Official median household income data for 2017 has finally been released. The Census Bureau American Community Survey data for 2017 shows the median household income for 2017 was $61,372, an increase of 1.8 percent. This equates to an increase of $1,492 for a typical U.S. household.

Humans tend to like “milestone-type” numbers, and passing $60,000 is indeed one of those markers.

After passing the $50,000 mark in 2007 and 2008, it dipped below $50k again in 2009 and 2010 from the recession. Then it climbed back over $50k in 2011 and has been in the $50,000’s since then.



Inflation-adjusted median household incomes grew in 40 states and the District of Columbia, with 10 seeing a decline.

I mapped out the data by state:

I planned on doing a bit of analysis of the data from 2016 – 2017, but the folks at the Economic Policy Institute beat me to it. And they have better web programmers. Check out their interactive site that shows changes from 2016 – 2017, as well as changes since 2007 before the recession.

The three states with the highest percentage increase from 2016 (inflation adjusted) are:

Washington D.C.: 6.8%

Montana: 4.5%

California and Maine: (tied) 3.8%

The three states with the highest percentage decline from 2016 (inflation adjusted) are:

Alaska: -6.3%

Vermont: -2.4%

New Mexico: -2.1%

The states that saw a decline in median household income in 2017 were: Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Vermont, West Virginia, Wyoming

For the fist time ever a state has crested the $80,000 median income mark. And three of them did it (well, 2 states and D.C. to be technical…) – Washington D.C. ($82,372), New Jersey ($80,088), and Maryland ($80,776)

Of note, median income in the District of Columbia grew 9.1% from 2016 – 2017 to $82,372, a whopping 9.1% increase. Read more about the richest area in America and how it’s just getting richer in this Washington Post article.

The ECI article above has the D.C. increase at 6.8% but they are adjusting for inflation.

Another interesting look at the data is by education attainment:

Educational Attainment of Household Head 2016 Median Household Income (2017 dollars) 2017 Median Household Income (2017 dollars) All education levels $60,309 $61,372 Less than high school 28,000 28,511 High school or equivalent 42,800 44,010 Some college 55,835 57,200 Bachelor’s degree or higher 95,212 98,038

I plan to dig into this data when time allows to see if they reveal any further trends worth discussing.