Motio Research's initial estimate of U.S. median household income for April 2026 is $88,290. This value represents a $20 (or 0.02%) decrease from the firm's initial estimate of $88,310 for March 2026.
This month, Motio Research updated the visuals that accompany its monthly median household income series. The firm is now presenting an interactive chart of its nominal median household estimates for each month from January 2010 through April 2026. Here's a screenshot of the firm's chart presenting that data, which we encourage you to click through to their site to check out the non-inflation adjusted data for each month in the series.
The interactive chart captures revisions to Motio Research's previous median household income estimates. For March 2026, for example, the firm has revised its estimate of the income earned by a U.S. household at the exact middle of the U.S.' income spectrum down by $690 (-0.8%) to $87,620 from its initial estimate.
The firm has also modified how it presents its U.S. Real Median Household Income Index. These estimates are based on income data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau through its monthly Current Population Survey. Motio Research uses this survey data to create its raw monthly estimates, which it then adjusts to account for the effects of seasonality and inflation. Each month's data is now presented as a rolling three-month average, with the data for the three month period of January through March 2010 assigned a value of 100.
The change helps smooth out some of the month-to-month noise in the data series, making it easier to identify the level, direction, and momentum of the firm's inflation- and seasonality-adjusted measure. The following screenshot of Motio Research's interactive chart shows how this index has changed from March 2010 (covering January through March 2010) through April 2026 (covering February through April 2026):
The U.S. Real Median Household Income Index has a value of 119.7 for April 2026. Motio Research's data indicates median household income has been on a generally rising trend since May 2025, which has resumed following a small dip between December 2025 and February 2026.
The firm also presents a nominal and inflation-adjusted visualization of the year-over-year percentage change in median household income and also provides a chart revealing the ratio of the incomes of the 75th and 25th percentile households. This latter measure indicates how evenly income gains or losses are spread among the upper and lower portions of the U.S. income spectrum.
If you can't tell, we're fans of their work!
Analyst's Notes
Political Calculations produces median household income estimates using other original data sources that complement Motio Research's survey-based estimates. Political Calculations' initial estimate of median household income in April 2026 is $87,444, a $280 (+0.3%) increase above our initial estimate of $87,164 for March 2026.
The following chart presents our estimates of U.S. median household income, both adjusted for inflation (blue) and not-adjusted for inflation (red) for each month from January 2000 through April 2026.
Political Calculations' April 2026 estimate is $846 (or 1.0%) below Motio Research's initial estimate of $88,290 for April 2026.
The BEA's aggregate wage and salary income data we use in generating our median household income estimates saw substantial downward revisions for the months of October 2025 (-0.33%), November 2025 (-0.55%), December 2025 (-0.67%), January 2026 (-0.67%), February 2026 (-0.72%), and March 2026 (-0.79%).
These downward revisions represent the BEA capturing the zeroing of income of millions of foreign-born individuals, who ranked among the lowest income earners in the U.S. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, some three million foreign-born individuals in the U.S. have exited the U.S. since January 2025, with 2.2 million taking advantage of cash and travel incentives to self-deport. The BEA's aggregate income data has lagged the changes affecting the bottom of the U.S. income distribution, which we think is a significant contributor to the rise of median household income given how the math of median numbers works.
For the latest in our coverage of median household income in the United States, follow this link!
References
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Table 2.6. Personal Income and Its Disposition, Monthly, Personal Income and Outlays, Not Seasonally Adjusted, Monthly, Middle of Month. Population. [Online Database (via Federal Reserve Economic Data)]. Last Updated: 28 May 2026. Accessed: 28 May 2026.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Table 2.6. Personal Income and Its Disposition, Monthly, Personal Income and Outlays, Not Seasonally Adjusted, Monthly, Middle of Month. Compensation of Employees, Received: Wage and Salary Disbursements. [Online Database (via Federal Reserve Economic Data)]. Last Updated: 28 May 2026. Accessed: 28 May 2026.
Image credit: U.S. Census Bureau. We modified the public domain image to make it more generally applicable beyond reporting the median household income from 2022.
Labels: median household income
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