The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. The median can be calculated for household income, personal income or disposable income.
Measure
The median income differs from the national average salary or GDP per capita due to the income distribution. The median income is an economic indicator of the standard of living for the median person in a country. Median income growth correlates with consumer confidence. In line with the median voter theorem the median income growth is a democratic indicator of economic growth.
The measurement of income from individuals and households, which is necessary to produce statistics such as the median, can pose challenges and can yield results inconsistent with aggregate national accounts data. For example, an academic study on the Census income data claims that when correcting for underreporting, U.S. median gross household income was 15% higher in 2010.
Median equivalised household disposable income
<!-- WARNING! This section is transcluded from Median equivalised household disposable income -->
thumb|upright=1.4|Annual median equivalised disposable income, in 2021, USD at PPP rates, by OECD country The median equivalised disposable income for individual countries corrected for [[purchasing power parity (PPP) for 2021 in United States dollars is shown in the below table.
{| class="sortable wikitable static-row-numbers sticky-table-head col1left"
|+ Median equivalised household disposable income
|-
! Location
! 2021 (USD PPP)
|-
| || 49,748
|-
| || 46,625
|-
| || 41,621
|-
| || 39,698
|-
| || 39,388
|-
| || 37,715
|-
| || 37,110
|-
| || 36,853
|-
| || 36,835
|-
| || 35,891
|-
| || 35,537
|-
| || 34,061
|-
| || 33,472
|-
| || 32,158
|-
| || 31,882
|-
| || 31,392
|-
| || 30,727
|-
| || 30,622
|-
| || 28,698
|-
| || 27,949
|-
| || 26,884
|-
| || 26,630
|-
| || 26,075
|-
| || 24,264
|-
| || 23,802
|-
| || 21,366
|-
| || 21,282
|-
| || 20,856
|-
| || 19,908
|-
| || 19,680
|-
| || 19,147
|-
| || 16,774
|-
| || 16,410
|-
| || 15,898
|-
| || 15,361
|-
| || 14,990
|-
| || 10,341
|-
| || 10,101
|-
| || 8,915
|-
| || 6,090
|-
| || 6,068
|-
|}
Median Daily Disposable Income per person
[[File:Median income daily Poverty and Inequality Platform 2021 USD PPP.svg|thumb|Map of daily median income in USD (2021 PPP, Poverty and Inequality Platform, last available year)
{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header col1left" style="text-align:center;"
! Country !! Daily median income<br> in USD (2021 PPP) !! Annual<br>growth (%) !! Year
|-
| || 9.79 || 5.7 || 2018
|-
| || 59.90 || || 2020
|-
| || 71.44 || -1.7 || 2023
|-
| || 62.89 || 3.0 || 2023
|-
| || 16.85 || 2.7 || 2023
|-
| || 15.74 || 6.1 || 2023
|-
| || 30.18 || 9.4 || 2023
|-
| || 64.72 || -2.2 || 2022
|-
| || 24.57 || || 2024
|-
| || 11.28 || 5.5 || 2023
|-
| || 23.18 || 10.6 || 2025
|-
| || 36.73 || 16.2 || 2023
|-
| || 52.14 || 5.8 || 2023
|-
| || 39.07 || -1.0 || 2023
|-
| || 60.72 || -0.5 || 2023
|-
| || 17.48 || 11.5 || 2024
|-
| || 12.09 || -2.6 || 2024
|-
| || 11.88 || 5.6 || 2023
|-
| || 36.52 || -0.9 || 2023
|-
| || 56.48 || -0.1 || 2023
|-
| || 57.21 || 0.3 || 2023
|-
| || 64.18 || -1.3 || 2022
|-
| || 28.91 || 3.7 || 2023
|-
| || 8.73 || || 2023
|-
| || 8.35 || 11.0 || 2024
|-
| || 22.14 || 6.5 || 2017
|-
| || 60.63 || -0.2 || 2019
|-
| || 50.49 || 0.8 || 2023
|-
| || 37.48 || 6.2 || 2021
|-
| || 48.79 || -2.3 || 2023
|-
| || 42.24 || 5.1 || 2020
|-
| || 10.45 || 18.8 || 2022
|-
| || 32.95 || 4.2 || 2023
|-
| || 37.60 || 2.1 || 2023
|-
| || 89.49 || 2.3 || 2023
|-
| || 29.55 || || 2021
|-
| || 53.52 || -1.0 || 2022
|-
| || 12.49 || || 2022
|-
| || 17.78 || 10.8 || 2021
|-
| || 69.09 || 1.5 || 2021
|-
| || 15.52 || 8.7 || 2019
|-
| || 77.76 || 2.5 || 2023
|-
| || 18.58 || 3.8 || 2024
|-
| || 14.92 || 4.1 || 2024
|-
| || 10.67 || 4.1 || 2024
|-
| || 7.21 || || 2023
|-
| || 38.84 || 1.6 || 2023
|-
| || 33.68 || 4.6 || 2023
|-
| || 73.36 || || 2017
|-
| || 29.85 || 7.5 || 2023
|-
| || 33.62 || 9.4 || 2023
|-
| || 19.18 || 3.4 || 2022
|-
| || 21.00 || || 2018
|-
| || 24.46 || -1.0 || 2023
|-
| || 49.24 || 1.8 || 2023
|-
| || 54.40 || 5.2 || 2021
|-
| || 47.30 || 2.1 || 2023
|-
| || 55.60 || -0.7 || 2023
|-
| || 72.29 || -1.1 || 2022
|-
| || 46.23 || -0.9 || 2021
|-
| || 19.94 || 4.0 || 2022
|-
| || 76.52 || || 2018
|-
| || 54.65 || 1.2 || 2021
|-
| || 72.07|| 3.2 || 2024
|-
| || 26.84 || 3.7 || 2024
|-
| || 13.78 || 9.8 || 2024
|}
See also
- List of U.S. states and territories by income
- Disposable household and per capita income
- List of countries by average wage
- List of countries by wealth per adult