The median U.S. household income, adjusted for inflation, rose to an all-time high of $87,460 in 2025, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday, showing that the country prospered in the first year of President Donald Trump‘s first term, even as measures of consumer sentiment began to fall toward multidecade lows.
The household income was a 2.6% increase from the year before.
The official poverty rate fell half a percentage point to 10.2%.
Perceptions of the economy deteriorated throughout 2025, especially after Trump implemented major tariffs on trading partners, contributing to a decline in the president’s economic approval ratings. But unemployment remained low, and earnings growth outpaced inflation, a trend that has continued into 2026 even as inflation has risen thanks to the disruptions to the oil supply chain from the war with Iran.
This is a developing story.