to $60k	4.10	Second fifth (yellow)
$60k to $65k	4.51	Second fifth (yellow)
$65k to $70k	3.77	Middle fifth (green)
$70k to $75k	3.65	Middle fifth (green)
$75k to $80k	3.43	Middle fifth (green)
$80k to $85k	3.51	Middle fifth (green)
$85k to $90k	3.14	Middle fifth (green)
$90k to $95k	3.26	Middle fifth (green)
$95k to $100k	2.69	Middle fifth (green)
$100k to $105k	3.26	Middle fifth (green)
$105k to $110k	2.53	Fourth fifth (blue)
$110k to $115k	2.53	Fourth fifth (blue)
$115k to $120k	2.40	Fourth fifth (blue)
$120k to $125k	2.51	Fourth fifth (blue)
$125k to $130k	2.01	Fourth fifth (blue)
$130k to $135k	2.06	Fourth fifth (blue)
$135k to $140k	1.80	Fourth fifth (blue)
$140k to $145k	1.85	Fourth fifth (blue)
$145k to $150k	1.52	Fourth fifth (blue)
$150k to $155k	2.08	Fourth fifth (blue)
$155k to $160k	1.41	Fourth fifth (blue)
$160k to $165k	1.47	Fourth fifth (blue)
$165k to $170k	1.26	Fourth fifth (blue)
$170k to $175k	1.22	Fourth fifth (blue)
$175k to $180k	1.09	Top fifth (purple)
$180k to $185k	1.29	Top fifth (purple)
$185k to $190k	0.98	Top fifth (purple)
$190k to $195k	0.94	Top fifth (purple)
$195k to $200k	0.77	Top fifth (purple)
Over $200k	19.04	Top fifth (purple)

Reading the five colour bands

Each colour is meant to hold a fifth of households. Because the bands have to break at $5,000 steps, they are close to a fifth rather than exact. By our sums of the bars:

Orange, under $35,000: about 27.9 million households, 21% of the total.
Yellow, $35,000 to $65,000: about 26.9 million, 20%.
Green, $65,000 to $105,000: about 26.7 million, 20%. The median sits in this band, as it should.
Blue, $105,000 to $175,000: about 26.7 million, 20%.
Purple, $175,000 and over: about 24.1 million, 18%, most of it the single over $200,000 bar.

The shape shows a broad plateau of about 4 to 4.7 million households in every band from $15,000 to $65,000, then a steady decline as incomes rise. Small bumps at $100,000 to $105,000, $150,000 to $155,000 and $180,000 to $185,000 stand out against the downward trend. The low bar for $5,000 to $10,000 (1.78 million) sits between two much taller ones.

About the Census data

The figures come from the Census Bureau report Income in the United States: 2023 (P60-282), which is based on the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement [2]. The report measures money income, which is income before tax and does not count the value of in-kind benefits [2]. It found real median household income of $80,610 in 2023, up from $77,540 in 2022, the first statistically significant annual increase since 2019, and household income rose across the distribution, by 6.7% at the 10th percentile and 4.6% at the 90th [2].

The creator links the Census table HINC-01, Selected Characteristics of Households by Total Money Income, as the source of the bracket counts [1][3]. That table is where the brackets stop at “$200,000 and over”, which is why the chart cannot show the spread of higher incomes.

Notes on this infographic

The over $200,000 bar covers every income above $200,000, an open ended range, while every other bar covers $5,000. Its height reflects that grouping, not a cluster of households at exactly $200,000.
These are household incomes, so a household with two earners counts once with their combined income.
The incomes are before tax and exclude in-kind benefits, so they are not the same as take home pay [2].

Questions about US household income

What was the median household income in the US in 2023?

$80,610, according to the Census Bureau. That was a 4.0% increase in real terms from $77,540 in 2022 [2]. Half of US households had income above this figure and half below.

What percentage of US households make over $200,000?

14.4% of households had income over $200,000 in 2023, about 19 million households, according to the chart’s Census figures. This counts households, so it is not the same as the share of individual men or women earning that much.