PATRIOT REPORTDigital Republic Press
Real Median Family Income Rose in 2024, Fed Survey Finds
The Federal Reserve reported that real median family income rose 7 percent between the 2022 and 2025 surveys, while real mean family income fell 6 percent.
The Federal Reserve Board released the results of its 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances on October 9. The Board said the survey provides a representative picture of what Americans own, how and how much they borrow, and how they bank.
Real median family income rose 7 percent between the 2022 and 2025 surveys, from $76,900 in 2021 to $82,200 in 2024, according to the Board’s accompanying report. Real mean family income, by contrast, fell 6 percent, from $155,300 in 2021 to $145,200 in 2024.
Income reference period
The report defines the income measure as a family’s before-tax, inflation-adjusted income for the full calendar year preceding the survey year. It therefore measures 2024 income for the 2025 survey rather than income earned during all of calendar year 2025.
Most of the report’s other data concern families’ status at the time of interview. The report says 4,367 families were interviewed for the 2025 survey, and about one-seventh of those interviews occurred between January and May 2026.
Wealth and debt measures
Between the 2022 and 2025 surveys, real median net worth rose 2 percent to $215,900, while real mean net worth rose 7 percent to $1.24 million. The report defines net worth as the difference between families’ assets and liabilities.
The share of families with debt payment-to-income ratios above 40 percent increased from 6.5 percent in 2022 to 8.6 percent in 2025. The report describes those as families with particularly high debt-payment obligations relative to their incomes.
The Board said the current version of the survey has been undertaken every three years since 1989. The Board also said NORC, a social science research organization at the University of Chicago, conducts the survey for the Board.
Sources reviewed:
- Federal Reserve Board – Federal Reserve Board releases results of the 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances, which provides the public and policymakers with detailed insights into the economic condition of American families
- Changes in U.S. Family Finances from 2022 to 2025: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances
- The Fed – History of the Marriner S. Eccles Building and William McChesney Martin Jr. Building
