Good News on Affordability: American Paychecks Are Beating Inflation Under Trump . . . Household Income reaches All-Time High!
by John Carney, Breitbart.com, October 5, 2026American households have seen the buying power of their paychecks grow under President Trump, a welcome change from years of watching real compensation fall thanks to runaway inflation.
The average private-sector paycheck has grown faster than prices since President Trump took office, Bureau of Labor Statistics figures show. And in recent months, real pay is growing even faster.
From January 2025, the month Trump was inaugurated, through August 2026, average weekly earnings of all employees on private payrolls rose from $1,222.14 to $1,298.94, a gain of 6.3 percent. The Consumer Price Index rose 4.8 percent over those 19 months. Adjusted for inflation, the weekly paycheck was up 1.5 percent. In January 2025 dollars, that is a gain of about $18 a week, from $1,222 to $1,240.
The most recent three months were stronger. From May to August, the average paycheck rose from $1,285.91 to $1,298.94, or 1.0 percent, while prices were essentially unchanged, up 0.05 percent. Real weekly pay rose 1.0 percent in that span, about $12 a week. August is the latest month for which both earnings and prices are available. The September price index is scheduled for October 14.
Over the four years of the Biden administration, the paycheck shrank after inflation. From January 2021 to January 2025, average weekly earnings rose from $1,047.55 to $1,222.14, a gain of 16.7 percent. Prices rose 21.4 percent. Real weekly pay fell 3.9 percent. In the dollars of January 2025, the paycheck went from about $1,272 at the start of that administration to $1,222 at the end, a loss of about $50 a week.
Production and nonsupervisory workers, about four-fifths of private payrolls, have also improved under Trump after declining under Biden. Real weekly pay down 1.6 percent from January 2021 to January 2025, and up 1.5 percent from January 2025 to August 2026.
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Income, Poverty in the United States: 2025
SEPT. 15, 2026 — The U.S. Census Bureau today announced that real median household income was $87,460 in 2025, the highest on record dating back to 1967.
The official poverty rate fell 0.5 percentage points to 10.2% in 2025. The following 2025 findings were not statistically different from 2024: the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) rate in 2025 was 13.1% and in 2025, 26.7 million people (7.9%) were uninsured for the entire year, according to the 2026 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC).
These findings come from three Census Bureau reports, “Income in the United States: 2025,” “Poverty in the United States: 2025” and “Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2025.”
Income estimates are based on money income and do not account for the value of in-kind transfers. They are pretax, unless otherwise indicated.
- Median household income was $87,460 in 2025, an increase of 2.6% from the 2024 estimate of $85,210. Household income in 2025 was the highest on record dating back to 1967.
- Between 2024 and 2025, median income increased by 3.0% for White households, 2.9% for non-Hispanic White households, and 4.8% for Black households. Median income did not change significantly for Asian or Hispanic households. The differences among the 2024-2025 percent changes in median household income for all race and ethnicity groups were not statistically significant.
- Income inequality as measured by the Gini index was not significantly different between 2024 and 2025.
- Household income at the 90th percentile increased 1.7% but did not significantly change at the 10th percentile between 2024 and 2025.
- Among full-time, year-round workers, median earnings increased 3.2% for women but did not change significantly for men between 2024 and 2025.
Post-Tax Income
Post-tax income is defined as money income net of federal and state taxes and credits, as well as payroll taxes (FICA).
- Median post-tax household income increased by 3.1% from $73,760 in 2024 to $76,060 in 2025.
- Inequality, as measured by the Gini index, was 8.7% lower when calculated using post-tax income compared to pretax income.
As defined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Statistical Policy Directive 14 and updated for inflation using the Consumer Price Index, the weighted average poverty threshold for a family of four in 2025 was $32,970. (Visit www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/historical-poverty-thresholds.html for the complete set of dollar value thresholds that vary by family size and composition.)
Official Poverty Measure
- In 2025, the official poverty rate fell 0.5 percentage points to 10.2%. There were 34.5 million people in poverty in 2025.
- The official poverty rate for children fell to a historic low of 13.4% in 2025.
- Between 2024 and 2025, the official poverty rate for Hispanic individuals decreased to a historic low of 13.9%.
