Americans’ median household income rose less than 3%, or about $2,150, during the Biden administration, according to Census Bureau data released Tuesday.
Former President Joe Biden had to contend with the aftermath of the economic upheaval wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic and a period of soaring inflation. Median household income did not return to its inflation-adjusted pre-pandemic peak until 2023 and remained essentially flat last year at $83,730.
“Household income and earnings kept pace with inflation,” Liana Fox, an assistant division chief at the Census Bureau, told reporters of the 2024 data. “It’s a story of stability, but not necessarily growth, except at the top end of the income distribution.”
The top 10% saw their household income increase by 4.2% in 2024, but the income for the bottom 10% remained essentially unchanged, Census found.
Men also fared better than women, with median earnings for full-time, year-round workers increasing 3.7% for men, but staying roughly flat for women. That led to a decline in the female-to-male earnings ratio to 80.9% last year, down from 82.7% in 2023.
“At a time when women, including many mothers, are leaving the labor force at record rates, it is a five-alarm fire to see that the gender wage gap is widening for an unprecedented second year in a row,” Emily Martin, chief program officer at the National Women’s Law Center, said in a statement.
The nation’s poverty rate fell 0.4 percentage points to 10.6% in 2024. There were 35.9 million people in poverty.
The poverty rate was 11.5% in 2020, just before Biden took office.
How Black households fared last year was a “mixed bag,” Fox said. Black households saw their median household income decline by 3.3% last year, but there was no change in their earnings for those working full-time, year-round.
Their poverty rate remained essentially flat in 2024, but it increased by 2.2 percentage points using an alternative poverty measure, the supplemental poverty rate, which takes into account non-cash public benefits, taxes and certain necessary expenses.
By contrast, median income jumped 5.5% for Hispanic households and 5.1% for Asian households, while it did not change significantly for White households. The poverty rate declined for these households last year.
Meanwhile, when it comes to health care, the uninsured rate remained steady at 8% last year even though a pandemic-era Covid relief program expired in 2023 and sign-ups for coverage on the Affordable Care Act exchanges grew. The rate continues to be near historic lows.
The share of Americans with job-based health insurance did not significantly change, while Medicaid coverage dropped to 17.6% in 2024, down from 18.9% a year earlier. States had been prevented from disenrolling Medicaid recipients during the Covid-19 public health emergency.
The outlook for 2025, however, could be weaker as the labor market cools this year, experts said. Wage gains are also softening.
Employers have been more reluctant to hire — as well as fire — amid the uncertainty surrounding President Donald Trump’s tariffs and immigration policy.
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com