After achieving a new record high in October 2019, median household income in the United States dipped slightly in November 2019, falling to $66,043 from the previous month's initial estimate of $66,465, according to Sentier Research.
The following chart shows the nominal (red) and inflation-adjusted (blue) trends for median household income in the United States from January 2000 through November 2019, with November 2019's estimate marking the top of both scales. The inflation-adjusted figures are presented in terms of constant November 2019 U.S. dollars.
Year over year, median household income rose by 3.9%, or 1.8% after adjusting for inflation, from the figures recorded in November 2018.
Analyst's Notes
Our alternate methodology for estimating median household income from data reported by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis would put the figure at $66,090 for November 2019, which is less than 0.1% different from Sentier Research's initial estimate for the month.
Sentier Research's estimate for December 2019 should be available toward the end of the month, where we'll present a year-end wrap up for median household income in 2019 sometime in early February 2020.
References
Sentier Research. Household Income Trends: January 2000 through November 2019. [Excel Spreadsheet with Nominal Median Household Incomes for January 2000 through January 2013 courtesy of Doug Short]. [PDF Document]. Accessed 27 December 2019. [Note: We've converted all data to be in terms of current (nominal) U.S. dollars.]
U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics. Consumer Price Index, All Urban Consumers - (CPI-U), U.S. City Average, All Items, 1982-84=100. [Online Database (via Federal Reserve Economic Data)]. Last Updated: 11 December 2019. Accessed: 11 December 2019.