Key figures from the chart
- The chart puts the median individual income of all US full-time workers aged 16 and over at $64,368 a year (see the note below on this figure).
- Men’s median is $67,704 and women’s is $56,316.
- By age, the median peaks at $70,512 for workers aged 35 to 44 and is lowest for 16 to 19 year olds at $35,308.
- Education shows the widest spread, from $40,352 for workers without a high school diploma to $98,488 for those with an advanced degree.
- By race and ethnicity, Asian workers have the highest median at $78,364 and Hispanic workers the lowest at $47,840.
All figures are from the graphic, which cites the Bureau of Labor Statistics release “Usual Weekly Earnings, Fourth Quarter 2024”.
US median income of full-time workers in 2024, in text
Title: US Median Individual Income of Full-Time Workers (2024). Each bar shows the median annual income in bold and, in brackets, the share of full-time workers in that subcategory. The y axis runs from $0 to $100,000.
| Group (colour on chart) | Bar label | Median annual income | Share of full-time workers in the group |
|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | All (16+) | $64,368 | 100% |
| Sex (16+) | All Men | $67,704 | 55% |
| Sex (16+) | All Women | $56,316 | 45% |
| Age | 16-19 Years | $35,308 | 1.2% |
| Age | 20-24 Years | $40,768 | 7.6% |
| Age | 25-34 Years | $59,072 | 24.1% |
| Age | 35-44 Years | $70,512 | 24.5% |
| Age | 45-54 Years | $69,472 | 21.1% |
| Age | 55-64 Years | $65,936 | 16.7% |
| Age | 65 Years or Older | $60,268 | 4.7% |
| Education (25+) | No High School | $40,352 | 5.4% |
| Education (25+) | High School | $50,804 | 23.9% |
| Education (25+) | Associate’s or Some College | $56,672 | 23.8% |
| Education (25+) | Bachelor’s Degree | $80,444 | 28.3% |
| Education (25+) | Advanced Degree | $98,488 | 18.6% |
| Race (16+) | White | $62,764 | 75.6% |
| Race (16+) | Black | $54,080 | 13.3% |
| Race (16+) | Asian | $78,364 | 7.2% |
| Race (16+) | Hispanic | $47,840 | 19.6% |
Notes printed at the top right: all data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics “Usual Weekly Earnings, Fourth Quarter 2024”. Full time refers to workers who usually work 35+ hours a week at their sole or primary job. Example 1 (how to read): 75.6% of full-time workers over age 16 are white, and their median wage is $62,764. Example 2: 45% of full-time workers over age 16 are women, and their median wage is $56,316. Graphic by u/TA-MajestyPalm.
Notes printed at the bottom: all data shown is for individual full-time workers only, from 2024 Q4. See the key for the description and age range of each colour category. Percentages represent the portion of full-time workers in that subcategory. Hispanic may refer to people of any race, so race percentages add to over 100%. Native, Islander and Mixed race are not shown due to small sample size. Education values only include individuals above 25 years of age.
How the annual figures are worked out
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes usual weekly earnings, not annual salaries. In its fourth quarter 2024 release, the median for the 120.3 million full-time wage and salary workers was $1,192 a week, 4.1% higher than a year earlier, while the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers rose 2.7% over the same period [1]. The chart’s annual figures are the weekly medians multiplied by 52. For example, women’s median weekly earnings of $1,083 [1] multiplied by 52 give the $56,316 on the chart (our arithmetic), and the same holds for men ($1,302), every age group, Bachelor’s degree ($1,547), advanced degree ($1,894) and all four race and ethnicity groups.
The BLS defines full-time workers as those who usually work 35 hours or more a week at their sole or principal job, which matches the chart’s note [1]. The figures cover wage and salary workers, so self-employed people are not included [1].
What the BLS release adds
The same release reports that women’s median weekly earnings were 83.2% of men’s [1]. The gap was smallest among young workers: women aged 16 to 24 earned 90.6% as much as men of the same age, compared with 84.5% for those aged 25 to 54 and 76.7% for those aged 55 and over [1].
The race and ethnicity bars use the BLS weekly medians of $1,507 for Asian workers, $1,207 for White, $1,040 for Black and $920 for Hispanic workers [1]. The BLS notes that people of Hispanic or Latino ethnicity may be of any race, which is why the chart’s race shares add up to more than 100% [1].
The creator posted the chart on Reddit’s r/dataisbeautiful, describing it as made in Excel from the BLS fourth quarter 2024 release, for full-time workers only and for individuals rather than households [2].
Notes on this infographic
- The “All” bar is too high. The BLS median weekly earnings for all full-time workers in the fourth quarter of 2024 were $1,192 [1], which is $61,984 a year on the chart’s own method (our arithmetic). The chart shows $64,368. Every other bar matches the BLS weekly figure times 52, apart from “Associate’s or Some College”, where $1,089 a week [1] gives $56,628 rather than the $56,672 shown.
- The shares are BLS worker counts (our arithmetic from the release’s tables [1]). The age shares add to 99.9% because of rounding, and the race and ethnicity shares add to 115.7% because Hispanic workers are also counted in a race group.
- These are individual earnings of full-time employees, so they are not comparable with median household income, which counts all earners in a home and part-time workers.
- Data date: fourth quarter of 2024, not seasonally adjusted. The seasonally adjusted median for the same quarter was $1,185 a week [1].
Questions about US median income in 2024
What is the median income in the US in 2024?
For full-time wage and salary workers, the BLS put median usual weekly earnings at $1,192 in the fourth quarter of 2024 [1]. That is about $61,984 a year if multiplied by 52 (our arithmetic). The chart prints $64,368 for this bar, which does not match the BLS figure.
What is the median income of full-time workers by education?
For full-time workers aged 25 and over, the BLS weekly medians were $776 without a high school diploma, $977 for high school graduates, $1,089 with some college or an associate degree, $1,547 with a Bachelor’s degree only and $1,894 with an advanced degree [1]. The chart converts these to annual figures from $40,352 to $98,488.
What is the median income for men and women in the US?
Among US full-time workers aged 16 and over, the median income is $67,704 a year for men and $56,316 for women, based on fourth quarter 2024 data. These figures are the BLS median weekly earnings of $1,302 for men and $1,083 for women multiplied by 52 [1]. The BLS reports that women's median weekly earnings were 83.2% of men's [1].
What age group has the highest median income in the US?
Full-time workers aged 35 to 44 have the highest median income, at $70,512 a year in the fourth quarter of 2024. Workers aged 45 to 54 are close behind at $69,472, while 16 to 19 year olds have the lowest median at $35,308. The 35 to 44 group is also the largest age group, making up 24.5% of full-time workers.
Sources
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers, Fourth Quarter 2024, news release, 22 January 2025. The data source named on the graphic.
- u/TA-MajestyPalm, [OC] US Median Individual Wage by Characteristic (2024), r/dataisbeautiful. The creator’s post of this chart.
Last reviewed 30 October 2026
