Average Income By Age 2024 | Where Do You Stand? 

We’ve made it to retirement the boring way…saving & investing over 40 years. Not high earners but now worth almost 5M

The best way to increase your income is to get a new job, period. Don't waste time asking for raises. I've been in HR well over a decade now and I can tell you that the budget for new hires is infinitely larger than what they set aside for increases. In fact, employers will even sometimes deny your next annual increase because they gave you an increase throughout the year. There is a good chance that if you are actually underpaid, your next job will pay you at least 15% - 20% more than what you make now.

I wanted to start saving $400 a month towards stocks, so I broke down the math to $15 a day is all I need. After work, I go doordashing for 30 minutes to an hour for that $15. By the end of the year, I have invested $5,400, which I think is plenty for my age and income.

I am always blown away by people with high incomes that have crippling debt. They earn it and then spend it.

I’m a construction worker in the electrical field. As a tradesman, I make $150-200k/year. When I held a management position I was earning around $260,000, but had no life. Also, working in the desert during summer makes me want to quit every year. Money isn’t everything. I stopped all investing (except my company pension plan) and redirected all funds to help me make a career change.

I'm at the 75th percentile, but the huge difference was becoming debt-free (house paid off) prior to COVID. It enabled me to max out my retirement contributions for the 401k and 457b. My vehicle was paid off quickly after a couple years and it's 10 years old now. You could earn $250K/year, but if you have a lot of debt, that hefty income won't matter. I'm looking to retire early at age 60 by the end of 2025.

I’m in the 99th percentile for my age. After struggling financially most of my life. What worked for me is i went back to college and graduated at age 29. I worked as a government contractor for 2 years then made a career pivot to Technology. I self taught myself Tech using free software demos, free udemy courses and RU-vid videos. I got my first tech certification and updated my resume. I landed a 6 figure job in less than a month and never looked back.

Your videos are some of my favorite in the personal finance space. Thank you for all the hard work! I appreciate the detailed information & realistic approach

Best all-encompassing video I've seen in a while. You do a great job with the illustrations and advice. I didn't know about which percentile I was in and that was interesting to know. I was surprised at the median. I thought it'd be much higher by now. It really emphasizes how the cost of living has gone up but the salaries have not kept up.

Plug for side hustle: I started doing work on the weekends for other businesses in my profession. Since 2007, I made $335,000 on about half of the Saturday mornings since. Used the money to pay for 2 kid's college, cars and extra savings. Without working ever other Saturday, we would not have afforded to pay 100% of the kids college and would be driving 10 year old cars. All before the kids woke up on Saturdays.

I’m 26, make 90k in a low cost of living area and it’s remote. Thinking I’m doing pretty good!

I’m almost at the 90th percentile. Bought a house, interest is at 6.5%, have a car, interest is 1.99%, not bad, but it all comes down to the area you live in and the cost of living. I invested 20% of my salary into retirement before buying this house, now I’m only putting 4% in (the minimum for matching at my work), and I am now basically living paycheck to paycheck with ~$860 a month left for bills after the cost of my mortgage and car payment. It’s crazy!

44, Male, Single, $250K a year, low debt, healthy retirement savings, goal is bank as much as I can the year 10-20 years then retire overseas.

In 2023 I found a 2nd hustle and increased my income from $4.5k per month to $11,500 per month net after taxes and saving. I managed to save $100k cash this year. No debts other than mortgage. 401k, HSA, ROTH IRA & Emergency fund fully funded. In 2024 I am looking to pay off the house next year (7 years into a 30 year mortgage @ 4%). I did this on my own on a single income. I've been with the same company for 20 years since college. Started at 33k per year, now at 120k per year. I have made sacrifices in life, but I am near the finish line.

I appreciate your enthusiasm for breaking down average income by percentile!

Erin, you’re crushin it girl!!! You’re at 50k subscribers(almost) and on the way to much more! Good luck to you and your family in 2024.

Great content, thanks Erin! Getting that income up is 🔑!

I've been in the 90th percentile for a while now. But only been more aggressively investing in last few years. Prior to that I was saving for a house and bought 1. Nearly paid it off now.

“He is literally a walking example of compound interest” I love this quote.

Career paths make a difference. STEM fields - entered at 27 at 65k, 32 at 95k. Figure I’ll be around 110k at 38 but that’s the cap for my position. Beyond the entrepreneur’s, think most the highest earners in these comments are engineers/doctors. I’ll also add I’m in a super low cost of living area. 100k here is probably 180-200k in Colorado for example. Medium household income in my county is about 50k. I make double that myself not counting my wife who is same field also.

I’m in the 90th percentile for my age. I can totally see someone living paycheck to paycheck even with such a high income because with higher income often comes higher bills. It’s important to keep those bills in check as you said even if you have a higher income so you can save money for more important things. I have also recently started a business so I suspect my income will grow over the next few years as well. I am not doing bad for a social worker as my day job and business owner by night.

Hey Erin, what’s up? I’m Matt and welcome to my comment. 😁 Thank you for the work you put into these videos. Happy holidays!

I’m in the 90th, and as a household we’re in the 90th. But money isn’t everything. When it comes to just life in general, I feel 100%.

Great content. Thanks.

Great video Erin!!

I’m 25 and this video just HUMBLED me. I didn’t even know I was in the 75th percentile. I have about $10,000 of debt to pay off (budgeted to be completely paid off by this August). After that I am going to start contributing to my retirement.

I'm aggressively paying down a home equity loan right now. I plan on retiring in two years, and I want to be debt-free when I start that phase of my life. Thanks for the great info Erin.... Happy Holidays to you and your family!

Wealth building for me is living under means, investing early and not outsourcing, real estate and understanding finance.

I just got a 4% performance raise and I love the people I work with so for me it’s worth it to stay where I am. But I went from non profit to private manufacturing and almost tripled my income so I’m happy! Plus I started investing at 22 and I’m 34 now so I’m on a good trajectory. Thanks for your videos! They always get me thinking about my finances more holistically and not just my day to day budget

Your such a classy woman. So happy I found you! Keep up the great content.

Keep in mind if you live in a LCOL area, your percentile will be higher than suggested here. And if you live in a HCOL area it's lower. I live in a LCOL area and these numbers look high to me.

Clicked because I was curious what I should make when I turn 2024

This is a fantastic video!!! I will share it with our three daughters who were millennials, and in the early stages of saving.

I'm 30 I average 70k a year. At 25 I only made 32k a year. I would advise the youth to find a career that works for you and keep going. Don't get discouraged. Also find a good life partner, two incomes are better than one especially in this economy.

Engagement for Erin. Keep up the great work.

My income & Profession by age: 18: $19000 Retail Clerk 20: $22,300 Fast Food Shift Manager 22: $36,000 I.T. Specialist 24: $65,000 I.T Manager 26: $85,000 Director of I.T 27: $95,000 Programmer/Analyst SR 28: $120,000 I.S. Application Specialist 30: $145,000 I.S. Application Architect 32: $180,000 I.S. Application Architect Sr 34: $197,000 DevSecOps Architect 35: $220,000 Cloud Platform Architect Net worth (Jan/2024): $562,000

Oh, this put things in perspective. It's easy to lose track of where I was (and currently am). Working with people who make mid-sixes and lower seven-figure incomes makes it easy to lose track of where you are.

It is my goal to keep my living expenses at the median and to earn, save, and invest above the median.

75th percentile as a 34 year old. 2025 I will definitely take a hit but my investments from now until then and beyond will help me build wealth slowly. Compound interest and budgeting monthly of course

Good, I am making double the average.

Congrats on 50K.......YOU DID IT!!!!!!!!!

33 year old single guy making 150k-200k my first year out with likely growth to 250-300k (doctor just getting started in practice) a couple of years. Fully intend to put away most of this to help achieve financial independence. First time making a good income so its hard to fight lifestyle creep.

Well, I have a long way to go in terms of financial responsibility, to be honest, but it is nice to know I’m above all of the averages for every age at 31 and no degree. Just have to work out the kinks and keep pushing.

The problem with these generalized averages is it doesn’t factor in location. For example, I live in an hour outside of Nashville TN and make $95K. I have had multiple offers to work in Nashville for a $25K pay increase, but the drive and or cost of living if I moved wouldn’t make it worth it to me and my family. Now that’s just the difference between an hour drive from me. Those numbers start to double and triple when looking at places like California. But I’m in my new construction 3db 2ba house with a 2 car garage that I paid $140K for so it wouldn’t make sense for me to move to make a little more but then this same house would cost me 400K there. Also, no state income tax here in TN and a few other states. Just something to consider

Congrats on 50k!

I'm in the 62.5th percentile for my age group supporting a household of one, and live in an area where the cost of living is slightly below the national median. The important thing is that I enjoy what I do, have plenty of money left after paying my bills, and only need to work 40-45 hours per week so I have quite a bit of "me" time.

My base pay is $72k per year plus OT, So I can make around $100k gross. I'm 47. I got a modest home and I invest and save 👍. Good advice

Congrats on 50k

I one hundred percent agree with the ease of saving at a higher income. Went from below median to 75th percentile in two years. My lifestyle stayed the same but I was able to massively increase my savings with ease by just acting like the money didn't exist. But without the stress of just surviving

My normal job is pretty standard in income so around 50th percentile, but 2021 and so far this year around 95th percentile due to capital gains from crypto and tech stocks. The best thing to do in your early to mid twenties is spend less, avoid bad debt, and invest as much as possible, the odds are this will start noticeably paying off after a few years, the sooner you start the better. Avoids traps like splurging on expensive cars until you do so without too much negative financial impact.

8:25 That's a good question. I should consider that

99th percentile at 25 working in the trades definitely worth considering not going to college unless you plan on being a doctor or lawyer

Great tips and great video format! Thanks so much for sharing.

I'm 40 this year. I just hit 6 figures last year which I'm pretty proud of. I'm a pretty high earner compared to my colleagues in the industry. The average pay for my position is around 40-50k. I work a lot of overtime though. My goal is to eventually own my own machine shop and take work on my terms as well as increase my earning potential.

I’m between 75th and 90th and yes, it’s important to play tricks on yourself to keep things in check and increase savings. It’s way too easy to squander

I just hope to have everything paid off and be debt-free by the time I'm 2024

Those numbers are pretty accurate for me at each age.

I’m in the 50th percentile but I just started my career late at 28 and I’m now 30. Got a raise today actually (8% raise) and hoping next year to have enough skills and knowledge to be eligible for another 8% or more as I keep asking to take on more work from my boss. And if I do this for another 100 years, that’s 800% and I’ll be able to finally afford a gallon of gas here in california 😂

I'm reading Your Life or Your Money next. The real hourly wage concept blew my mind

Its crazy how life changes, I came from a rural family where we didnt have money for groceries so we grew alot of our food, we made christmas gifts for each other rather than buy them and stuff like that. I chose to go to college concequences be damned, I didnt pick a job that was my 'dream' or passion. I picked something that would pay well and be fairly stable. I'm 26 and fall in the 90th percentile for 35 yr olds. I'd say I got lucky, and maybe there was some level of luck involved. But honestly? I went through my fair share of suffering to get where I am. It wasnt easy, but it was worth it. Also for young professionals like me out there - If you want to earn more switch jobs, last time I switched jobs I got a 50k pay increase. Your company doesnt, hasnt ever, nor will it ever treat you like family or love you. Get paid what you think you are worth, accept nothing less.

At 55. 90th household 75% individual. Save 30% towards retirement makkng up lack of savings when income was much less and having young kids. Fortunately income increased dramatically over past few years. Still amazed how much it is each month just in basics to operate the household. Taking strong look at finances now as we have let lifestyle creep. Hope to retire in 10 yrs. Most are correct best way to increase income for most is to switch jobs as you get leveled out at your employer

Changing jobs is a great way to increase your income but keep in mind your vesting period. If your job pays into a retirement plan, you have to stay through your vesting period to keep that. My current position has a great pension plan but a 7 year vesting period. Have to way your pros and cons.

My wife wanted a Mercedes Convertible which we decided to purchase. Its her dream car and will drive it till it drops. I on the other hand drive a 2008 JW Jetta and close to 200K miles and love the fact there is no car payments. Normally, I wouldnt have done that (due to being expensive and a depreciating asset) but its a balance to live and enjoy life. We worked hard to get into the 90 percentile.

Thank you!

I have a 457 but my job don't match what I contribute. Should I open a index fund instead of a 457? Thanks

Goal is 300 this year and 400 next. Aiming for that top 1%

My wife and i decided to drive as a team professionally straight out of professional driving school. My wife 25 and myself 27 at the time made $270K annually, 2 years later we have half our yearly income in savings and investments with about $140K in dividend income per year via index funds and dividend stocks as she prepares to stay home to have children while i take an offer for a local driving job starting at $130K.

I’m 19, making averagely 85,000 a year as a wireline operator in the oilfield in the Permian Basin. On track to become an engineer in the next few years to make upwards of 300,000$. The problem is my skills aren’t really transferable into another career. Gotta find a way to make passive income! I can certainly save up some good capital.

At 37 I was earning $70,000 dollars, at 42 I was earning $150,000 and at 47 I’m now earning $900,000. Struggled to save that much on $70,000 with the cost of housing here, I think it wasn’t until I was on $100,000 that I felt comfortably off. The big thing for me was going from employee to self employed in the same firm and becoming a part owner with a variable profit share.

I’d like to know where these averages are coming from. I am 43 years old and have had to work since I was 15 and I don’t make what you claim to be the average for a 25 year old. Something is definitely wrong with these numbers. I must be in the 30 percentile range. I make more that the 25 but significantly less than the 50.

Not trying to show off but I will say I’m super proud of myself. I’m 21 years old and last year I made 56k after taxes and still have so much room to grow. so makes me feel good that I’m on the right track

I’m already in the 70th percentile at age 27. I just now started investing for the long term. I have ~10k in a 401k through my employer but I never really looked at investing as a way to save for retirement until 2024. I know it sounds kinda stupid but investing in stocks has got me WAYYYY more into saving than just looking at my 401k amount ever did. I’m wanting to throw a lot of money into investing now because I can see it gain in real time. My employer 401k has only made about 2-3% PER YEAR since I started putting into it. When I look at it that way, I need to be throwing money elsewhere if I want to be on track for retirement.

When I worked, the way we got rid of undesirable employees was to not give them a raise. It usually didn't work, since they knew as well as we did that nobody else would hire them.

Im 25 and I’m in the 90%. I am not satisfied with what I make though, I want to earn more because what I save would be drastically reduced if I didn’t live with my parents. As a result, I don’t feel happy because I have not reached that point where my assets bring in enough passive income that could offset my day job. So I continue to constantly monitor my spending in hopes that I can put more on a home or condo rather than pay more interest in a home loan. I also feel buying a car should have two key points. It takes you from point A to point B and it is reliable(maintenance is less). Honestly if I could buy a car that is bare bones with only the necessary components to drive the car to and from where you got to go, that’s the best alternative.

I think one of the best things you can do is move somewhere that isn't a High Cost of Living isn't highly taxed. I'm 33 making right around 75k rapidly approaching the 100K Mark in Wisconsin because cost of living is cheap it feels like it's a lot more

I am 40 and i make about $70,000 from my job but i am also a 100% disabled veteran in which i am receiving another $50,000 so all together my income is around $120,000 a year. also i dont have to pay any property tax the perks of being 100%

Wife and I are nearing the 90 percent mark for our ages, but everything is paid off, except for one vehicle. I max out 401k every year, wife invests about half. Also invest in my companies stock sharing program. All together we're just touching the 1m net worth at age 39. Keep investing and making good money choices and the money will soon follow

Hi Erin, Any advise for us retired folks ?

This is interesting, but what I really want to know is the median for areas around big cities. Their cost of living and wages are a lot more than a rural area

Another thing to consider is cost of living, and region so don't feel like you can't save because you don't make above some number. Most higher paid jobs are in cities where the cost of living is high.

I'm in the 90th percentile for my age group (41F) but where I live minimum wage is a little over $18/hr and if you make $86k as an individual you are considered "low income." The value of these dollar amounts can greatly be screwed if you live in a high cost of living area.

Always nice to see I'm well below average. 😢

Wow this makes me feel good. Making over $80k at 20 years old and just starting to learn how to trade on the side

I'm living 6 pack to 6 pack.

Remember to add in your locality factor. Earning $130k in the largest 15 cities in the US is not comparable to earning $130k in rural US. For instance, I live in the rural south where CoL is ~45% if the CoL compared to Seattle/Boston/Chicago/NYC/LA/etc.

91k at age 23 right now 🤝🏽💪

I’m happy to know that I’m in the 90th percentile.

It is wild that I am considered in the 80th percentile for my age bracket (25-35), yet I can't afford a home... I can't even afford to pay off my student loans LOL

I’m a 90 percentile guy living like a 25 percentiler. 26 years old with over $100k invested and debt free (still renting).

75th percentile and I save 35-40 percent of my pre tax income towards investments and retirement. Drive a 15 year old car, buy most things used and dont try to impress anyone but myself. Goal is to be financially independent by 50.

Depends on where you live as well.

I am above the 75th percentile for my age of 40 at roughly 110,000 per year and I find it extremely difficult to be “aggressive” in saving. Mortgage, car insurance, health insurance, home insurance, groceries for a family of 6, utilities, etc have all increased significantly over the last 2 years. After taxes it is extremely difficult to still put away 10 percent per year. Even if I could, $11,000 per year for 25 years only amounts to 275,000 plus interest. That’ll barely get me to $1 million saved, which with what prices and healthcare will cost in 2050, don’t think that’ll cover too many years. We’ve got some major problems ahead

I’m the second. But my family owns everything. I think I’m good.

21 $150k and growing. Power of owning a business

My wife is a nurse making 92k and I transport heavy equipment locally making 112k a year. I never went to college and she graduated debt free We're able to put away about 6k a month between IRA's cash savings and brokerage. All I have to say is real wealth is the feeling of knowing your living well within your means and happy with it.

24 and a bit above 75th percentile, it’s tough because it still doesn’t feel like shit living in such an expensive state

I’m 20 just turned on Sunday. And I plan on starting a side hustle this year. I have already set up everything digital just need the physical goods. Even if I profit 1,000 or lose a couple it’s experience and experience is the real value🤙🏼

3 years is way to long to wait for a meaningful increase at the start of your career. After a year or so you should be looking at jobs a step up in case you see one that looks like a good fit. Unless your company has clear upwards mobility with meaningful pay bumps, there’s no reason to stick around after you feel you’ve learned enough from the role. Other companies won’t care about how long you’ve worked with your current company, just whether you’ve got 70-80% of the requisite experience for the posting. Keep track of accomplishments, talk about the knowledge you’ve gained from your company and your coworkers, pay some lip service to the company you’re interviewing for, and you’ve got yourself a 10-20% raise. Let them decide whether or not you’ve got enough experience.

40 something precent of households are dual incomes. I would like to see a difference in single income houseshold families that make over 80k a year. Technically we make over 90k. But i would like to see those numbers. 😊

Both my wife and I work from home and are over the 90% for individual and household at 30 not bad. I was making over 100k at 18 lol