Average Salary by Age, Median, Top & Percentiles - DQYDJ (2024)

In this post areUnited States Salary Brackets by Age for 2023. You'll also find average salary by age, plus median and top 1% salaries by age.

Salaries/wage incomes aregross(pre-tax),earned between January and December 2022 (the survey was conducted in early 2023).

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Salary Benchmarks by Age in 2023

Age is an excellent proxy for experience in most datasets – generally, the longer you've been at a job or career, the better you are in that job or career. While that's not auniversallaw, it's good practice to separate salary data by age. (Although you can find aggregate salary averages and stats here).

The best summary statistics for salary are:

  • Median salary by age
  • Average salary by age
  • Top 1% salary by age

We'll hit each summary statistic in kind, but here's a quick visualization of the main salary breakpoints for selected ages.

Average Salary by Age, Median, Top & Percentiles - DQYDJ (1)

What is the median salary by age in the United States?

In full-year 2022 in the United States, these were the median salaries earned by age:

  • Age 25:$41,000.00
  • Age 35:$55,900.00
  • Age 45:$60,000.00
  • Age 55:$65,000.00
  • Age 65:$55,000.00

The following table lists the median salary for every age from 16-70 in the United States for 2023:

AgeMedian Salary
16$10,000.00
17$9,000.00
18$14,000.00
19$22,000.00
20$25,000.00
21$25,000.00
22$27,000.00
23$32,000.00
24$37,000.00
25$41,000.00
26$47,000.00
27$46,800.00
28$50,000.00
29$50,000.00
30$50,000.00
31$54,000.00
32$52,000.00
33$55,000.00
34$60,000.00
35$55,900.00
36$60,000.00
37$60,000.00
38$60,000.00
39$61,000.00
40$59,000.00
41$60,000.00
42$60,000.00
43$60,000.00
44$63,000.00
45$60,000.00
46$64,000.00
47$63,000.00
48$60,000.00
49$62,864.00
50$60,000.00
51$64,000.00
52$62,000.00
53$65,000.00
54$62,000.00
55$65,000.00
56$60,000.00
57$61,000.00
58$60,000.00
59$55,000.00
60$55,000.00
61$60,000.00
62$55,000.00
63$57,200.00
64$62,000.00
65$55,000.00
66$53,000.00
67$50,000.00
68$50,000.00
69$55,000.00
70$38,000.00

What is the average salary by age in the United States?

In full year 2022 in the United States, these were the average salaries earned by age:

  • Age 25:$51,358.29
  • Age 35:$75,771.95
  • Age 45:$83,492.78
  • Age 55:$82,291.66
  • Age 65:$72,797.99

In this next table, I've summarized the average salary for every age from 16-70 in the United States in 2023:

AgeAverage Salary
16$15,326.90
17$12,402.94
18$20,822.24
19$25,662.69
20$27,537.89
21$28,095.45
22$33,573.67
23$38,278.59
24$43,702.78
25$51,358.29
26$55,723.35
27$59,446.48
28$63,042.77
29$61,845.50
30$67,134.58
31$71,060.19
32$72,487.64
33$70,483.34
34$73,420.97
35$75,771.95
36$79,030.40
37$82,723.84
38$80,948.51
39$76,101.30
40$81,981.37
41$79,778.46
42$89,710.22
43$79,797.44
44$88,048.20
45$83,492.78
46$87,729.18
47$81,872.90
48$81,330.33
49$84,966.71
50$89,785.68
51$88,337.34
52$85,380.92
53$83,690.31
54$87,908.88
55$82,291.66
56$84,419.03
57$83,662.01
58$79,114.10
59$77,266.03
60$77,182.23
61$77,211.25
62$80,398.81
63$81,937.18
64$88,373.91
65$72,797.99
66$77,745.21
67$63,480.34
68$72,603.15
69$74,505.92
70$59,247.49

What is the top 1% salary by age in the United States?

Here are the summary top 1% salary benchmarks in the US in full year 2022, starting at 25 years old and moving up a decade at a time:

  • Age 25:$191,000
  • Age 35: $400,000
  • Age 45:$500,000
  • Age 55:$350,000
  • Age 65:$334,785

Remember to be appropriately skeptical with top 1% salaries. By definition, fewer people earn up here and the distribution isn't as well behaved.

AgeTop 1% Salary
16$70,000.00
17$60,000.00
18$100,000.00
19$100,000.00
20$90,000.00
21$75,000.00
22$105,000.00
23$150,000.00
24$170,000.00
25$191,000.00
26$200,000.00
27$235,000.00
28$253,700.00
29$215,000.00
30$300,000.00
31$350,000.00
32$420,000.00
33$317,000.00
34$350,000.00
35$400,000.00
36$420,000.00
37$450,000.00
38$375,000.00
39$350,000.00
40$460,000.00
41$350,000.00
42$840,000.00
43$350,000.00
44$460,000.00
45$500,000.00
46$500,000.00
47$450,000.00
48$410,000.00
49$350,000.00
50$750,000.00
51$400,000.00
52$530,000.00
53$375,000.00
54$500,000.00
55$350,000.00
56$500,000.00
57$500,000.00
58$372,585.00
59$357,000.00
60$600,000.00
61$400,000.00
62$540,000.00
63$500,000.00
64$420,000.00
65$334,785.00
66$600,000.00
67$400,000.00
68$520,000.00
69$400,000.00
70$350,000.00

My warning in the income by age post applies here, too: to smooth over the spikes, look at a few adjacent ages to get a 'feel,' don't take one age as the correct value. (For what that's worth!)

Income vs. Salary

Salaryis what you earn from a job, yourwageincome.Incomeis a much more expansive set of ways to earn money. Here, think: business, investment, interest, rent, etc.

We specialize in income here on DQYDJ – find all our recentincome posts here. (Includinghousehold incomeandindividual income).

Salary by Age Summary for the United States in 2023

Want a bit more resolution? Check out the salary percentile by age calculator for the full picture.

You can also find past years here:

Methodology on 2023 United States Salary Brackets

This data comes from the United States Census Bureau's Annual ASEC survey fromSeptember 2023.

Sarah Flood, Miriam King, Renae Rodgers, Steven Ruggles, J. Robert Warren, Daniel Backman, Annie Chen, Grace Cooper, Stephanie Richards, Megan Schouweiler, and Michael Westberry. IPUMS CPS: Version 11.0 [dataset]. Minneapolis, MN: IPUMS, 2023. https://doi.org/10.18128/D030.V11.0

Here is an estimate of the number of workers in age group, along with the sample count:

AgeSamplesCount of Workers
16132256,247
17292578,975
18425856,931
194761,107,092
206101,609,597
216771,814,723
227572,090,027
238962,594,835
249452,830,429
251,0652,884,790
261,0772,927,605
271,1243,007,614
281,1793,036,665
291,2643,243,738
301,2923,296,714
311,3903,319,514
321,3863,314,684
331,4153,358,656
341,3783,194,486
351,4253,208,120
361,4223,115,692
371,4253,151,560
381,4672,982,396
391,3712,915,999
401,5193,123,576
411,4052,963,898
421,4092,969,046
431,3762,883,393
441,3552,836,279
451,3132,648,920
461,2702,687,311
471,2842,754,233
481,2212,752,213
491,1492,522,210
501,1822,566,221
511,2282,818,073
521,2612,865,301
531,2132,744,922
541,0412,430,360
559732,356,147
561,0772,566,280
571,0392,482,325
581,0082,434,425
599842,475,565
609452,306,180
617981,953,618
627841,927,034
637011,622,696
646551,619,529
655711,315,634
664451,048,591
67347793,257
68304718,313
69242602,917
70233518,159

What is your screen?

You can find the worker screen in the salary research post's methodology section.

Average Salary by Age, Median, Top & Percentiles - DQYDJ (2)

PK

PK started DQYDJ in 2009 to research and discuss finance and investing and help answer financial questions. He's expanded DQYDJ to build visualizations, calculators, and interactive tools.

PK lives in New Hampshire with his wife, kids, and dog.

Average Salary by Age, Median, Top & Percentiles - DQYDJ (2024)

FAQs

What is the top 1% income by age? ›

How Does Income Change with Age?
Age RangeTop 10%Top 1%
20-24$64,855$129,709
25-29$142,680$303,736
30-34$188,079$468,035
35-39$230,234$1,048,484
8 more rows
Oct 20, 2023

What percentile are you in if you make $100000? ›

Percentage distribution of household income in the United States in 2022
Annual household income in U.S. dollarsPercentage of U.S. households
75,000 to 99,99912.3%
100,000 to 149,99916.4%
150,000 to 199,9999.2%
200,000 and over11.9%
5 more rows
Nov 3, 2023

What is the top 20 percentile income? ›

The real median household income in the U.S. is around $71,000, according to the latest Census Bureau data. In order to be in the top 20% of income, you'd need to earn nearly double that amount or an average of $130,545 per year.

What is the income for the top 5%? ›

$342,987

How many Americans make over 100k? ›

Only 18% of individual Americans make more than $100,000 a year, according to 2023 data from careers website Zippia. About 34% of U.S. households earn more than $100,000 a year, according to Zippia.

What percent of Americans make over 150k? ›

Income Brackets in the United States
Income Bracket*Percentage of Americans
$75,000-$99,99912.3%
$100,000-$149,99916.4%
$150,000-$199,9999.2%
Over $200,00011.9%
5 more rows
Apr 12, 2024

What percentage of Americans make $75,000 a year? ›

In the U.S., the Middle Class constitutes any income between $42,000 and $126,000. Overall, the highest percentage of Americans (16.5%) have an income between $50,000-$74,999. With the second and third highest percentages being those who make between $75,000-$99,999 (12.2%) and $100,000-$149,000 (15.3%).

What income is considered upper class? ›

Upper-middle class: $94,001 – $153,000. Upper class: greater than $153,000.

What percent of Americans make over 200k? ›

A $200,000 household income is more than most people earn across the U.S. In fact, just 12% of U.S. households earn $200,000 or more annually, according to Census Bureau data.

What is the top 10% salary in the US? ›

The top 10% of household incomes starts at $191,406, the top 5% at $290,406, and the top 1% at $867,436. Those are the nationwide numbers, but they also vary considerably if you account for other factors, such as age or location. Income is a key part of personal finance, but it's not all that matters.

What percentage of us makes 6 figures? ›

What Percent of America Makes Six Figures? When you remove demographics such as infants, students, and stay-at-home spouses and focus only on full-time workers, around 18% of all earners in the US make at least six figures. Conversely, the median American household income in 2023 was approximately $44,225.

What is the salary of top 10 percentile in USA? ›

How to Make the Top 1% List
2021 Average Annual Wages
GroupAvg. Wages
Top 1% of Earners$819,324
Top 5% of Earners$335,891
Top 10% of Earners$167,639
1 more row

Is Connecticut a wealthy state? ›

From 1987 to 2019, Connecticut was the richest state in the U.S. as measured by per capita personal income. In 2020, it lost out—by $10—to neighboring Massachusetts.

What is considered wealthy in 2024? ›

To be considered very high net worth, one might need assets ranging from $5 million to $10 million, while an ultra-high net worth status could require $30 million or more. These figures underscore the subjective nature of financial classifications across different thresholds of wealth.

Am I middle class or upper class? ›

Middle class: Those in the 40th to 60th percentile of household income, ranging from $55,001 to $89,744. Upper middle class: Households in the 60th to 80th percentile, with incomes between $89,745 and $149,131. Upper class: The top 20% of earners, with household incomes of $149,132 or more.

What net worth puts you in the top 1? ›

The top 1% of household net worth in the U.S. was just shy of $13.7 million in 2023. An individual would have to earn an average of $407,500 per year to join the top 1%. A household would need an income of $591,550. The median household income was $74,580 in 2023 and $45,440 for individuals.

How many people make 100k a year? ›

12% of *households* have income between $75k and $99,999 and 15.5% are 100K to 150K. 8.3% and 10.3% are above, so about a third of **households** have over $100,000 in income. But that may well mean two wage-earners, or people with more than one source of income.

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