{"version":"1.9","identifier":"d397ab0e-ecff-4ec1-9033-6eed92f4cba5","language":"en-US","title":"Income by age: $130,000 put a US adult in the top 10% in 2024, and $152,000 at ages 35 to 44","layout":{"columns":7,"width":1024,"margin":32,"gutter":20},"componentLayouts":{"text":{"columnStart":0,"columnSpan":7,"maximumContentWidth":720,"margin":{"top":12,"bottom":12}},"photo":{"columnStart":0,"columnSpan":7,"margin":{"top":20,"bottom":20}}},"componentTextStyles":{"default":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":18,"lineHeight":29,"textColor":"#171717"},"headline":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue-Bold","fontSize":36,"lineHeight":42,"conditional":[{"conditions":{"maxViewportWidth":480},"fontSize":28,"lineHeight":34}]},"intro":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":20,"lineHeight":28,"textColor":"#555555"},"caption":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":13,"lineHeight":19,"textColor":"#666666"},"byline":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":13,"lineHeight":20,"textColor":"#666666"},"body":{"fontName":"HelveticaNeue","fontSize":18,"lineHeight":29,"paragraphSpacingAfter":14,"linkStyle":{"textColor":"#00704a"}}},"metadata":{"canonicalURL":"https://www.pointsfrog.com/news/income-percentile-by-age-top-10-percent-2024-census","datePublished":"2026-10-18T23:56:36.89152Z","dateModified":"2026-10-19T00:07:51.127396Z","authors":["Points Frog Editorial"],"excerpt":"A free calculator ranks an income against people the same age, in the US or any state, from Census Bureau survey data. The 2024 median for US adults with income was $42,600.","thumbnailURL":"https://pub-fac99da959e344fe99d810d309cef7df.r2.dev/photos/article/d397ab0e-ecff-4ec1-9033-6eed92f4cba5/2f5b3bbdb0736d90a116f417023da348.jpg","keywords":["other"],"generatorName":"Frog News","generatorVersion":"1.0"},"components":[{"role":"title","text":"Income by age: $130,000 put a US adult in the top 10% in 2024, and $152,000 at ages 35 to 44","textStyle":"headline","layout":"text"},{"role":"intro","text":"A free calculator ranks an income against people the same age, in the US or any state, from Census Bureau survey data. The 2024 median for US adults with income was $42,600.","textStyle":"intro","layout":"text"},{"role":"byline","text":"By Points Frog Editorial · Published October 18, 2026","textStyle":"byline","layout":"text"},{"role":"photo","URL":"https://pub-fac99da959e344fe99d810d309cef7df.r2.dev/photos/article/d397ab0e-ecff-4ec1-9033-6eed92f4cba5/2f5b3bbdb0736d90a116f417023da348.jpg","caption":"Part of the US Census Bureau's headquarters building in Suitland, Maryland, in 2007. · United States Census Bureau, public domain (Wikimedia Commons)","accessibilityCaption":"Part of the US Census Bureau's headquarters building in Suitland, Maryland, in 2007.","layout":"photo"},{"role":"caption","text":"Part of the US Census Bureau's headquarters building in Suitland, Maryland, in 2007. · United States Census Bureau, public domain (Wikimedia Commons)","textStyle":"caption","layout":"text"},{"role":"body","format":"markdown","text":"How does an income compare with other people the same age? The [income percentile calculator](https://www.pointsfrog.com/income-percentile) answers that for the US and every state. Enter a yearly income before taxes and an age, and it ranks that income within the age group.\n\nThe figures come from the Census Bureau's 2024 American Community Survey. Across all US adults with income, the median was $42,600 in 2024. It took $130,000 to reach the top 10% and about $447,000 to reach the top 1%.\n\nAge changes the answer a lot. Among people aged 35 to 44, the median was $57,900 and the top 10% started at $152,000.\n\n[Try the calculator on Points Frog](https://www.pointsfrog.com/income-percentile)\n\n## A worked example: $75,000 at age 40\n\nTake an income of $75,000 for someone aged 40. The calculator puts it in the 62nd percentile for people with income aged 35 to 44. In other words, $75,000 is more than 62% of that group makes. Against adults of every age, the same income ranks in the 73rd percentile.\n\nThe same $75,000 ranks very differently by age:","textStyle":"body","layout":"text"},{"role":"htmltable","html":"
AgeRank for $75,000
18–2496th percentile
25–3475th percentile
35–4462nd percentile
45–5461st percentile
55–6467th percentile
65 and over81st percentile
","layout":"text"},{"role":"body","format":"markdown","text":"Pay usually rises quickly through the 20s and 30s and then levels off. That is why the same income looks high at 24 and closer to the middle at 50.\n\n## Where the lines fall by age\n\nEach row shows the 2024 income at three points for one age group, counting everyone with income.","textStyle":"body","layout":"text"},{"role":"htmltable","html":"
AgeMedianTop 10% startsTop 1% starts
18–24$16,200$50,800$102,000
25–34$45,700$109,000$269,000
35–44$57,900$152,000$530,000
45–54$59,900$168,000$598,000
55–64$50,800$152,000$565,000
65 and over$32,500$108,000$407,000
","layout":"text"},{"role":"body","format":"markdown","text":"## What counts as a good income for your age\n\nThe calculator's answer is to compare with others your age, and to show where the middle and the top quarter sit. For people with income, the median was $45,700 at ages 25 to 34, $57,900 at 35 to 44, $59,900 at 45 to 54 and $50,800 at 55 to 64. Reaching the top 25% took $73,100 at 25 to 34, $96,400 at 35 to 44, $102,000 at 45 to 54 and $91,400 at 55 to 64.\n\n## All income or full-time pay\n\nThe calculator offers two comparisons. \"All income\" counts everyone 18 and over with any income: wages, self-employment, investments, Social Security, pensions and other sources. \"Full-time pay\" counts only earnings from work for full-time, year-round workers. That usually means 35 or more hours a week for 50 or more weeks of the year.\n\nThe full-time figures run higher because they leave out students, part-time workers and retirees. The median full-time worker earned $60,900 in 2024, and the top 10% started at $152,000. Full-time workers earned the most at ages 45 to 54, with a median of $71,100. On the full-time scale, the same $75,000 at age 40 ranks in the 54th percentile.\n\n## Where you live matters\n\nEach state has its own page with its own percentiles. The median income for adults with income was $33,000 in [Mississippi](https://www.pointsfrog.com/income-percentile/mississippi) and $45,700 in [California](https://www.pointsfrog.com/income-percentile/california). In [Washington, DC](https://www.pointsfrog.com/income-percentile/district-of-columbia) it was $72,100, and the top 10% started at $203,000. In Mississippi the top 10% started at $98,500.\n\n## What the calculator leaves out\n\nThe ranks are for one person's income, not a household's. Household incomes run higher because many homes have more than one earner. All figures are before taxes, in 2024 dollars.\n\nThe top 1% line is approximate. The Census Bureau caps the very highest incomes in its public files to protect privacy. Your rank is worked out between the published 1st to 99th percentiles, so it is precise to within about a point. Groups built on few survey responses, mostly young full-time workers in small states, are flagged.\n\n## Where the figures come from\n\nThe data is the Census Bureau's 2024 American Community Survey 1-year Public Use Microdata Sample. It records the income of about 1% of US households, and each response is weighted by the number of people it represents. The national figures rest on 2,516,508 responses, standing for 241.1 million adults with income. Percentiles are worked out separately for every state and age group.\n\n## Use it on your own site\n\nThe calculator is free to embed on a blog or site with copy-and-paste code, with no ads or tracking. Here is [how to embed it](https://www.pointsfrog.com/calculators/embed).\n\nSource: [US Census Bureau, 2024 American Community Survey 1-year Public Use Microdata Sample](https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/microdata.html), incomes in 2024 dollars. Figures are educational estimates, not financial advice.\n\n## Related reading\n\n* [Salary to hourly calculator](https://www.pointsfrog.com/salary-to-hourly-calculator)\n* [Net worth calculator: how do you compare for your age?](https://www.pointsfrog.com/net-worth-calculator)\n* [Compare countries: GDP, PPP and income](https://www.pointsfrog.com/compare-countries)","textStyle":"body","layout":"text"}]}