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Income Percentile by Age (2025)

What families at each age earn before tax, from the bottom tenth to the top 1%, on the Federal Reserve’s 2025 survey. Enter yours to see where it ranks.

v2026.10.10

Empty: all ages

$

Last year, before tax; a couple’s combined. Stays on this device.

ExampleYour rank, ages 45–54

64thpercentile

More income than about 64% of families headed by someone aged 45–54.

Families aged 45–54, by income before tax
less than you
  • $500K or more6%
  • $300K–$500K6%
  • $200K–$300K12%
  • $150K–$200KYou12%
  • $100K–$150K18%
  • $75K–$100K9%
  • $50K–$75K14%
  • $25K–$50K14%
  • Under $25K9%
Median, ages 45–54
$108,900
Top 10% starts at
$337K
Among all ages
75th percentile

Compares your number with a survey of US families; not financial advice. SourcesTerms

What counts as incomeA family’s, before tax, as the Federal Reserve measures it

The family’s, not one person’s. The survey adds up the income of the single person or couple who run the household and anyone who shares their finances. A couple should enter both incomes together; one salary on its own will rank lower than the household really stands.

Before tax, from every source: wages and salaries, business and farm income, interest and dividends, realized capital gains, Social Security, pensions and withdrawals from retirement accounts, unemployment and other benefits, alimony and child support.

Last year’s. Families in the 2025 survey reported their income for 2024, which the Fed expresses in 2025 dollars. Last year’s income before tax is the closest match.

How this works: Method, 6 sources, Checked against 2 worked examples,

How this works

Method

Your family’s income before tax is placed among US families whose reference person is your age, on the 1st to 99th percentiles of the Federal Reserve’s 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances, reading between the two nearest percentiles. We work the percentiles out from the Fed’s public data file, weighting each family and pooling the survey’s five imputations as the Fed does; our medians and means match the Fed’s own public-data tables to the dollar. Income is for 2024, in 2025 dollars; medians quoted on the page are the Fed’s published figures.

Sources

How it’s tested

2 worked examples for this page are checked by automated tests before every release: given the inputs, the tool must show the expected answer.

Limits

Compares your number with a survey of US families; not financial advice.

Changes

  • First published, on the Fed’s 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances: your income percentile for your age, the median by age since 1989, and two by-age pages.

Every change on What’s new

How we make toolsReport a mistake

Worked example: $60,000 at 28

A 28-year-old whose family earned $60,000 before tax is compared with families headed by someone under 35. In the 2025 survey the 45th percentile for that group is $59,568 and the 46th is $61,622, so $60,000 ranks at the 45th percentile: more than about 45% of young families. The same $60,000 at 60 ranks lower, at the 32nd percentile for ages 55–64, because families in their peak earning years earn more.

Income percentiles by age, 2025

Family income before taxes (2024 income in 2025 dollars) at each percentile, by age of the reference person. Our weighted calculation from the Federal Reserve’s SCF 2025 public data.

Income percentiles by age, 2025
Age10th25thMedian75th90th99th
Under 35$21,568$39,027$67,784$114,000$174,595$353,297
35–44$29,784$50,324$97,568$155,081$240,324$882,216
45–54$26,703$54,432$108,865$195,135$336,865$1,591,892
55–64$24,649$48,270$92,432$179,730$349,189$1,982,162
65–74$20,541$39,027$69,838$121,189$236,216$1,314,595
75 and over$18,486$33,892$66,757$133,514$247,514$914,978
All families$22,595$42,108$82,162$148,919$252,649$1,150,270

A percentile answers “how many families are behind me?”. At the 70th percentile, 70 families in 100 your age had less income than yours and 30 had more. It is a ranking, not a verdict on whether your income is enough for where you live or the life you want.

Income rises through the working years and falls in retirement. The median climbs from $67,784 under 35 to a peak of $108,865 at 45–54, then drops to $69,838 at 65–74 as wages give way to Social Security and savings (all from the public file). The 90th percentile rises the same way, from $174,595 for the youngest families to $349,189 at 55–64.

The spread within an age group is wide. For families aged 45–54 the 10th percentile is $26,703 and the 90th is $336,865, more than 12 times as much. Single people and couples are ranked together, which widens it further: a couple with two salaries is one family, as is a single person with one.

Treat the 99th column as a rough guide. The survey deliberately reaches very wealthy families, which helps it measure the top, but within one age group the 99th percentile rests on a small number of interviews, and one year’s income at the top often includes a large one-off capital gain or business payout.

Families earning $100,000 or more, and $200,000 or more, by age

Families earning $100,000 or more, and $200,000 or more, by age
Age$100K or more$200K or moreFamilies
Under 3532.6%5.9%26.4 million
35–4448.6%17.0%23.4 million
45–5453.8%24.0%21.8 million
55–6447.9%20.9%23.2 million
65–7432.9%13.1%22.0 million
75 and over35.6%13.0%18.1 million
All families41.9%15.5%135.0 million

How the percentile table is made

The public file of the Federal Reserve’s 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances holds 4,360 US families, weighted so that together they stand for all 135.0 million. Each family reported its income for 2024, the year before the interview, and the Fed expresses it in 2025 dollars (2024 amounts times 1.027).

We sort each age group’s families by income and add up their weights from the bottom: the 25th percentile is the income with a quarter of the weight below it, the 90th the one with nine tenths below. Missing answers are filled in five times over by the survey, and, as the Fed does, we pool all five versions, each counting a fifth.

Income here is the whole family’s, before taxes: wages, business income, interest and dividends, realized capital gains, Social Security, pensions and withdrawals from retirement accounts, government benefits and alimony. Age is the age of the family’s reference person.

Sources

Frequently Asked Questions

What income puts you in the top 10% for your age?

In the 2025 survey the 90th percentile of family income was under 35: $174,595; 35–44: $240,324; 45–54: $336,865; 55–64: $349,189; 65–74: $236,216; 75 and over: $247,514. For all families together it was $252,649. These are incomes before tax, for the whole family, from our calculation on the Fed’s public data.

What income is the top 1% in the US?

About $1,150,000 a year for a family, on the 2025 survey’s 2024 incomes. By age it ranges from $353,297 under 35 to $1,982,162 at 55–64. These rest on few families each, so take them as approximate.

Is this my salary or my household’s income?

Your family’s: the survey adds up the income of the single person or couple at the center of the household and anyone who shares their finances. If you are married or live with a partner, add both incomes together before comparing. One salary against the table understates where a two-earner couple stands.

Does income include investment gains and Social Security?

Yes. The survey counts realized capital gains, interest and dividends, Social Security, pensions and money taken out of retirement accounts, as well as wages and business income, all before taxes. It is close to the total income on a tax return, plus benefits that don’t appear there.