Median Household Income Stable in January 2017

Median household income in January 2017 stood at $58,056, according to Sentier Research, not significantly different from the December 2016 median after adjusting for inflation. 

The 2015 rise in median household income appears to have stalled out in 2016. "With the exception of some minor ups and downs," reports Sentier, "median annual household income has essentially been flat since the fall of 2015." Nevertheless, the January 2017 median was 9.0 percent higher than the $53,265 median of August 2011—the low point in Sentier's household income series. 

"Although median annual household income did not decline significantly between December and January, it is down by $691 (or 1.2 percent) since November 2016," says Sentier's Gordon Green. "We continue to monitor the course of inflation, as this has a significant effect on the trend in real median annual household income." Sentier's median household income estimates are derived from the Census Bureau's monthly Current Population Survey.

Median household income in January 2017 was 1.7 percent higher than the median of June 2009, which marked the end of the Great Recession. It was not significantly different from the median of December 2007, the start of the Great Recession. The January 2017 median was 1.3 percent below the median of January 2000. The Household Income Index in January 2017 was 98.7 (January 2000 = 100.0).

Source: Sentier Research, Household Income Trends: January 2017