Median U.S. income rose to record high last year

(CNN)– Americans’ median household income rose to a record high last year even as affordability remained a major concern.

New census data show median household income climbed 2.6% in 2025 to $87,460.

That’s the highest inflation-adjusted level since the government began tracking it in 1967.

The poverty rate also fell to 10.2%.

And child poverty dropped to a record low of 13.4%.

But earnings for full-time, year-round workers were little changed.