Fed survey finds median family income up 7% from 2022 to 2025
The Federal Reserve Board's 2025 consumer finance survey shows median income and net worth rising, while mean income fell and more families faced heavy debt payments.
AI illustrationReal median family income in the United States rose 7 percent to $82,200 between the 2022 and 2025 surveys, while real mean family income fell 6 percent to $145,200, the Federal Reserve Board said on Friday as it published its 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances.
The Board said families toward the lower end of the income and net worth distributions saw modest increases in median and mean income, while families toward the upper end saw declines.
Wealth also rose. Real median net worth increased by 2 percent to $215,900, and real mean net worth climbed by 7 percent to $1.24 million. According to the Board, most families across the income and net worth distributions recorded higher median and mean wealth.
The homeownership rate stood at 66 percent in 2025, about the same as in 2022. Among homeowners, median net housing value, meaning the value of a home minus debt secured on it, increased to $230,000 from $218,900.
Fewer families held stocks. Stock market participation, counting both direct and indirect holdings, slipped from 58 percent to 56 percent. For families that did own stock, the median holding grew 36 percent, from $56,900 to $77,400.
Participation in retirement plans edged up to around 65 percent, and families with account-type plans saw higher mean and median balances.
Debt was broadly steady. About 77 percent of families carried some form of debt, and median and mean amounts owed were unchanged from 2022. However, the share of families whose debt payments exceed 40 percent of their income rose from 6.5 to 8.6 percent, a level the Board said was last seen in the 2013 survey.
The survey has been run in its current form every three years since 1989 and is meant to give a representative picture of what American families own, how much they borrow and how they bank. The Board also issued a summary report on changes in family finances from 2022 to 2025. NORC, a social science research organization at the University of Chicago, carries out the survey for the Board, drawing participants at random from 119 geographic areas.