Americans\u2019 median household income rose less than 3%, or about $2,150, during the Biden administration, according to Census Bureau data released Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Former President Joe Biden had to contend with the aftermath of the economic upheaval<\/a> wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic and a period of soaring inflation.<\/a> Median household income did not return to its inflation-adjusted pre-pandemic peak until 2023 and remained essentially flat last year at $83,730.<\/p>\n \u201cHousehold income and earnings kept pace with inflation,\u201d Liana Fox, an assistant division chief at the Census Bureau, told reporters of the 2024 data. \u201cIt\u2019s a story of stability, but not necessarily growth, except at the top end of the income distribution.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cAt 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,\u201d Emily Martin, chief program officer at the National Women\u2019s Law Center, said in a statement.<\/p>\n The nation\u2019s poverty rate fell 0.4 percentage points to 10.6% in 2024. There were 35.9 million people in poverty.<\/p>\n The poverty rate was 11.5% in 2020, just before Biden took office.<\/p>\n How Black households fared last year was a \u201cmixed bag,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, when it comes to health care, the uninsured rate remained steady at 8% last year even though a pandemic-era Covid relief program<\/a> expired in 2023 and sign-ups for coverage on the Affordable Care Act exchanges<\/a> grew. The rate continues to be near historic lows.<\/p>\n 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<\/a> during the Covid-19 public health emergency.<\/p>\n The outlook for 2025, however, could be weaker as the labor market cools<\/a> this year, experts said. Wage gains are also softening.<\/p>\n Employers have been more reluctant to hire<\/a> \u2014 as well as fire \u2014 amid the uncertainty surrounding President Donald Trump\u2019s<\/a> tariffs and immigration policy.<\/p>\n