Real Median HH Income
Annual benchmark for income growth. Anchor for affordability math over multi-year horizons.
- source
- FRED
- frequency
- annual
- units
- dollars
- s.a.
- no
Note: Annual only; released with ~9-month lag.
Real median household income landed at $87,460 for 2024, up 2.64% from a year prior—a $2,250 gain that barely keeps pace with headline inflation and sits well below the 2019 peak of $85,320 (inflation-adjusted, the picture is grimmer). For an investor underwriting rent affordability or tenant rent-payment capacity, the signal is that household income growth has stalled; the 2024 print tells you incomes haven't materially recovered from the cost-of-living shock, which caps how much rent-burden headroom exists in the median household before you hit the 30%-of-gross affordability ceiling. If you're pricing a lease or modeling a portfolio spread against your local median, pencil in flat-to-low-single-digit income growth going forward, not the mean reversion most investors assume happens after a demand shock.
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Real Median HH Income — Annual benchmark for income growth. Anchor for affordability math over multi-year horizons.
Freq: annual · Source: FRED
"""
from fredapi import Fred
fred = Fred(api_key="YOUR_FRED_API_KEY")
series = fred.get_series("MEHOINUSA672N")
print(series.tail())You are analyzing FRED series MEHOINUSA672N — Real Median Household Income in the United States. Context: Annual benchmark for income growth. Anchor for affordability math over multi-year horizons. Attributes - Units: dollars - Frequency: annual - Source: FRED Latest observation: $87,460 as of 2025-01-01 Year-over-year change: +2.64% Analyze this metric for a tech-forward real estate investor with 1–3 properties. What is it signaling right now? What should I watch next?