Average Salary in the U.S. in 2024

Average salaries and wages in the United States have been increasing year after year, but the landscape looks different depending on a range of factors, from where you live to how old you are. 

If you’re wondering how your earnings compare to the rest of the U.S., as well as others in your state, we’ve crunched the official numbers to produce a comprehensive breakdown of average salaries in the country in 2024. We’ve split salary data by age, race, gender, occupation, state and educational background and analyzed the results to see who earns what in the U.S.

Read the below guide to uncover how your company’s payroll practices compare to the national average.

Average salary statistics: Key findings

• National average income: The national average salary in the U.S. in Q4 of 2023 was $59,384.
• Average salary by age: The highest average earners are aged between 35 and 44, earning 13.8% more than the national average salary.
• Average income by state: On average, Mississippi is the lowest-earning state with an average income of $48,048, and Massachusetts is the highest-earning state with an average income of $86,840.
• Average salary by occupation: The highest earners in the U.S. in 2022 were cardiologists ($421,330), and the lowest earners were shampooers ($27,870). 
• Average income by race: The lowest earners in the U.S. were Hispanics and Latinos, with an average of $45,968, and the highest earners were Asians, with an average of $90,012.
• Average family income: The average family household income was $74,755 in 2022.
• Average income by gender: The gender pay gap decreased by 0.7% in the last year, but between 2021 and 2022, it grew by 1.3%.
• Average salary by education: Full-time workers over 25 years old without a high school diploma earned an average of $47,580 per year.
• Wage growth vs. inflation: The average salary grew by 5.4%, while there was a gain of 3.2% in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers.

How much does the average American make a year?

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor, the average U.S. annual salary in Q4 of 2023 was $59,384. This is up 5.4% from the same time period in 2022, when the average American was making $56,316 per year. Average weekly earnings reached $1,142, while the average American made $4,949 per month in Q4 of 2023. While salaries are up, salary growth is down — the increase in average earnings is lower compared to the 7.3% rise between 2021 and 2022.

While this is a view of the U.S. on average, the numbers are predictably quite different when you split them by demographics. The gender pay gap, while shrinking by 1% over the last 10 years, was only cut by 0.7% between 2022 and 2023. This translates to the average male earning $63,960, just under $10,000 per year more than their female counterparts at $53,404. 

Race is also a factor, with the average white male earning $64,636. This is over $16,000 more than the average Hispanic or Latino male at $47,996, reflecting the inequalities that still exist in today’s society. 

With the annual inflation rate for 2023 in the U.S. at 3.4% for the 12 months ending December 2023, up from 3.1% previously, salaries aren’t quite keeping up. Indeed, a SmartAsset report based on MIT’s Living Wage data found that the average salary required to live comfortably in the U.S. is $68,499 after taxes, almost $10,000 higher than what it is currently.

U.S. average salary by age

• The age group with the lowest average earnings is predictably 16 to 24-year-olds.
• The highest average earners are aged between 35 and 44, earning 13.8% more than the national average. 
• Average earnings start to fall at age 45, and those aged 65 and over earn almost 8% less than the national average.

Looking at the U.S. average salary by age shows that earnings peak in the 35 to 44 age group. People aged 35 to 44 earn, on average, $1,303 per week or $67,756 per year – over $8,000 more than the national average. While salaries rise continuously up to this point, they start to fall after this. Those aged 45 to 54 earn, on average, $66,300, and those aged 55 to 64 earn $64,688.

16 to 24-year-olds are the lowest earners at $734 per week, or $38,168 per year, reflecting their relative inexperience — they earn 35.9% less than the U.S. national average. However, the next lowest earners are those aged 65 and older at $1,055 per week or $54,860 per year.

U.S. average income by state

• Mississippi is the lowest-earning state with an average annual income of $48,048, over $11,000 below the U.S. average.
• The highest-earning state is Massachusetts, with an average annual income of $86,840 in 2023 — more than $27,000 above the national average.
• Missouri earns the closest to the U.S. average with an annual income of $59,800, just $416 above average earnings nationwide. 

Mississippi’s annual average income is the lowest in the U.S. at $48,048, followed by neighboring states Arkansas ($53,716), South Dakota ($53,820) and Idaho ($53,976). However, Missouri and Arkansas both place in the top ten for lowest cost-of-living in the United States, showing that while average salaries are relatively low, this doesn’t necessarily equate to the lowest ‘real’ income. By contrast, South Dakota is 16th in the lowest cost-of-living ranking, and Idaho is 28th — so the low salaries here might be felt a little more.

The highest-earning state in the U.S. on average was Massachusetts, with its annual average income at $86,840. Second was Washington ($85,748), followed by California ($84,448), New York ($84,292) and Connecticut ($78,572). Predictably, Massachusetts is also one of the most expensive places to live, coming second to bottom in the cost of living index, with California, New York and Washington all in the bottom 10. 

While this reflects the fact that earnings can reflect the cost of living, it’s interesting to note that despite Hawaii’s cost of living being the most expensive in the country, the average annual income of the state is $62,296. This may serve to highlight the importance of tourist income for Hawaii to the state’s GDP.

New Mexico saw the biggest increase in earnings compared to the previous year, with average salaries rising by 6.5% — followed by West Virginia (6.1%) and Washington (4.9%). New Jersey saw the lowest increase at 1.6%, followed by Massachusetts at 2.0%, while Rhode Island was the only state to see a decrease, with wages falling by 0.3% compared to 2022.

U.S. average salary by occupation

• Cardiologists were the highest earners in the U.S. in 2022, with average wages of $421,330 based on over 16,000 cardiologists in employment.
• Shampooers earned the least, with an average annual wage of $27,870, based on over 7,000 employees.

The highest-earning professions in the U.S., based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data from 2022, are almost all in the medical industry. Cardiologists are by some distance the highest earners with average annual wages of $421,330, followed by orthopedic surgeons (excluding pediatric) ($371,400), pediatric surgeons ($362,970) and all other surgeons ($347,870). 

Athletes and sports competitors were the only non-medical professionals in the top five, coming fourth with average annual earnings of $358,080. Aside from athletes, all occupations in the top five require advanced degrees and years of training in order to reach qualified status, explaining their positions on the leaderboard.

The highest-paid non-medical professionals, after athletes and sports professionals, were chief executives, irrespective of industry, with average annual earnings of $246,440. This was followed by airline pilots, copilots and flight engineers ($225,740), computer and information systems managers ($173,670) and financial managers ($166,050). 

While not all occupations have both annual and hourly wages given, due to some occupations not working year-round, the lowest-paid occupation was shampooers, earning an average of $27,870. They were closely followed by fast food cooks ($27,920), fast food and counter workers ($28,130), amusement and recreation park attendants ($28,350) and lifeguards, ski patrol and other recreational protective service workers ($28,370). 

These occupations generally require a high school education but no college degree, as well as industry-specific training.

U.S. average income by race

• When looking at average income by race in the U.S., figures show significant racial inequality. 
• Hispanics and Latinos have the lowest wages in the U.S., earning, on average, $45,968 per year.
• The highest earners were Asians, with average annual wages of $79,456. Asian men earned an average of $90,012.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor’s data on average income by race highlights wage disparity across the U.S. — and perhaps the root cause is unequal opportunities and education. Research shows that in 2022, there were fewer Black and Hispanic people holding bachelor’s degrees than any other racial group. This may be reflected in the Bureau of Labor figures that show the lowest earners in the U.S. are Hispanics and Latinos, earning on average $45,968, followed by Black and African Americans, earning $50,284.

Asians earned the most by a distance, with their average annual income at $79,456, followed by white Americans earning $60,164 per year. White Americans were closest to the U.S. average, only $624 over, while Asians were just under $20,000 over the national average. Black and African Americans were over $9,000 below, and Hispanics and Latinos were over $13,000 below the national average.

Differences in gender were also prevalent. While overall, women earned 16.2% less than their male counterparts, this number was higher for Asians, where women earned 21.7% less. In all other race groups, the difference was lower than the national average. 

The difference in earnings between men and women was closest to the overall average for white women at 15.9%, followed by Hispanics and Latinos (12.2%). Gender disparity was lowest for Black and African Americans — Black and African American women only earned 6.1% less than their male counterparts. 

U.S. average family income

• The average U.S. household earned $74,755 in 2022.
• Racial disparity is prevalent, with Black or African American households earning the least of all race groups.
• Four-person families earned the most in combined family income at an average of $113,919, over $30,000 more than two-person families, who bring in the least.

The most recent data from the United States Census Bureau shows the average U.S. household income was $74,755 in 2022. However, this fluctuates depending on the racial makeup of the family. Black and African American households earned an average of $51,374, the least of all racial groups. This was less than half of the average that Asian households earned ($106,954), the highest paid of all racial groups. 

Household income also varied depending on the age of the main earner of the family. As you might imagine, average income increased as age did, up to the 45 to 64 age group, with their earnings the highest at $90,748. Those aged 65 and over earned considerably less on average at $53,963 per year.

Single males and females with children under 18 generally earn less on average than those without, demonstrating how much time and energy goes into raising offspring alone and how this can potentially be a career obstacle. 

Married couples with children under 18, by comparison, generally earn more — at $120,704 — than their childless counterparts who bring home $109,250. They also earned over triple what single women with children earned ($36,393).

U.S. income by gender

• The gender pay gap has gone down by only 1% since 2013.
• The average salary for women in the U.S. was more than $10,000 less than it was for men.
• The difference between average salaries for men and women is down from 2022 but higher than it was in 2021.

While the fight for gender equality has made progress on many fronts, the gender pay gap persists. In the last 10 years, it has only been reduced by 1% overall. The average salary for males in the U.S. in Q4 of 2023 was $63,960, over $10,000 or 16.5% more per year than women ($53,404). While the gender pay gap went down by 0.7% in the last year, between 2021 and 2022, it grew by 1.3%.

The difference between men’s and women’s earnings was significantly less pronounced in younger workers. Among people aged 16 to 24, women earned 5.2% less than men. Conversely, the difference was greater for people aged 55 to 64, where women earn 22.8% less than their male counterparts.

The gap is even more prevalent on certain industry levels, with women earning 23% less than men in professional and related occupations — the highest of all industries. This was closely followed by management, professional and related occupations, and management, business, and financial operations occupations, where the gap in earnings in both is 22%. 

The difference is lowest in service occupations, where the overall earnings are also the lowest — women earn 17% less than men.

U.S. average salary by education level

Opportunities provided by education level are, of course, a significant influence on overall earnings. Full-time workers aged 25 and over without a high school diploma earned an average of $47,580 per year. High school graduates had an average income of $66,768, bachelor’s degree holders brought in $125,320, and those with advanced degrees earned $144,300. 

Breaking it down by gender, the pay gap was most pronounced for high school graduates without a college diploma. In this group, women earned almost 39% less than men. By contrast, the gap was 31% for those holding a bachelor’s degree. It shows how valuable progressing through stages of education is for prospective earnings, demonstrating the severe impact on disadvantaged communities who have fewer opportunities.

U.S. wage growth vs. inflation

While the average salary in the U.S. has grown by 5.4%, there was a gain of 3.2% in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers. This indicates that the average income increase is also an increase in people’s real income — taking into account their spending power.

The Consumer Price Index is essentially a measure of the average price of consumer goods and services — it works as an indicator of inflation. The good news is that salaries are growing at a higher rate than inflation, so the purchasing power of those earnings has overall increased.

The biggest positive change was in New Mexico, where wages grew by 6.5% and inflation grew by 3.8%. Maine and Vermont have also seen positive results, the only two states to see higher percentage increases in wages compared to inflation two years in a row.

However, this good news wasn’t felt country-wide. In fact, some states saw wages grow at a slower rate than inflation, such as New Jersey (wages grew by 1.6%, but inflation grew by 3.2%) and Indiana (2.0% vs 2.9%). Rhode Island was the only state that saw a decrease in wages in 2023 at 0.3%, compared to a rate of inflation of 2.5%.

Sources

1. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
2. United States Census Bureau.